toilet-triage-ranger

Use when a toilet runs constantly, refills by itself, phantom-flushes, or the flush is weak and you're staring into the tank wondering what to touch — symptom-based diagnosis tree (flapper vs fill-valve vs chain vs flange), exact water-waste math from your meter (a stuck flapper wastes 950-9500 L/day, doubling a household's water use), safe DIY-vs-shutoff decision, the 10-minute flapper replacement protocol, weak-flush causes ranked, and a shutoff-valve-stuck rescue path.

Overview

A running toilet is the highest-ROI household repair most people postpone: a stuck-open flapper passes 200+ gallons a day silently — that's 2-4× a typical household's entire indoor use, flowing while you sleep. And the diagnosis is easier than people fear: the tank is just a container of clean water with three parts that fail in known ways.

This skill is the 2 AM tank-staring companion:

1. diagnose — symptom → ranked causes → which part → test that confirms it (dye test, lift-the-float test, listening protocol).
2. waste — waste math from your situation (drip/ trickle/ running): liters and money per day/month/year, with meter-verification steps.
3. decide — DIY now / DIY this week / water-off + plumber, based on symptom class and your answers.
4. fix — step protocols per part: flapper (10 min), fill valve (30 min), chain, flange bolts; tool list; what NOT to do.
5. weak — weak/partial flush causes ranked (jet holes, water level, venting) with the trap-siphon explanation.

Pure stdlib, offline. Water is clean in the tank; the only real risks are over-tightening porcelain (crack = new toilet) and the stuck shutoff valve.

When to Use

• Toilet runs continuously, or refills itself every few minutes (phantom flush)
• Hissing/trickling sounds between flushes
• Weak or incomplete flush, water rising then settling without going down
• Post-repair verification (did the dye test clear?)
• "How much water is this actually wasting?" before deciding urgency
• Rental/landlord situations: document waste + urgency for the notice

Don't use for: sewage backup into the bowl (that's a main-line problem — plumber), tank or bowl cracks leaking water onto the floor (water supply off, replace toilet), or frozen/burst supply lines.

The Parts Map (60-second orientation)

text

        [fill valve tower]  [overflow tube]
              |                  |
   [float] ---+                  |  water line ↑
   [flapper] ------hinge------ [flush valve seat]
              |   [chain] to flush handle

• Flapper (rubber seal at tank bottom): lifts to flush, drops to seal. Fails by warping/ mineral buildup → tank drains to bowl slowly → phantom refills. #1 failure by far.
• Fill valve (tower with float): refills tank after flush, stops at set height. Fails by not shutting off (overflow rattle) or filling slowly/noisily.
• Overflow tube: the tank's safety drain — water that rises too high dumps here into the bowl. Constant trickle into it = fill valve set too high or not shutting off.
• Chain: too tight = flapper can't seal; too loose = doesn't lift fully; kinked = double-flush or no flush.

How It Works — Numbered Steps

1. Identify the symptom class, then run the tree:

   text

   python3 scripts/toilet_triage.py diagnose --symptom runs-constantly
   python3 scripts/toilet_triage.py diagnose --symptom phantom-refill
   

2. Quantify what the silence is costing:

   text

   python3 scripts/toilet_triage.py waste --rate running --price 4.1 --currency EUR
   python3 scripts/toilet_triage.py waste --rate trickle
   

3. Decide urgency and who fixes it:

   text

   python3 scripts/toilet_triage.py decide --symptom phantom-refill --renter
   

4. Execute the part-specific protocol:

   text

   python3 scripts/toilet_triage.py fix --part flapper
   python3 scripts/toilet_triage.py fix --part fill-valve
   

5. Verify with the dye test afterward (in fix output), and for weak flush: weak command.

Waste Math (why this is urgent-adjacent)

Flow through a stuck flapper or running fill valve, by severity:

Sound	Est. flow	Liters/day	@ $4/kl (EUR-ish)
intermittent trickle	0.1 L/min	144	$0.58
constant trickle	0.4 L/min	576	$2.30
quietly running	1.5 L/min	2,160	$8.64
loud running	4 L/min	5,760	$23/day ≈ $700/yr

A "quietly running" toilet doubles a 2-person household's typical 11,000-14,000 L/month. Phantom refills every 10 min ≈ a stuck flapper: 3-5 L per event, 6-9 kl/month. Meter check (below) turns estimates into facts in 30 minutes.

Common Pitfalls

1. Over-tightening anything on porcelain. Snug + quarter-turn. Cracked tanks = new toilet. This is THE toilet-repair injury.
2. Replacing the flapper without cleaning the seat. Mineral scale under the new flapper = same leak. Scour the seat with a scrubbie (not steel wool).
3. Chain tension ignored. ½-1 cm of slack. Too tight: flapper drops but sits propped → constant run. Too loose: weak flush.
4. Tank bricks / bricks in the tank "to save water." Disintegrate, jam the flapper. If saving water: dual-flush valve or fill-cycle diverter, not bricks.
5. Bleach tablets in the tank. Chlorine attacks rubber — flappers and seals die in months. Bowl-side only, never tank.
6. Forcing a stuck shutoff valve. Snap the handle → spray. Fix: gentle work loose, or wrench on the SUPPLY after closing upstream; see decide output.
7. Mistaking bowl-refill vs tank-refill sounds. The refill after flush refills BOTH (the bowl via the overflow tube) — a few seconds is normal; minutes is not.
8. Ignoring the wax ring when the floor is wet. Water AROUND the base isn't the tank's fault — rocking toilet compresses the ring: that's the flange-bolt protocol, and it's a different job.

Example

text

$ toilet_triage.py diagnose --symptom phantom-refill
SYMPTOM: tank refills by itself every few minutes
  1. [70%] FLAPPER not sealing (warped/ mineral/ chain propping it)
     CONFIRM: dye test — food coloring in tank, wait 15 min NO FLUSH;
     color in bowl = flapper passing water.
     FIX: fix --part flapper (10 min, $8)
  2. [20%] Water level set ABOVE overflow tube top
     CONFIRM: waterline at/over the tube? trickle into tube?
     FIX: bend float arm down / adjust screw 1-2 cm
  3. [10%] Fill valve not shutting off (internal diaphragm)
     CONFIRM: lift float arm fully — does water STOP? if not → valve
     FIX: fix --part fill-valve (30 min, $15)

$ toilet_triage.py waste --rate running
quietly running ≈ 1.5 L/min → 2,160 L/day → ~$8.6/day at $4/kl
  ≈ 65 kl/month — your whole household usually uses 11-14.
  VERDICT: fix today; it's a $8 flapper, not a plumber call.

Verification Checklist

• Symptom class identified; dye test run where indicated
• Waste quantified (and meter-verified if bill-anxiety is high)
• Water off at supply before touching parts
• Correct part protocol followed; seat cleaned before new flapper
• Chain slack ½-1 cm; waterline 1-2 cm below overflow top
• Dye test RE-RUN after repair: clear bowl after 20 min
• Floor around base dry (else: wax ring job, different protocol)