Figure 8.—Flush valve for low tank.
[Figure 8] shows a common type of flush valve for a low tank. Probably no other plumbing in the home needs attention so often. It is under water and subject to fouling and neglect. The hollow rubber ball gets out of shape and fails to drop squarely into the hollowed seat. The handle and lever fail to work smoothly or the lift wires get out of plumb, causing the ball to remain up when it should drop to its seat. To remove these difficulties, stop inflow to the tank by holding up the float of the ball cock or supporting it with a stick. Drain the tank by raising the rubber ball. If the ball is worn, out of shape, or has lost its elasticity, unscrew the lower lift wire from the ball and replace it with a new one. A 21/2-inch rubber ball costs about 25 cents, and a new one should always be kept in the house. The lift wires should be straight and plumb. The lower lift wire is readily centered over the center of the valve by means of the adjustable guide holder. By loosening the thumbscrew, the holder is raised, lowered, or rotated about the overflow tube! By loosening the lock nut and turning the guide screw, the horizontal position of the guide is fixed exactly over the center of the valve, these adjustments are very important. The upper lift wire should loop into the lever armhole nearest to a vertical from the center of the valve. A tank should empty within 10 seconds. Owing to lengthening of the rubber ball and insufficient rise from its seat, the time may be longer than 10 seconds and the flush correspondingly weak. This trouble may be overcome by shortening the loop in the upper lift wire. A drop or two of lubricating oil on the lever mechanism makes it work more smoothly.
[CLOGGED PIPES]
Rust and dirt in water pipes are more or less successfully removed as follows: Tie a piece of small, stout cord to each end of a 2-foot length of small chain. Each piece of cord should be a little longer than the length of pipe to be cleaned. Attach the free end of one of the cords to a stiff steel wire and push the wire and cord through the pipe. By means of the cords pull the chain back and forth through the pipe, and then thoroughly flush the pipe with clean water under strong pressure. Long lines may be opened at intervals and cleaned section by section.
Other methods are: Using a swab or wire brush attached to a small steel or brass rod; flushing with a powerful hand pump; or filling the pipe with diluted muriatic acid and allowing it to stand in the pipe long enough for the acid to act. If the treatment is unsuccessful it should be repeated. A mixture of 1 part of acid and 7 parts of water allowed to stand overnight in 1,000 feet of badly rusted 1-inch pipe has given good results. After the acid treatment the pipe should be flushed long and thoroughly with clean water to remove as fully as possible all dirt, rust, and traces of acid.
When new piping is put in, abrupt turns are sometimes made with T branches instead of elbows. The unused leg of the branch can be closed with a screw plug, thus permitting easy access to the interior of the pipe.
Caution: When a stop and waste (or valve) on a water service is closed to permit cleaning or repairs, care should be taken to prevent the formation of a vacuum in the high parts of the water piping and the connections to plumbing fixtures; otherwise siphon action may draw pollution from water closets having water-controlled or seat-operated flush valves and from bathtubs, washbasins, laundry tubs, or other fixtures in which the spout (discharge end of the water line) is lower than the fixture rim, or worse, below the fixture overflow. Vacuum and siphon action may be destroyed by opening the highest connected faucet or an air cock in the top of the water line or by equipping the system with suitable automatic vacuum breakers.