How To Tell What Size Flapper For Toilet

Ensuring yous have the correct toilet flapper installed is vital, as it will assist forestall leaks in your bathroom. If an incorrect or ill-fitting toilet flapper is installed, your toilet can not only leak and waste water, but it can cost you money as well. When visiting a home improvement store you will find a daunting variety of toilet flappers, so information technology is essential that you know how to purchase the right i. If the wrong toilet flapper is installed, your toilet will non flush properly, or may employ more than water than designed to.

Types of Toilet Flappers

In that location are three main types of toilet flappers: seat deejay, tank ball, and rubber. Identifying what blazon of toilet flapper you take is as simple every bit removing the top of your toilet tank and taking a look.

Seat Disk

Seat deejay toilet flappers are the oldest type of toilet flapper. These flappers have a pocket-sized round deejay that covers the overflow pipage and prevents h2o from traveling through information technology. When the toilet is flushed, the flapper exposes the overflow pipe.

A reservoir of water is used equally a weight to hold the flapper open up when you flush. However, when flushed, the reservoir drains out. As a result, the flapper will close after a certain corporeality of time.

seat disk toilet flapper

Being that seat deejay flappers are the oldest type of flapper, they take some downsides. Sometimes, these flappers are large and take up a disproportionate amount of space in your toilet tank. This non merely makes it more difficult to replace, but makes finding an option to replace it even more challenging.

Tank Ball

In these types of toilets, the tank ball flapper sits on top of the overflow pipe. When the toilet is flushed, the rubber ball is lifted by a concatenation directly up and off of the overflow piping. This allows water to laissez passer through.

tank ball toilet flapper

If you take a tank brawl flapper, it is important to ensure that the concatenation holding the brawl is the correct length. If it is not, information technology volition neglect to lift the ball or prevent the brawl from returning to its place. This can result in the toilet non sealing properly and wasting a lot of water.

Prophylactic

Rubber flappers are the almost common type of toilet flapper in recently manufactured toilets. These flappers work past attaching a simple cap to the overflow pipe. The mechanism of a prophylactic toilet flapper works similar to that of a tank brawl flapper. When the toilet is flushed, a machinery pulls a chain attached to the flapper to lift information technology. When the flushing is complete, the chain allows the cap to drop back into place.

rubber toilet flapper

The term "condom" may be deceiving, as not all flappers of this variety are made completely of prophylactic. Sometimes, these flappers only utilize an outer edge made of rubber to seal tightly against the overflow pipe.

These flappers are the most common because they are the virtually reliable. They practice have a similar downfall to tank ball flappers though. If the chain is not the perfect length, the flapper will non allow the correct amount of water in and out of the tank and may crusade leaks.

Size of Toilet Flapper

While the blazon of toilet flapper is essential, ensuring that you purchase a replacement that is the right size is also vital. A universal sized toilet flapper used to be the norm, merely today toilet flappers can range anywhere from 2″ to 4″ in size. The size of the flapper that your toilet uses usually is adamant by a couple of factors.

Date of Manufacture
- More recently manufactured toilets tend to use three″ or 4″ flappers, as opposed to ii″ flappers.
Gallon Per Flush (GPF) Amount
- This refers to how much water flows in and out of the tank when the toilet is flushed. It is of import to know how many gallons your toilet uses and whether it is considered full flow or low menstruation.
  - 1.vi and 1.28 GPF toilets typically use three″ toilet flapper valves.

different sizes of toilet flappers

Determining Size

If you are unsure of the size of your toilet flapper, there are a couple ways y'all can become about figuring it out.

Search make and model of toilet
- If you know the make and model of your toilet, yous tin search it to notice out the size of your toilet flapper.
- If y'all do not know the make and model of your toilet, check the inside of the tank for the model number. Sometimes the number is on the inside walls of the tank, and other times it is on the comprehend. Search this number, forth with the company who manufactured your toilet to notice out what size flapper is appropriate.
Mensurate it
- The size of a toilet flapper is based off of the within bleed diameter.
- If it measures ane seven/8″ or two three/eight″ so you accept a 2″ toilet.
- If it measures in the 3″ range, you have a 3″ toilet.

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Eyeball it
- Look at the flush valve drain opening at the bottom of your tank.
  - If the opening looks about the size of a baseball or orangish, you lot need a 2″ flapper.
  - If the opening looks about the size of a softball or grapefruit, you demand a 3″ flapper.

Important Note: Installing a larger toilet flapper (3″) on a smaller drain opening (2″) will not be effective, so it is of import to buy the right size.

Additionally, some bleed openings are of a unique size and exercise not adhere to the standard ii″ or 3″ size. If this is the case, you may need to contact your manufacturer for the exact size of your toilet flapper.

Still Unsure?

If you are nonetheless unsure what toilet flapper to purchase, dwelling comeback shop workers are commonly well versed on the topic and can assistance you out. Sometimes, customers even bring their erstwhile toilet flapper to the home comeback shop to be sure they are purchasing the right one. So don't be agape to bring your current toilet flapper in for help! It is better to install the correct i than to waste water, money, and potentially create leaks in your home.

Next Steps

If you've already purchased your new toilet flapper and want to learn more about how to install it, please check out our article on How to Set a Leaky Toilet Flapper.