Ideal Standard Close Coupling Ring Washer Doughnut Toilet WC Cistern

Product Information

Before doing anything, the first task is to turn off the water supply to the cistern so that you can safely disconnect the flexi hose or other means of connection. As we have discussed, the most common cause of close coupled cistern leaks is that cistern isn’t sitting at 90° on top of the toilet pan. If the cistern is leaning over, even a little, one side of the doughnut lifts and, with a lot of water pressure, the leak is exposed.

Refit the 1 or 2 screws that secure the cistern to the surface behind but don’t tighten them too much, leave a little wiggle room. This is just to help hold everything in place and ensure nothing moves out of place. Finally have a good clean up around the under side of the toilet and floor, removing any water that could cause make you think there are leaks but there aren’t and then flush the toilet. If all is well after any inspection all should be clear and you should now be leak free. Note: There are several different sizes of doughnut so make sure that you get the right one. Measure the diameter of the base of the flush valve in the cistern and then you will know what size doughnut you need to ensure it fits correctly. However this issue would not just become apparent after flushing the toilet, there would be a constant leak. If Plumbers Mait or a similar sealant isn’t used or the screw cap on the hose isn’t done up tight enough onto the fill valve then water can easily leak up through the threads.

How to Repair a Leaking Close Coupled Toilet

This is the most likely root of the cause, however there can be others so read on to learn about how to resolve leaks with close coupled toilets. Why is my Close Coupled Toilet Leaking When I Flush?? With everything cleaned and ready refit, pop the brand new doughnut down on top of the toilet cistern in it’s recess making sure that it is sitting correctly and flat on the toilet pan. Although we have established the most likely cause of a newly installed leaking close coupled cistern above, occasionally the same type of leak will occur with a toilet that has previouysly had no issues, most of the time for years, so why would it suddenly start leaking? Using a spanner if there are nuts present or your fingers if there are wingnuts, unscrew each nut and then carefully lift the cistern free of the toilet pan.

If however you find that you still have a leak then you will need to remove the cistern again and apply some Plumbers Mait all around the doughnut, top and bottom. Once reassembled this should now fully resolve any leaks. If these rubber seals are not installed correctly and aren’t actually creating the required seal they’re supposed to, no matter how slight a gap there is, water can easily leak down through. With the wall fixings removed the final job before removing the cistern is to loosen and remove the through bolts holding the cistern to the pan. In almost all cases there will be at least 1 screw holding the top of the cistern to the wall or surface behind. Along with the through bolts, these will hold the cistern firm and level.

The close coupled toilet is a fairly modern iteration and was meant as a replacement for the older and less efficient low level toilet. This is a problem in itself as the two types of toilet suite are very rarely interchangeable due to their size and layout. To see how to get over this problem go to our project on changing toilets