Concealed toilet cistern leak

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Hello and thank you for reading this post.

Does anyone have any tips for sorting out the following small problem.

In my bathroom there is a concealed toilet cistern behind a ceramic tiled section of timber board false wall. The wall's about 4 feet tall and had a flat top which I've removed to reveal the cistern below. The bathroom and the view of the cistern from above are shown in attached photos 1 and 2. There's a photo of the underside of the cistern shown in attached photo 3.

The cistern is fed by mains water from underneath via a flexible metal pipe. There is no service valve here. The flexible pipe joins directly on to the bottom of the plastic mains inlet part which is, like normal cisterns, inside the cistern then secured from underneath with a plastic nut. There is a valve but this is situated at the top outlet of the inlet part inside the cistern.

The cistern is leaking from underneath. I think the leak is from the mains inlet part where it passes through the bottom of the cistern.

Before renewing the entire unit with associated damage to tiled false wall, I'd like to first try undoing a little the plastic nut to the underside of the cistern securing the mains inlet part and apply sealant to the inside and underside of the fitting, then fasten up the nut.

(Sorry if this is a very basic problem to be writing about.)

The problems are though that at present I cannot see the plastic nut directly and so cannot get a monkey wrench on to it, and anyway there's barely enough width between the inside of the false wall and the structural wall to turn the monkey wrench.

Any tips here on how to proceed?

Thank you very much.
 

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It looks like the leak is on the flush pipe /to cistern joint. Pics show no access from below ,so you will probably need to create some unfortunately .
 
Remove the tile above the toilet, then cut out an access panel to do any repairs. Then refit a new tile so that it can be removed for any future problems. I come across this problem many times when customers want a nice bathroom but never think about access when things go wrong.

Andy
 
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Thank you for your reply and for the idea.

The design is from the original construction of the house in 2004. Totally impractical for maintenance!
 
It looks like the leak is on the flush pipe /to cistern joint. Pics show no access from below ,so you will probably need to create some unfortunately .
I`m thinking it is the joint below that one looking at the stains. This is a hand tight joint with the usual nut, backing washer and rubber cone washer compression joint.
 
I`m thinking it is the joint below that one looking at the stains. This is a hand tight joint with the usual nut, backing washer and rubber cone washer compression joint.
That's the joint I am referring to JP. Not the flush valve to cistern. The flush pipe to the valve. Sorry for the confusion.
 
Thank you JP and TP. Yes, I might be able to reach that joint and renew washers. Would you put on sealant as well as new washers, or just the washers?
 
Try undoing the nut and let slide down the pipe, hopefully the plastic backing washer will follow it then (this will be the hard part) prise the rubber cone washer out of the joint. Clean the washer and the housing with a wet/ damp cloth to remove any scale and refit without any sealant.
 
Try undoing the nut and let slide down the pipe, hopefully the plastic backing washer will follow it then (this will be the hard part) prise the rubber cone washer out of the joint. Clean the washer and the housing with a wet/ damp cloth to remove any scale and refit without any sealant.
Actually, use tape wrapped around the pipe or a cable tie to stop the nut etc dropping down where you can`t reach it.
 
Your welcome. Incidentally ,if you flush the WC ,that joint will then have water running thru and you should feel for damp/ wet. If leak is on the fill valve side ,as you originally thought ,it would be wet in that area all the time.
 

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