Flushpipe connector will not seal into BTW WC.

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I have been having some real problems trying to get a standard plastic connector (at the end of the flush pipe) to fit securely into the aperture at the rear of a back-to-wall WC. After using a small amount of silicone on the connector and it failing to remain watertight I tried instead using a couple of different types of connectors (these were rubber) following advice from the plumbers’ merchant. With both of these also failing to work I called the manufacturers, Twyfords, to ascertain whether there was a specific connector required for the job, but they assured me that the standard type (with the four tapered fins) was suitable.

This is driving me nuts. Anybody have any advice, please?
 
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Put the silicone away.

Remove the flush pipe connector from the pan and thoroughly clean and dry both it and the pan. Push the clean and dry connector into the hole in the back of the pan, then insert the flush pipe and securely connect the flush pipe to the cistern.

Now get your silicone out again, and carefully apply it at the joint between flush pipe and connector, and at the joint between connector and pan.

Walk away and don't test it for at least 24 hours. Padlock the door shut so that nobody else can either.
 
Is it leaking between the connector and flush pipe, or between the pan and connector?

Have a close look at the hole in the back of the pan and the end of the flush pipe. It's not unknown for these to be less than perfect, either out of round or too uneven for the seal to do it's job.

Otherwise, for fitting the seal, I'm with Softus.

Silicone in the wrong place makes a good lubricant so plastic or rubber seals can easily pop out again just when you think everything's lined up and tightened up nicely.
I spent a day wedged upside down in a vanity unit trying to fit a waste trap learning that one.
 
At the first attempt I put the standard connector in probably with too much silicone (in the light of your remarks). Returning to test it the following day it certainly did not look like it had set sufficiently securely to hold water and er…it didn’t. I then tried fitting a black rubber version which the plumbers’ merchant reckoned was for a Grohe WC. Now this fitted very tightly into the back of the pan but was a little loose around the flush pipe so I applied a little silicone between connector and the flush pipe. Again, left it 24 hours but it did not hold - it leaked from where I had applied the silicone, though not between pan and connector. It was at this stage that I contacted the manufacturers to enquire as to determine the correct item.

I am going to do exactly what Softus recommended in his post tomorrow but I note your comment, Tickly:

TicklyT said:
Have a close look at the hole in the back of the pan and the end of the flush pipe. It's not unknown for these to be less than perfect, either out of round or too uneven for the seal to do it's job.

I spent a day wedged upside down in a vanity unit trying to fit a waste trap learning that one.

This is the problem, though. With this installation it is not possible to look at the hole without the aid of a mirror. You simply cannot get behind the WC compartment area. This whole compartment area has been tiled over and above the cistern the installers only left a movable panel two tiles wide. This is slightly wider than the width of the WC cistern but once the cistern is in place there is very limited scope even with a mirror to check the connection. The check is made via a separate movable tiled panel just above floor level, but again, can only be done with the use of a mirror. It would not be possible then to get inside the compartment, upside down or otherwise.

In anycase, chaps, thanks for your advice.
 
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try 1 of these m8 .

rigiflex.jpg


they work a treat u can pull it out to seal it and push it back to the wall . :)

let me know how u get on . :)
 
oops look at the date .. :(


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The date is OK mate :) - look above the post (post date) not to the left (date of member joining)

Mod Rupert
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It's not a pan connector that I am having trouble with, it's the flush pipe connector that's causing the grief. You know, the connector for what's coming in, not what's going out!
 
yeh those flush pipe connectors can be a real pig! The key as others have said is to install dry! If you apply anything with silicone then you can forget it staying put. Also, sometimes the problem is that the pipe itself is too long or too short especially if its a plastic cistern If its too short, then when you flush the toilet, the whole cistern flexes and moves the pipe.

Also :!: check the connector, if the fins are deformed then warm it up in warm water and start again. ;)

Another tip is never to install a flexible pan connector with silicone lubricant :LOL:
 
Just signed up to thank you all for your contributions to this thread. I no longer feel I'm a totally incompetent DIY'er and I have a way forward.

My wife bought vanity units, sink and back-to-wall toilet pan for the downstairs loo. Oh, and a new radiator and valves. My bad for not properly checking the toilet vanity unit - the back board (? the part that the pan butts up to) is not removable and doesn't have a removable panel. The only cuts I was allowed to make was for the flush pipe and waste pipe connections and only large enough to do that job so we can't actually see the holes from outside. The flush cone is an absolute nightmare and with the cistern in place I can reach down to the 40mm flush pipe but can't actually apply any pressure on the cone to push it in.

Having spent days thinking this through I've decided to cut the flush pipe, insert one cut end and the cone into the pan then use a push fit straight coupler to rejoin the flush pipe as I push the pan back. I just hope I can apply enough force either end of the coupler to make it work.

This whole job has been an incredibly 'interesting' 'learning' experience and reminds me why I've always used skilled trades people my entire life. The wall I fitted the units to has an interesting parabolic curve I'd never noticed and the floor has a delightfully slight-but-confusing left to right and back to front slope so it took me a couple of days rather than couple of hours to fit them nicely, the soil pipe is actually 3.5" diameter (who knew they come in different sizes?) so I irreperably damaged the new pan connector I bought when trying to force it down the soil pipe (I think a modicum of furious frustration and bad temper exacerbated the problem), the hot and cold isolation valves would have been inaccessible behind the vanity unit so had to be moved.

On the upside, I learnt how to create a vacuum in the heating system so change the radiator valves was a much quicker event than it otherwise could have been.

Once again, thank you all.
Mike
 
Hi Andy,
this really was just a 'thank you' to all the thread contributers. I know the thread was started a lifetime ago but if any are still around ( ) their experiences and advice have been very useful
 
Always create a backstop behind the vertical section of the flush pipe... This prevents the flush pipe being pushed back when you push the pan back to the wall.
Some concealed cisterns come with a munson ring to facilitate this.
 
A good idea, thank you.

Having bought the connector and unable to push the pipe into it, I see that the FloPlast fittings and the flush pipe versions of 40mm are different. The flush pipe is much closer to 42/43mm on the outside. I imagine everyone else in the world knows this. I thought about a compression coupler but there isn't enough room on the pipe to fit and tighten. I'm going to try a Flexiflo connector as I'll be able to get a screwdriver down to tighten.
 

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