Toilet cistern not refilling after flush - please help!

[Rachb07905]

So basically it is a Saniflow toilet (macerator) but we have had no problems with the macerator unit itself, it is the actual plumbing/water side of things that is causing issues. Please see the pictures below for some extra context.

Every 2 or 3 flushes, the toilet cistern does not automatically fill back up with water which means there is no water to flush again. This is obviously really annoying and means either holding the flush handle up or pushing my finger down on the area shown (I think this is the float ball?) and this allows the refill to happen, but stops as soon as you stop doing so.

The landlord seems to know about the problem already and says that it is a case of the float ball (ball cock?) getting stuck meaning the water level does not rise, however it seems to me that it is actually simply too big to fit between the wall of the cistern and the tank (?), apologies for my poor terminology as I know next to little about plumbing! He is going to descale the cistern which he reckons will get it solved but I think the ball cock is simply too big and a design flaw, but he says it is extremely difficult to source a smaller one.

Any help or advice would be amazing, it is really inconvenient and is kinda embarrassing if we want to have guests, let me know if I can give any more explanation that may be of assistance too!


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[Burnerman]

That looks like a typical Torbeck fill valve, where the inverted umbrella rises when the water enters the cistern.
Is the thing scraping against the cistern wall, causing it to stick shut when the loo is flushed?
John

 

[Rachb07905]

Yeah it kinda gets wedged in between the cistern wall and then the plasticy tank thing... Will descaling solve the problem do you think? It just seems to big for the gap!

 

[Burnerman]

Nope, I don't think it will.
It may be possible to rotate the fill valve a fraction just to give it clearance, but another way is to replace the flush system with a flapper valve which is much smaller and neater. Unfortunately this will involve splitting the loo cistern from the pan to fit it, but it will give you the room you need.
I can't think of any slimmer fill valves than the one you have.
John

 

[Rachb07905]

How much of a big job will this be? We are renting and I don't think the landlord will be keen on doing anything major to the system... Is there any easy solution to this at all?

 

[Rachb07905]

Could you not just cut a bit off the floatball to make it thinner?

 

[Burnerman]

It's not really major work.....the loo doesn't work properly and it needs to - simples!
It's usually possible to rotate the valve without any real problems which may give you the clearance you need.....which isn't much.
John

 

[Burnerman]

Could you not just cut a bit off the floatball to make it thinner?

That could backfire as it may not shut the water off fully ......however, it may be possible to squash the float to an oval shape which could sort things.
The more modern float is actually open at the bottom these days.
John