What Size Toilet Flapper Do I Need

Ensuring you accept the correct toilet flapper installed is vital, every bit it will assistance forestall leaks in your bathroom. If an incorrect or ill-plumbing equipment toilet flapper is installed, your toilet tin can not just leak and waste water, but it can toll you money as well. When visiting a dwelling improvement shop yous will find a daunting multifariousness of toilet flappers, so it is essential that you know how to purchase the right one. If the wrong toilet flapper is installed, your toilet volition not flush properly, or may use more h2o than designed to.

Types of Toilet Flappers

There are three principal types of toilet flappers: seat disk, tank ball, and rubber. Identifying what type of toilet flapper yous have is as elementary equally removing the top of your toilet tank and taking a await.

Seat Deejay

Seat deejay toilet flappers are the oldest type of toilet flapper. These flappers have a minor 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 as a weight to hold the flapper open when yous flush. However, when flushed, the reservoir drains out. Every bit a result, the flapper will close afterwards a certain amount of time.

seat disk toilet flapper

Being that seat disk flappers are the oldest type of flapper, they have some downsides. Sometimes, these flappers are big and accept upwardly a disproportionate amount of space in your toilet tank. This not only makes it more than 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 summit of the overflow pipe. When the toilet is flushed, the rubber ball is lifted by a chain straight upwards and off of the overflow piping. This allows h2o to pass through.

tank ball toilet flapper

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

Rubber

Rubber flappers are the well-nigh mutual type of toilet flapper in recently manufactured toilets. These flappers work past attaching a elementary cap to the overflow piping. The machinery of a prophylactic toilet flapper works similar to that of a tank ball flapper. When the toilet is flushed, a mechanism pulls a chain attached to the flapper to lift it. When the flushing is consummate, the chain allows the cap to drop back into identify.

rubber toilet flapper

The term "safety" may be deceiving, every bit non all flappers of this variety are made completely of rubber. Sometimes, these flappers only use an outer edge fabricated of rubber to seal tightly confronting the overflow pipe.

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

Size of Toilet Flapper

While the type of toilet flapper is essential, ensuring that y'all purchase a replacement that is the right size is besides vital. A universal sized toilet flapper used to be the norm, but today toilet flappers tin range anywhere from 2″ to four″ in size. The size of the flapper that your toilet uses commonly is determined by a couple of factors.

Engagement of Industry
- More recently manufactured toilets tend to use 3″ or 4″ flappers, as opposed to 2″ flappers.
Gallon Per Flush (GPF) Corporeality
- This refers to how much h2o flows in and out of the tank when the toilet is flushed. Information technology is important to know how many gallons your toilet uses and whether it is considered full flow or depression flow.
  - one.vi and 1.28 GPF toilets typically use 3″ toilet flapper valves.

different sizes of toilet flappers

Determining Size

If you are unsure of the size of your toilet flapper, at that place are a couple ways you can go about figuring it out.

Search make and model of toilet
- If you know the make and model of your toilet, you tin can search it to find out the size of your toilet flapper.
- If you exercise non know the make and model of your toilet, cheque the inside of the tank for the model number. Sometimes the number is on the within walls of the tank, and other times it is on the cover. Search this number, along with the visitor who manufactured your toilet to find out what size flapper is advisable.
Measure it
- The size of a toilet flapper is based off of the inside drain diameter.
- If it measures 1 7/viii″ or 2 three/8″ and so yous have a two″ toilet.
- If it measures in the 3″ range, you accept a 3″ toilet.

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Eyeball it
- Look at the flush valve drain opening at the lesser of your tank.
  - If the opening looks about the size of a baseball or orange, you need a 2″ flapper.
  - If the opening looks nearly the size of a softball or grapefruit, you need a iii″ flapper.

Important Note: Installing a larger toilet flapper (3″) on a smaller drain opening (2″) will not be constructive, so it is important to purchase the correct size.

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

Even so Unsure?

If you lot are even so unsure what toilet flapper to purchase, dwelling house comeback store workers are commonly well versed on the topic and tin assist you lot out. Sometimes, customers even bring their former toilet flapper to the home improvement store to be sure they are purchasing the correct one. So don't be afraid 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 y'all've already purchased your new toilet flapper and desire to learn more most how to install information technology, delight check out our article on How to Fix a Leaky Toilet Flapper.