Replace the entire shut off valve?

Question

I had posted a question a couple days ago thinking that the fill valve I had just replaced inside the toilet tank was bad. When I went to raise the height of the float as suggested, I turned the water off, and drained the tank so that I could take the fill valve out to unscrew it (yes, it must come out to do this, there's not room in the tank to twist it and raise it).

I came back in the room 20 minutes later and the tank was half full. This tells me the shut off valve is leaking. Is that correct? Do I need to replace the entire shut off valve to fix this (i.e. handle, line to toilet, washer, etc)?

Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

Let me get this straight, The tank filled properly and 20 min later it was half empty,right? That means the flush valve is letting water leak past it. It's the 'flapper' in the center of the toilet tank. Most of them just snap off and on, but could be more involved on diff. toilets

Regards, Lee

Answer 2

It would be a good idea to replace the shut off valve with a 1/4 turn valve. You can get them at any Lowes, Home Depot etc. Just be sure to turn the water off at the water main, but you already knew that.

Answer 3

yep  replace it with a 1/4 turn metal shut off valve these can be bought in a hardware store make sure you know what kind of fitting you need going into the wall  s***w on, compresion etc, and look for toilet valve  these are a slightly more expensive valve but are worth it as they take forever to wear out  

Answer 4

I was not in this discussion previously so I have no idea what is going on....except that hmmm the float mechanism is now the shut off valve.   When the float is up to the prescribed height that you wish, the water stops flowing.   It matters not that the little valve in the wall by the baseboards is leaking.  That is there if you want to replace the entire toilet(much more convenient than shutting off the house water supply(or the toilet bowl cracks) but you did not need to replace that toilet because it is your second unit and nobody was going to use it so you just shut off the water to it.

   That can remain even if it is a leaker for the float will stop it.  However with most float units the float is on a brass shaft and to adjust the water height in the tank, you just bend the shaft slightly....so the float hangs lower.  The water will fill sooner in the tank(meaning a lower level)   If it is one of those plastic tower floats, ask at the hardware store how they adjust(I can't see it in my mind) so can't tell you how it works; except that there is no need to loosen any screws or drain the tank.