4WD
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I drain mine and give it all a vinegar bath - the newer style float valves get calcium buildup as well …
Toilet flap
- Thread starter whizbyu
- Start date
Exactly.... It's a $6 part and takes a minute to replace.
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
It’s Korky and the last kit I bought was made in USA - so quit
buying Kung Flu Master …
buying Kung Flu Master …
Something is in your water that's causing this. That is way too short of time.... We have (had) extremely hard water but it never bothered the flappers, while I did have to replace the fill valve in our toilets every couple years. On the Mansfield toilets, I had to replace the flat, red gasket in the flush valve yearly.
Check your chlorine level. If it's excessive, you can install a carbon filter that should help reduce or remove chlorine.
I smear silicone brake paste all over everything, including my toilet flappers. Does it help? Maybe. I'd need a with and without test, have two toilets sitting right next to each other and somehow use both every time which could get messy. 
on some of the flapper balls/flaps is a hole, put a couple of penny's inside the flap ball to weight it a bit so it sits properly and not wave around, providing you have a clean mating surface, and the chain is correctly set up, and no tank tablets etc that can dry out the rubber compound of the flap ball,and make sure the toilet handle is also moving freely ,but not loose or binding.
He is in the Carolinas like I am. A year to a year and a half, max, then everything gets replaced. Water here just tears up fixtures. Had to replace all the faucets in the house also. One by one. House is 9 years old.......
How about the OEM part number Kohler flapper for Kohler toilet?
So you are saying with flush lever not held and flapper seated the chain should be able to be pulled 3/4" from a straight line?
With the tank drained, hold the flapper valve down on the flush valve seat. Then measure the pull chain (with clip attached) so that it is taut when attached to the lever in the resting position. Now add 1/2"- 3/4" to that taut chain length and perform a test flush. Adjust up/down a link or two to fine tune the flush action to your preference. Cut off the excess links, but leave 2-3 extra links in case you want to readjust later.
OEM in this Western lasted 10.X years. No chlorine in our water, but the old one, got kinda stiff. And it started to hang.
Here's the thing. I can see the new Corky doing the same at some point. These things have a small design flaw that allows the OD on the seal portion to hang on the wash pipe larger OD on the lower part of the tube.
Here's the thing. I can see the new Corky doing the same at some point. These things have a small design flaw that allows the OD on the seal portion to hang on the wash pipe larger OD on the lower part of the tube.
A lot of the ones they sell at the big box stores are OEM and the same quality as you'd find at a plumbing supply. Very possible if it's Korky (Lavelle), Fluidmster, or Kohler. Not all since some parts are universal fit. The Fluidmaster 5403 was sold as an HD house brand, but I could tell it was exactly the same OEM flapper I saw in my American Standard toilet. However, I've had that over a dozen years and it's still fine. And if it needed replacement, I would think just a silicone replacement seal would be enough if they sold them.
I do remember when I was looking for specific replacement flappers for 90s Kohler toilets. They had these weird designs, like the "shark fin" and one with a foam disk inserted into a pouch. HD sells them as OEM Kohler, but they're pretty expensive now. I remember years ago, either Kohler had them through plumbing supply or directly (I actually bought one direct from Kohler through their Yahoo store). I think you can buy direct from Kohler. However, Lavelle (Korky) probably made them for Kohler, and I remember when they were selling them as "Kohler Genuine Parts", but clearly with Lavelle listed as the seller/manufacturer. And those were cheap but the same quality as the ones Kohler sold. I think I bought those at HD for about $3 when Kohler was selling the OEM boxed ones for about $9. Later on it sounds like Lavelle no longer was authorized to sell those as Kohler genuine and just sold them as Kohler compatible under the Korky name.
I think any toilet that uses that shark fin was made over 20 years ago, but there are a lot of them still in use. I've seen the one on the bottom sold at HD.
The biggest problem is chloramine. It has less effect on the taste, but it can do a job on rubber or synthetic rubber. I also remember my dad loved to use in-tank cleaners and those were horrible on the flappers.
I don't know. I remember the factory-installed flapper in my parents' downstairs toilet was this specific Kohler part that I'm sure was made by Lavelle/Korky. It was black rubber with a foam insert embedded inside. It was leaking like crazy and when I examined it, the rubber was just flaking off where it mated to the flush valve.
I was able to get a replacement. Either from HD as Lavelle/Korky sold as Kohler genuine parts or Kohler OEM. Those used their proprietary red material. They used to have a brand name for it, but I don't recall the exact name. That's also been replaced, but the rubber never got as nasty as the original black one. When it was worn, the rubber at the mating surface was noticeably harder and discolored - maybe turning brown/yellow. However, I've never seen the rubber flake off.
