Toilet Tank Not Filling but Water Running, What’s Happening?

Many problems can occur with your toilet. It may annoy you to handle these things, but you have to anyway. Why, though, that your toilet tank not filling but water running?

Why Your Toilet Tank Not Filling but Water Running

A toilet tank should never be empty. It is designed to refill up water whenever it is flushed. The water level should always be half an inch below the overflow tube. The water level under should trigger an automatic refill that will happen after approximately 10 seconds after flushing.

When a toilet is not refilling its water, it is a sign of a failed fill valve. It can also be caused by the wrong height of toilet float, cracked overflow tube, low water pressure, and a leaking flapper.

toilet tank not filling but water running

This will also lead to the toilet tank not filling after the water is shut off and the toilet bowl not filling with water. How do you fix this, then?

  1. Adjust the Toilet Float

A toilet float usually is connected to the toilet fill valve. It controls the valve’s opening and closing. When your float is set too low, the water level in your toilet tank will also be below. If you set it too high, the excess water will come out of the overflow tube.

A toilet tank should never be empty. It is designed to refill up water whenever it is flushed.

  1. Replace the Fill Valve

The fill valve is responsible for filling and refilling your tank whenever you flush your toilet. If this part of your toilet is faulty, it will not fill your tank correctly. The reason for this might be that foreign debris makes its way into the valve. Could you clean it up to fix the problem? However, if your tank still doesn’t fill up the way it should be, you should replace your fill valve.

  1. Replace the Flapper

Sometimes, minerals in the water can fill up the flapper of your toilet. This way, your flapper will not seal, resulting in running toilet and toilet tank that is not filled with water. The treatment for this is the same with the fill valve that is to clean it up. If this doesn’t work, replace it with a new toilet flapper.

  1. Replace the Overflow Tube of Your Toilet Tank

The overflow tube is supposed to throw excess water out of the tank to the bowl. However, your overflow tube maybe just broken. A broken overflow tube will send water down the bowl even when the water is overflowed. This can be the reason why you have running water but a tank that can’t fill up.

Those are the possible reasons why your toilet tank not filling but water running. You should check thoroughly before deciding to do anything significant to your toilet tank. Cleaning parts of the toilet tank like the valve and the flapper regularly will also help minimize the event.

To make sure you don’t have to run into those problems, it is also good to regularly check if anything is broken because sometimes things are just worn out.

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HomeTips is an experienced author and expert technician. With years of practical experience in the field authored several informative articles on various aspects related to home improvement, including installation, maintenance, and repair.