tank to toilet gasket: workaround?

[Mr Downtown]

I've been having trouble this year with the tank-to-toilet gasket on my Mansfield toilet. At first I had a lot of trouble finding one the right size, then the new one leaked. In April I thought I finally had it tightened enough to stay dry, but this morning I discovered it had been leaking again. Since I live in a highrise, this is a serious problem for the people downstairs. Apparently the unit two floors down has paint damage.

Just press-fitting a ceramic tank onto a sponge rubber gasket seems like such a 19th century way to handle gallons and gallons of water, and I started pondering if there might be anything I could do that would be more leakproof while still getting water from tank to bowl.

[mattkime]

how old is it? How many gallons per flush?

[GGD]

Are you sure that's where it's coming from? Since the flapper keeps the water in the tank, the only time water passes by that gasket is for the few seconds during a flush while the flapper is lifted until it flaps back and closes. Then there's some additional water flowing through the overflow tube while the tank refills.

If it's a constant leak, not just when flushing occurs, maybe it's a different source, like the rubber washers around the heads of the bolts going through the tank that hold it to the base.

Seems like it would need quite a bit of leaking to reach two floors down when it can only leak during a flush cycle.

[cbelt3]

Time to replace every gasket from the wax ring on up. Or replace the whole thing.

[wurm]

Sounds like a job for Mighty Putty! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdjecOt__Nw

[Speedy]

Agreed, get a new toilet.

[Ombligo]

You may actually have it overtightened, which can cause a leak. There may be a small crack in the tank. The bolt washers may be bad. You need to find out where the leak is to know.

Put some food coloring in the tank, see where the leak is. Then decide what the best course of action is. It may be new washers, silicone sealent, flexsealing the entire inside of the tank, or replacing either the tank or the whole toilet.

[Bill in NC]

Replace with a one-piece.

[NewtonMP2100]

.....tanks......for the memories.......