Cloudy Moon

Brother Phil had noted last summer that the toilet in the guest bathroom would occassionally flush when no one was around.  He said it was probably a slow leak and just needed the flapper changed out.  An easy fix.  The toilet in my bathroom was doing it too.  (Both are the same model and were installed at the same time.)   I didn't even consider calling a plumber.  If you remember, no plumber in the area would even return my call to replace a toilet last year.   A Google search on what causes toilets to run and a YouTube video later, yes, I can fix this.  With a new flapper in hand, I turned off the water feed to the toilet in my bathroom, flushed it, removed the vacuum tank, and unhooked the chain to the old flapper.  However, the arms that held the flapper in place were no longer pliable (more than likely the reason for the leak developing).   They were not going to easily slide off the posts they swung on.  There is more than one way to skin a cat.  Got out my box cutter and cut through the arms and then the remaining tiny pieces still encircling the posts.   After that it  was easy to install the new flapper (I got one that clicks into place).   Getting the chain to the correct length required a screwdriver to open up the clasp enough to slip the chain links through it.  Tested it out and everything works!  Haven't heard the toilet flushing on it's own since then either.  I'll buy another flapper next time I'm in town for the guest bathroom.  Maybe I should make a video - explaining how to use a knife and screwdriver when changing a toilet flapper.