# Urinal Syphon Flush Tank......



## Lifer

Hey folks ... long time no post . Life has changed somewhat as I am now Plumbing for my local school board as the only on staff Plumber ( 27 Schools ) all is going well considering my mostly residential back round. One issue has come up that I hope you all may be able to help with . 

The type of Urinal flush tank I am referring to is the hidden type that serves a bank of Urinals . My issue with them is they run all the time , not filling up and then flushing on there own . Since parts and no longer available I am looking into how I would be able to repair them to flush properly . 

I am open to all suggestions and thoughts .

I have tried replacing the inner sleeve with a traditional syphon tube ( candy cane style ) , I have tried 1/2 3/4 and also 1" copper for this and all seem to function in the same manor, with the 1" " flushing " the fastest . 

My problem arises with the Syphon .... I can not get it to break the Syphonic action , it fills and drains fine the first time but then when the water gets to the bottom of the tube ( candy cane ) it continues to suck water into it . To try and combat this i cut the tube on an angle and even tried cutting Slots in it to NO AVAIL ... 

Any thoughts ? 

I am going to try to attach some pics but it has been a while ...lol 
Lifer


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## Lifer

No one ?


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## justme

Give it awhile for old timers to get up and drink their coffee and get going. I'm sure someone will be able to help ya.


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## Lifer

Lol ok been on my mind for a few days ..... I'llget a coffee and wait a while .


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## dclarke

What if the "U" was longer ? Cut a slit or drill a hole higher up ? Complete WAG as I've never dealt with these.


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## Lifer

Will it work ?


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## hasbean

cut down the amount of water going in , try that


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## Lifer

Tried that , did not make a difference , though I inly gave it about 10 min to break the syphon .


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## PLUMBER_BILL

Lifer said:


> Tried that , did not make a difference , though I inly gave it about 10 min to break the syphon .


This can be a compliated repair but way back in the 60's we had one which we jury rigged. As I remember we had a high tank feeding 3 urinals. We installed a ballcock with a float arm, on the float arm we brazed a ring. the bottom of the tank had a regular brass flush valve using lift wires. What made it work in automatic function was a piece of brass chain was attached to the ring we brazed on, the other end went to the fift wire -- when the fload rod went up IE: filling it tighten the chain until it lifted the flush ball the rod then came down flush stopped. The cycle started all over again. We throttled the inlet to slow down the cycle. Worked good, needless to say it did waste water.


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## ILPlumber

I will have 6 of these June 1st. They are presently in working condition...


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## 422 plumber

You getting them from a school by me?


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## ILPlumber

422 plumber said:


> You getting them from a school by me?


 
Nope. Down south. 

I would be willing to ship to help someone out though..


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## Lifer

The Douglas valve idea has merrit , but the hole in the flush tank is too small to fit it in ?

Ilplumber - thanks for the offer but I need a perminat solution .


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## mightypipe

Lifer said:


> The Douglas valve idea has merrit , but the hole in the flush tank is too small to fit it in ?
> 
> Ilplumber - thanks for the offer but I need a perminat solution .


Why couldn't you replace the tank with something else?


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## Lifer

What would you suggest I replace it with ? I am open to ideas ?


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## Lifer

http://www.users.waitrose.com/~ttagrevatt/vlav/autocistern.gif 

This is where I got the inspiration for my idea . I did not see the lil bump in the down tube ( by the letter a ) till version. 7.2 lol so I am trying that now,


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## mightypipe

Lifer said:


> What would you suggest I replace it with ? I am open to ideas ?


Concealed institutional flushometers?

I know there is not enough water supply currently, and they are expensive...


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## Lifer

Well they also back onto a 2x4 wall and another classroom ..... Ohh and there is no money for that lol


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## mightypipe

Lifer said:


> Well they also back onto a 2x4 wall and another classroom ..... Ohh and there is no money for that lol


Figured you already thought of that...

What about 24v solenoid valve and timer?


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## Lifer

Sadly that's getting to be my only option .... I had hope I could get it with out a powered acuator.


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## dclarke

i think id try making a few of those tubes with plastic. id bet the copper is getting expensive if you have made enough.


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## Lifer

Lol thx ..... Smartazz.


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## Lifer

well .. I had to give up today , perhaps the wheel was just not ready to be re-invented . This idea has not gone far from my head though i may have to do some tinkering in the garage tonight and see if I can come up with WHY!



Lifer


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## red_devil

You check online for used parts or local stores for used parts. We have a few stores here that will have almost any part for anything. Junky places but the owners normally know what they have.


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## johnlewismcleod

Why not a solenoid on the supply with a timer?


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## dclarke

Actually we have a supply house here with some ancient stock. Dover plumbing supply. You could Google them and try. Shot in the dark but you may be surprised. They had a urinal with an exposed trap for us before and I have seen either antiques in the warehouses.


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## thumper

i know this is an old post, but looking at the pictures how do you flush the urinals? I don't see any handles in the picutre. Would you have been able to stick in a sloan vacuum breaker in that tailpiece connected to the tank?
I'm just curious, never seen this setup before.


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## plbgbiz

thumper said:


> i know this is an old post, but looking at the pictures how do you flush the urinals? I don't see any handles in the picutre. Would you have been able to stick in a sloan vacuum breaker in that tailpiece connected to the tank?
> I'm just curious, never seen this setup before.


I think water runs continually. It flows from the tank and is distributed evenly (hopefully) to each of the urinals. Kinda like an old trough urinal but with individual stalls.

Re-read Plumber_Bill's post. He explains how to make a constant running and flushing tank work.


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## WashingtonPlung

*better late then never*

I just worked on these today. What you see to be missing is the cover for that siphon assembly. It actually looks like a cast iron cone that sits on top of it over flow tube and siphon tube.

If you need a picture let me know


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## moonapprentice

Washington plunge, please do an introduction thread on yourself


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