3D printers have practical applications - or Toilet humor, you decide.

[ddmckee54]

Background information - My house was built in 1890 and the downstairs bathroom is small, I think it used to be a closet.  Being generous I think it may be 3.5' wide and 5' long.  Packed into that 3.5' width is a small vanity and the toilet.  The toilet is one of those models where the flush handle is on the side.  There's MAYBE 1-1/2" between the toilet tank and the vanity.  Flushing the toilet always has been a trick.

About a week ago the plastic bushing keeping the flush handle in place in the toilet tank decided to disintegrate.  I could NOT find a repair/replacement kit for this handle.  I wasn't looking forward to that replacement anyway.  There was no way to replace the handle that didn't involve removing at least the tank, so I could get the old handle out and new one installed.  (1-1/2" clearance remember?)  I was ALMOST ready to replace the entire toilet, but I'm a cheap S.O.B. and I really didn't want to do that - at least not without a BETTER reason.

Then I remembered that I have a 3D printer. I can fix this, I can make it better, stronger, faster... (You know the rest.)  Well I can surely make it a HELLUVA lot cheaper than a new toilet.  So last night I designed, printed, and installed a brand spanky new split bushing with a locking C-ring for the flush handle.  My toilet is once again flushing properly.  No pictures and no videos, but this DID actually happen.  Come-on, it's a toilet tank - use your imagination.

Don

[propforward]

In my mind, it is magnificent.

[Vixen]

Flushed with success..... you might say

Mike

[Kim]

That's an impressive and useful application of your 3D printer!
I'll have to use this as an argument in favor when I make the pitch to my wife for a 3D printer

I don't have one yet, but it's only a matter of time I think...

And you KNOW we need pictures of your work there to believe it happened! 

Kim

[Bearcar1]

Ya should've installed an overhead pull chain to flush..... Lol!!!! 3-D printers are a fantastic arrival in this age of no-one makes replacement parts anymore... society has become so "who cares" .... *sigh* I am glad you can now (ahem) sit, in confidence once again.     


BC1
Jim

[ddmckee54]

For all of you naysayers that insist "without pictures it didn't happen".  Check out the attachment, 'cause it DID SO happen.

Don

[Kim]

Looks great!  You certainly did do it!  I'm a believer now 

Kim

[kvom]

As it happens I have a 3D printer on the way via UPS.  Looking to see how much of a small engine can be printed vs. machined.

[cnr6400]

That should do the job for a very long time Don!
You might say it fits right up flush with the washer...    

CAD and 3D printer are very handy for making bits to keep things running around the house and shop, and for selected bits like electric switch actuators or housings in cars/trucks. My Ender 3 has paid for itself a long time ago. Great fun for making toys of various sorts for kids, too.

[ddmckee54]

Well, this little project managed to reach out and bite me in the butt one more time.

Friday night after I got home from work, there were times when I could swear I could hear water dripping.  After checking the flush valve which wasn't leaking, I checked the bottom of the toilet tank and it was dry - but I could still hear water dripping.  I went down into the basement to check things out from the bottom side and I had a rather large puddle on the floor of my shop.  The plumbing for the downstairs bathroom was one of the major obstacles that I had to maneuver my dust collector lines around.  There was a steady drip but I could not spot the source of the leak.  I was highly suspicious of the toilet so I shut off the fill valve to the toilet.  I mopped up the mess and figured that I'd stand a better chance of finding the leak when things had dried out.

The next day when things had mostly dried out I turned the fill valve back on and started checking for leaks.  Everything on the outside of the toilet tank was still dry, so I started working my way down the fill line.  The bottom of the braided fill line, right above where it connects to the fill valve, was wet - apparently the corrugated brass liner had cracked inside the braid and was leaking.  One new 12" fill hose later, and I NOW have a toilet where the dry side stays dry and the wet side stays wet.

Don 

[crueby]

Sh*t happens!  Maybe the fill line was jealous and wants you to custom make parts for it too!


 

[ddmckee54]

"Sh*t happens!  Maybe the fill line was jealous and wants you to custom make parts for it too!"

Not gonna happen Chris, the old line got customized right into the trash bin.

Don

[MJM460]

A little (but relevant) side track - friends of hours, recently returned from a six week holiday to find their home flooded, with lots of damage, including the parquetry floors spread over two levels.  Turned out that the culprit was one of those braided hoses.  Looked like it broke as they shut the door on leaving for the trip.

They were told that those hoses have a limited life, and should be replaced every 10 years.  Of course they don’t all leak at 11 years, but if you want to avoid damage ………

I wonder how many of us have ever heard of this, I hadn’t. It seems like a very short life for plumbing fittings, most of which seem to last nearly forever.  At least an occasional inspection seems in order.  They probably come from the same factory, which ever country they are installed in in these days of globalisation.

It sounds like you were lucky to have found it when it was just a small leak.

MJM460