Broken Toilet Fixed with 3D Printing
One day, while rushing to catch a plane, our toilet decided to break—it simply wouldn’t flush. It’s funny how the worst things seem to happen when you’re in a hurry. To get it working temporarily, I had to manually pull the chain connected to the tank valve. Fixing it properly would have to wait until after our trip.
When I returned home, I set about repairing the toilet. Upon opening the tank and removing the flush mechanism, I discovered that the plastic lever arm connecting to the tank valve was cracked in the middle. This crack allowed the pin attached to the pull handle to slip free, preventing the flush mechanism from working.
The plastic was not only cracked in several places but also seemed to be disintegrating overall, so using epoxy resin to glue it back together was out of the question. Since the piece was simple in design, I figured it would be perfect to replace with a 3D-printed part.
I began by taking some basic measurements and doing a quick sketch. Then, I fired up Fusion 360 to model the part. After slicing the model and exporting the Gcode, I sent it to the printer. Even after nearly seven years, my PRUSA i3 mk2 is still going strong!
However, the holes in the first prototype were smaller than those in the original part, so I enlarged them. I also realized that fitting the center pin would be difficult without removing the metal band at the bottom of the assembly. Since removing the metal band seemed like it would take some effort, I redesigned the lever so that it could be slid into place without needing to remove the band.
But while test-fitting the second printed part, the metal band unexpectedly came off. With the band removed, I had easy access to the center pin, so I reverted to the original design and printed the lever a third time.
After assembling everything with the final print, it worked perfectly! Initially, I installed the lever with the side that had a slight hump facing the spring on the plunger.
However, I noticed the spring was catching slightly on the hump, so I took it apart and reinserted the lever with the flat side facing the spring. Now, it works much more smoothly.
Hopefully, I won’t have to work on this toilet again for years to come!