July 16 -- new flapper

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Our upstairs toilet was in serious need of a new flapper valve.  On the 16th, I addressed the issue.

I've tried the hardware-store flappers, and none of them fit properly, so I've resorted to getting them from Hutzel's  (the full-service plumbers).

In the interest of remembering when I changed out the old flapper, and of remembering all of the numbers requisite to acquiring the replacement flapper, I'm posting this here, where I bet I can find the info the next time I have to do this.

The toilet is a Kohler (I believe it's a Wellworth Light) 1.6 gallon.  Inside the tank is impressed K4620, and the Kohler replacement part is GP85160.

The difference between the old one and the new one is astonishing.  The old one is smaller, stiff, and much lighter in color.  I'm sure it shrank and stiffened in use, and I bet the color changed, too.  Weird.

The new one is a dark teal color, and very floppy.  More flexible than a rubber band.  The old one is powder blue, and only barely flexible.

Now we'll see how long before I have to buy another one.  The guy at Hutzel's offered to sell me several, but I know rubber deteriorates just sitting around, so I declined, thinking I'd rather have a *new* new one in the future, than an old "new" one that's been sitting around for years.......  (Maybe flappers are silicone now, rather than rubber?  I don't know, and I don't know how much difference that might make to "aging while not even in use yet."  Whatever.  I'll wait to get the next one.)



Thanks, Dad, for showing me how to do enough home-repairs sorts of things that I learned I can easily do something like this for myself!

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