my toilet is not flushing frequently enough.Keep having to push
ball valve down to release the water up.
It says on cistern...DERWENT MACDEE
METRO
3-PART SYPHON RANGE

Stephen Hill, March 2008

I also have had a spring break in my three part Macdee, fitted a large washer between the broken sections and works well. (Now a 2 section spring
As for leaving a large amount of water in the cistern after a flush I have found that if you hold the flushing lever down untill the flus is completed I found it is then absolutly empty. It just requires you must eductae the flushing method when any person uses you loo???

Tommy Thomas, January 2013

i didn't darren, still figuring it out...

justin, March 2011

Did you ever get an answer Justin? I have exactly the same problem ie. only have a one piece syphon. It looks like the cistern is going to have to be un-coupled and taken off the wall to fix this little beauty

Darren, March 2011

http://www.gwsupplies.co.uk/p/8610/macdee+metro+1+pice+oblong+flushing+siphon.htm

this is it. is the only way of replacing this is from the bottom?

Justin, March 2011

i have a derwent macdee syphoon. The problem is seems to be a one piece unit not a three piece. The only way i can see to replace is to remove the large pipe at the bottom of the cistern tank, this is where the water flows from the cistern tank to the toilet bowl. However i cannot reach this as the cistern is down behind a wooden panel. Has anyone ever came across a one piece syphoon by derwent macdee?

Justin, March 2011

Temporary fix until I can get a replacement diaphragm...duct tape..just patched over the torn diaphragm and reassembled...flushes fine.

John Kane, March 2011

I have attempted to follow Simon Massey's instructions (May 2008). I got to stage 3 but although I have a wrench to fit the nut with a handle short inough to fit into the cistern, there is no room to turn it when it is on the nut. Any tips and suggestions welcome.

Chris, August 2010

wish I'd contacted macadee to get a free one! However' Steve at Toiletspares gave super advice and a next day delivery at a good price (for the siphon unit.

John, May 2010

My toilet did not flush,bank holiday,what a nightmare. Read your reports on Derwent MACDEE Metro 3. Believe me I am no plumber far from it but decided to ( have a go myself ). Dont touch long narrow pipe just unscrew the large fat pipe from narrow pipe fiddly to remove,once removed take apart, once apart take out damaged plastic Diaphragm ( very thing round piece of plastic ) at bottom of Diaphragm. Cut a new piece of plastic from thousands of products with same thickness and copy old size. Replace. It really is that simple, and put together. Flush away.

Terry Power, May 2010

Just before I repaired my syphon, I filled in the form on the MacDee website to ask where to get replacement parts from. I then repaired it as described in my previous message. Three days later a complete replacement syphon majically appeared in the post from MacDee free of charge.

Alex, September 2009

The pull rod and spring had broken on my MacDee Metro. My wife bought a cheap replacement syphon (not MacDee) from my local DIY shop and of course it then did not fit the cisten. However, to my supprise, the rod was the same diameter and length as the MacDee and the spring (although narrower and longer) still did the job. We now have a flushing toilet.
Reading the entries below I also decided to change the diaphram. I used a spare bit of damp proof course film. It seemed to be the same material as the original (just a different colour).

Alex, September 2009

I have followed the superb instructions and replaced the defective syphon diaphram in my low level MCDEE cistern but am not completely happy. Could anyone tell me how much water should be left within the cistern after flushing? I seem to have a lot, about three inches deep in the bottom. The flush is definately working much better. The ball valve cuts off just beflow the over flow. We use the double flush but occasionally it still leaves sediment in the toilet bowl. Thank you.

Ruffie, August 2008

i bought one today after reading this page, it was bought from city plumbing supplies. sorted.

neil, June 2008

You can get siphon diaphragm replacements from here for pennies but the postage is high

http://www.bes.ltd.uk/products/119.asp

Look for part 11199. Note with the three part metro you dont have to empty the cistern. It comes in three parts so you leave the main pipe in and remove oblong bit

Will Nunez, May 2008

Could be the diaphragm on your syphon unit has gone. If you take a look at this picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26046989@N05/2445809417/ it has a picture into the top of a toilet that was failing to flush which had been getting worse at flushing for a while. The problem was a tear in a plastic sheet which lifts the water when you push the handle. The solution is to buy and fit a whole new "syphon assembly". The syphon assembly is basically the whole central plastic section shown in the picture with the two pipe tower that has 'Derwent MacDee' written on it. You can buy the replacement assembly from a good hardware store such as Leyland SDM in London or from a plumbers merchant. As they don't tend to advertise on the internet very well I suggest that you search for 'plumbers merchant' at 192.com which turned up a large number of them.

Here is how to replace the syphon assembly:

1) Isolate the water supply which is filling the tank. In our case there was a brass pipe running up to where the water enters the tank. In the brass pipe was a silver compression joint with a flat screw head on the side. Turn the screw head 90 degrees to the left to shut the valve. Now if you push the ballcock down no water comes in so you have isolated the water supply.

2) Empty the toilet tank. We didn't have a plastic pipe to syphon it so I unscrewed the ballcock and bailed it out with a large mug. Took a while. When the mug couldnt get anymore out I used a small towel to soak the rest. This is important as you get the assembly out by unscrewing it from below.

3) Get below the tank. The fat pipe were the water goes into the toilet is actually secured with two large nuts. One large nut holds the pipe in place, the other olds the syphon assembly straight within the tank. You will need a large wrench to get the screws undone. This cost a tenner from a hardware store.

4) With the nuts undone the syphon assembly is now detatched from the tank. You now need to use a pair of pliers (or two) to straighten the wire holding the handle lever to the rod in the top of the syphon assembly. With that done you can lift the assembly out of the tank.

Turn over the assembly. Inside the box section of it is a rod, spring and plastic diaphragm. Our diaphragm was torn. That had been making it harder to flush intil it wouldn't any more. Effectively what that diaphram does is lift up the water until it goes up one tower in the syphon and falls down the main pipe. If it is torn you wont lift the water and it does not flush.

Now I read that you can buy a new diaphram. However the whole assembly was less than 8 pounds at a hardware store. So it seems safer just to buy a whole knew one which is sure to work. To assemble it just go through the steps above in reverse.

simon massey, April 2008

Hi Stephen,
Have had a similar problem myself and have been working on the problem today. I too have a Derwent Macdee Metro 3 Part Syphon Range fitted.
I tried buying a complete new syphon and fitting it but i was to big for the cistern - oooooops.
However further investigation of the Macdee syphon showed that the diaphragm was split and therefore not performing properly.
I went to y local DIY supplier and found some diaphragm replacements, they are not the exact size but I managed to fashion it to fit and the system is now working OK.
Have spent the last couple of hours trying to find a company that manufactures/supplies these things, no luck with the part I want but have sent emails requesting advise.
I guess the answer to your problem may be fashion one to fit in the short term and if I get any more info about the diaphragms I will let you know.
By the way it is really easy to take out the syphon without draining the cistern, it just lifts out.
Regards
Graham

Graham, April 2008

you need to replace the syphon get a new one from http://www.lunns.net/cisternspares/

Guy, March 2008