We have an old Armitage Shanks toilet, but the wire bit inside that pulls the flush has snapped. Can't see where it was actually connected to, had to resort to throwing water down it this morning.

Any ideas?

Stella Young, April 2007

This used to happen to a toilet at our house years ago ... as a handy teenager still at home with my mum, this is how I fixed it.

You will need:
1 wire coathanger, like the ones you get from the dry cleaner + Something to cut it with
1 pair of longnose pliers

1. Cut a length of the coathanger to the same as the old wire. Keep it handy.
2. Get your hand underneath the mechanism in the tank that draws the water into the bowl and feel with your fingers until you find the plunger (it's the only moving part under there - you will be able to push it upwards).
3. Push it with your fingers. A long plastic pin will rise up towards the part of the flush handle that sits inside the tank.
4. The pin has a hole in it. Push your wire through that.
5. Use the pliers to bend the end into a loop.
6. Bend the other end and loop it through the flush handle.

Sorry, I'm not a plumber, I don't know the proper names of any of the nits inside the tank - but that's what I always used to do and it always worked for me!

Chris Townsend, August 2007

connects to the handle and the syphon, but that may have fell inside depending where it broke top or bottom. its only cheap to repair.

hi-spec plumbing, April 2007