Spontaneous porcelain toilet breakage?
Question:I'm hoping someone can put a rest to our speculations. One of our porcelain toilets had one day just cracked in at least three different, and what appeared to be non-communicating areas of the tank. A loud crash prompted the whole family to run to the bathroom to find water from the tank spilling onto the floor because the bottom left of the tank had cracked open, and yet on the opposite right side of the tank a piece had cracked off, and above that another crack. What was amazing to us was that the tank cover was intact and unmoved. We were expecting to find the cover cracked, which might have cracked into the tank, causing the tank to break, but how can the tank break in different areas and not the cover? Most of the parts inside the tank were plastic or rubber and the water pressure in the tank didn't seem that strong to cause such breakage. What can cause such a thing? Please, please set our wandering minds to rest.
Answers:
Interesting one! How old is the tank? It is possible that when it was installed, assuming it's fixed to the wall, the fixings were overtightened, causing the porcelain to be stressed. Moreso if the wall isn't flat. This can take a while to show - the pressure of the water filling the tank (and standing in the tank when full) can add just enough to the stress to cause cracking (each time the tank fills the porcelain is stressed, and then released), and once started it will spread, leading ultimately to failure - as you have experienced. When fitting a new tank, ensure that the mounting is flat, and that the fasteners are not overtightened.
are you talking about the water tank attached to the water closet?
is it a new tank?
or how many gallons of water is it holding?
People have been wondering on that for years. I have seen one such event, but it was caused by construction in the neighboring condo.
IMO it was a combination of stress from the bolts, and the combination of temperature in the room, plus the difference in temperature of the water coming in. The same factors that are the reason that some glass oven doors explode, and some Chevy trucks have a crack in the windshield that goes from the bottom center to the lower right side.
Stress and temperature difference.
replaced buy new one or change part
SAME THING HAPPEN TO ME 2 YEARS BACK!!
Was told, the floor was uneven causing one of the bolts to handle more pressure then the other side.
Then finally couldn't take no more, causing slight crack.
With water filling tank, vibrations, every time you sit on toilet, wear & tear was all combined to cause it to finally crack.
Does that make sence? Guess so!
weight or you got a defect it can happen ya know go by a new toilet and use the old one for flowers outside in your yard
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