“Is your urinal running? Better go catch it!” – that’s a joke I’ve never heard or made until just now, but it seems like a great lead into what we’re discussing today – urinal problems. Urinal problems can be daunting for a business owner who might ordinarily know what to do about a clogged toilet. What’s more, businesses with a number of urinals could be losing a lot of money from urinals that are running and aren’t stopping. Water leaks are also costly. Let’s look at some common urinal problems, some easy fixes you might try, and when you should call a plumber:
Your urinal might have a backed-up drain. This could be the result of a less than considerate guest in your building clogging it up with all manner of things we won’t list here. This means that the process of unclogging your urinal is sometimes as simple as removing whatever is in there with a plunger or by some other means. When that doesn’t work, it could be the drain line or the vent stack, and that’s when you’re going to need to call a plumber.
When your urinal won’t stop running, it could be because of a malfunctioning or contaminated diaphragm, located toward the top of the urinal. You can fix this yourself in many cases. You’ll want to turn off the main water line if you can (in case it’s a more serious problem). Once that’s done, turn off the secondary line that feeds the urinal in question. You’ll then remove the flush head cap and check to see if there’s anything blocking the diaphragm, whether or not the diaphragm is damaged, and if it needs repair. This process isn’t too awful, but if you’re worried, never hesitate to call a plumber.
Another common problem is flush pressure. When there is too little flush pressure, the urinal doesn’t flush properly and you can end up having to clean it out more often than you’d like. When there is too much flush pressure, water can end up splashing outside of the urinal, leaving a mess that neither you nor your clients will enjoy. Fortunately, there’s a built-in flush pressure regulator on most urinals. You just need to unscrew the cap protecting it and then turn the regulator – typically, turning clockwise will decrease flow, while turning counterclockwise will increase flow.
Another problem is when your urinal doesn’t flush at all. Here, it’s important to inspect the secondary line feeding water to the urinal; make sure it’s not off and not leaking. If that doesn’t help, it’s a very good idea to call us – we do commercial plumbing in Winnipeg so we can help with this problem, as well as any of the problems we mentioned above. There are so many potential causes for a urinal not flushing that we can’t list them all here. Many of them require the services of a professional plumber so contact us today!
