iFixit - Answers With Device "Home Construction"

Plumbing: Why does toilet bowl keep losing water

Sat, 02 May 2026 13:25:09 -0700

Why would both of my toilet bowls keep losing water? They flush fine, empty out and fills back up fine but after a bit of time I'll go back in and the water in the bowls have gotten really low. I've checked for leaks nothing there & the wax rings are fine I'm just losing water out of the toilet bowls and I don't know how or where it's going. I always hear the bathtub drains clicking everytime I flush & my neighbors downstairs flush. I live in a condo on the second level, no condo above me but my neighbors below me are now saying that they have water leaking into their place that they think is coming from my condo above them. Could that be because of my toilets and is it possible for it to leak down to their apartment?

⟐ Commented 5월 02, 2026 at 13:25 GMT-7

Electrical: Old wiring to be replaced

Sat, 02 May 2026 09:21:02 -0700

How do I replace old wiring without it crumbling , it leads up to an attic which I can't fit in

⟐ Commented 5월 02, 2026 at 9:21 GMT-7

Swimming pool: Repairing electric pump motor

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:03:40 -0700

I have an aquabot pool cleaner and pump motor stopped working. If you disassemble it the oil inside runs out. I really only need to know what type of oil to use to replace it. The 35V motor has 4 capacitors to jump start it. I have replaced the capacitors once before in my own machine without loosing the oil and reusing it. Successful long term repair accomplished. This one is a relatives of mine who lost the oil and I don't want to replace capacitors, only to ruin successful job by putting the wrong oil in it. Does anyone know what type of can be used in this motor?

⟐ Commented 4월 29, 2026 at 9:03 GMT-7

Flomasta shower drain: Problem with flomasta shower drain membrane

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 18:55:53 -0700

Hello,

I wonder if I can get some advice here. I got Flomasta shower waste trap installed in my shower. It has got flat silicone membrane to stop the incoming odours, like the one attached. This membrane is keep failing every few years due to the fact that silicone deforms over time. I was keep replacing it with similar item made by wirquin which I was able to buy online, but now after I wanted to replace it again I found that this item is not available any longer anywhere.

I have done some further research including contacting my usual part supplier and they have told me that wirquin has replaced the silicone membrane solution by this part:

Filtering Outflow Membrane Replacement for Wirquin Slim Slim+ Drain Waste Traps

It is pretty expensive but I gave it a go, however I found that this part does not fit flomasta drains due to red plastic bit being too big. So I'm stuck now.

My question is if anyone has heard about any possible solution or if there's any way I can buy flomasta part? Replacing the whole drain is not on the table to to very difficult access to underneath the shower. I also don't want to buy whole Flomasta set just to get one part from it.

ANy ideas would be apprieciated.

Thank you

⟐ Answered 4월 26, 2026 at 18:55 GMT-7

Electrical USA: Why is the kitchen sink drain overflowing?

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 06:19:21 -0700

The kitchen sink does not drain used water out, instead it remains full in the since.

The vacuum switch to help suck out the water is not working.

⟐ Answer edited 4월 26, 2026 at 6:19 GMT-7

Blind: How to find discontinued Hunter Douglas parts?

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 15:08:41 -0700

I have Hunter Douglas Luminette Privacy Sheers that were manufactured in 2001 installed on two windows. All Luminette blinds manufactured prior to 2003 have been discontinued, which has been hugely troublesome because I just need one part, the "Universal Bulk Head Body." While I managed to find one site (Blindshaderepair.com) that sells this part (so I thought), it's been nearly three weeks since I placed my order and it has yet to even be marked as shipped. Two emails to customer support and many more voice mails (because they don't ever pick up) has not yielded any success.

I contacted Hunter Douglas about my problem and they responded, "Because the shades are from 2001, most dealers will not have parts to repair the shades, and we would not have a list of different 3rd party shade part websites that carry discontinued components. Due to the age of the shades, the only other option we can suggest is purchasing new ones."

For how expensive these blinds were, I feel it would be rather silly to replace the entire blinds simply because of one inexpensive part. I have also been looking for perhaps knockoff versions of the same part but have not been able to find anything. Any help is appreciated.

⟐ Answered 4월 13, 2026 at 15:08 GMT-7

Tesla Powerwall 3: Why do my electrical outlets crackle or buzz?

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 10:00:03 -0700

Why do some outlets make a crackling or buzzing sound?

⟐ Answered 3월 18, 2026 at 10:00 GMT-7

Geberit (altes Modell) Toilettenspülung: My toilet is making a lot of noise when flushing

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 05:38:12 -0700

After flushing it sounds like it hums for too long afterwards

Water Heater: How is the unit supposed to be wired to prevent overheating at connect

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 01:22:04 -0700

The Rheem Essentials on-demand electric water heater (240v, 13kW) that I have does not come with a clear diagram or instructions for wiring properly to install it correctly, not in the owners manual nor is it available online, that I can find. Using the recommended 1x6 AWG wire and 60 AMP dedicated breaker, which wires get connected to which inside the unit to power which system functions? Outside of green to green for ground, instructions say only to "connect the wires"... Where do you connect specifically the red, black, and white wires?

⟐ Commented 2월 19, 2026 at 1:22 GMT-7

Home Construction: How can l make pavers from plastic and sand

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 14:11:12 -0700

How do l make pavers from sand and plastic

Swimming pool: How can I effectively remove Leaves and algae from Swimming pool

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 23:53:24 -0700

My pool is filled with large amount of trashes. I have already used leaf gulper but i cannot completely get rid debris. Any effective way to clean them up.

⟐ Answered 2월 08, 2026 at 23:53 GMT-7

CALENTADOR JUNKERS WR11-2: How do I fix the oven on this heater?

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 05:58:54 -0700

The candle is working but the heater's oven won't light.

⟐ Commented 1월 30, 2026 at 5:58 GMT-7

Plumbing: Kitchen Plumbing Drainage Configuration

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 19:46:54 -0700

The piping under the kitchen sink seems to be less than effective. I’ve attached photos & would appreciate suggestions on how I can reconfigure. Thanks

⟐ Answer accepted 1월 06, 2026 at 19:46 GMT-7

Faucet: cant tell what faucet part needs replacing, hoping just a set screw?

Fri, 02 Jan 2026 19:12:55 -0700

Hello, looking for advice on what part needs changing here, and how to go about getting that part. We have a great plumbing repair shop near us, and once I know what I need I should be good. Here's pix, any suggestions greatly appreciated!

⟐ Commented 1월 02, 2026 at 19:12 GMT-7

Blind: How do you fix uneven blinds?

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:02:41 -0700

Every time I pull on the cord, one side of the blinds goes up before the other. The strings seem to be pretty tangled. Is there a way to fix this, without ending up in a pile of string?

⟐ Commented 12월 29, 2025 at 11:02 GMT-7

Water Heater: Water heater not heating - RESOLVED

Fri, 26 Dec 2025 07:34:55 -0700

We have a GSW 3000W water heater which is not heating the water at all.

I checked some answers here and went through some checks.

We get power to both screws on both upper & lower elements.

I checked both elements for resistance and got readings of 19.6 on both.

I checked the resistance of the upper element, screws to heater body and no indication of resistance.

I have replaced the upper thermostat.

What else could be the problem?

Thank you,

Dave

⟐ Commented 12월 26, 2025 at 7:34 GMT-7

Faucet: How to stop a dripping faucet

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 13:36:34 -0700

How to stop the faucet from dribbling water?

Every sink in my house drip's water! Please inform me on how to fix my dribbling faucet's. Its wasting so much water especially since we ,Califotnian's are in a huge water drought. Thank you

⟐ Commented 12월 17, 2025 at 13:36 GMT-7

Water Heater: Richmond electric ECO water heater not heating - RESOLVED

Sun, 14 Dec 2025 10:35:46 -0700

I have a Richmond 12E50-DEC 50 gallon water heater which has digital controls in which after powering off/on with the circuit breaker can be set to heat, but oly powers the upper electric element fo around 1 minute, then the digital control disables the voltage to the heater element. Lower element never gets voltage applied.

Both elements are both 11.5 ohms and appear to be good. Am attempting to remove and measure the thermocouple but using the digital diagnostic, I observe lower on at 54 F and upper at 77F, so are somewhat reasonable values for a tank that was at room temperature and then had some water come in from the well into the lower chamber.

I understand that these controls me only turn on one heater element at a time which would explain the upper element getting voltage for 30 seconds or a minute but then unclear why the control with turn off the heat without posting any kind of error code as there are no codes in the history.

Any help would be appreciated.

Called Richmond (Rheam) customer service.The representative felt this was likely a faulty digital circuit board since no error codes were being posted in the history and due to the behavior observed where the upper element was powered for about a minute after a power cycling off/on using the circuit breaker. Service person advised me that the upper heater element would normally be powered for about 20 minutes before switching power to the lower heater element.

New circuit board being sent free of charge under the 12 year parts warranty.

⟐ Commented 12월 14, 2025 at 10:35 GMT-7

Garage Door Opener: Jerking upon opening garage initially

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 03:17:56 -0700

Lately, when I go to open my garage door, it jerks and then stops. I have to then close it and start again to open it. What could cause it to do this?

⟐ Commented 12월 09, 2025 at 3:17 GMT-7

Electrical: How to wire a doorbell

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 16:55:16 -0700

Installing a new doorbell and I need a device to send a 'tone' through the low voltage wiring to identify where the wire lands.

⟐ Answered 12월 02, 2025 at 16:55 GMT-7