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Standard (Universal) Flapper
Korky’s revolutionary flapper, still standard on many toilets, combines the seat disk and tank ball. The flapper is flat on top and bulges into a ball shape on the bottom, with the ball sized to fit inside the flush valve opening.
That’s one innovation. Here’s another: Instead of floating freely in the tank, the standard flapper attaches to the overflow tube. This allows it to “flap” open and closed as the tank empties and refills.
“In the old days,” says Barnes, “most manufacturers used one basic type of flapper despite their own specific model designs. But these days, manufacturers use a variety of flapper systems to achieve the water velocity required for low-flow toilets.
“Any professional plumber will tell you that to get the best seal between flushes, you should always replace a flapper with the exact same flapper.”
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Adjustable Flapper
This is another innovation manufacturers introduced to make flappers better handle water flow. “Many new flappers have a hole in the side of the flapper to enable single-button, dual-flush toilets,” Barnes says. “This gives us the ability to have a No. 1 and a No. 2 flush without needing two buttons on the tank for two different types of events.”
Besides the hole on the side, there’s also one on the bottom. The holes allow water to fill the ball as the tank empties. The fill rate determines how quickly it drops and stops water flow. Some manufacturers provide inserts of varying diameters for the bottom hole, while others provide a ratcheting ring that controls the size of the hole on the side.
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Counterbalanced Flapper
This is another type of adjustable flapper. A standard flapper comes with ears that extend only to the overflow tube, but a counterbalanced flapper’s ears extend several inches beyond the overflow tube and hold a small cup or plate.
The cup fills with water when the tank is full. When the flapper lifts, it provides a counterweight to keep it open. As the water drains out of the cup, it gets lighter, and the flapper eventually closes.
If the flapper has a plate, the pressure of the water in the tank presses it down when the flapper lifts. As the tank empties and the pressure holding the plate decreases, the flapper falls and seals the valve.
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