Why Does My Toilet Float Stick at the Bottom?

By Home & Garden Last updated Sunday, June/23/2024

Different Types of Floats

A tank can use one of two types of floats. One is an actual float ball that is located on the end of a metal or plastic arm coming from the fill valve. This type of assembly is called a ballcock assembly. The other type of float is a plastic collar which is fitted around the fill valve itself and is called a float cup. Though the designs of these two types of floats definitely differ in appearance, they both perform identical functions of setting how high the tank water level rises. If either gets stuck at the bottom, the results are the same.

With a float ball, if the float arm to which it is attached is not at the proper angle, the float ball may be obstructed from rising back up with the rising tank water level, which is usually due to the float ball getting stuck against the tank wall. To fix this problem, bend the float arm slightly to allow the float ball to move up and down freely. Or loosen and turn the fill valve assembly itself to reposition the float ball. If the float ball is filled with water, it won't float up either. When this happens, unscrew and remove the float ball, and replace it with a different one.

If a float cup sticks at the tank bottom without rising, it may also possibly be lodged against the inner tank wall. If so, adjust and reposition the fill valve itself so that the float cup can lower and rise properly with the tank's water level after each flush. Another possible cause is the fill valve needing to be cleaned out of debris. Remove the top of the fill valve, and flush water up through it, holding your hand or a paper cup over the top of it to prevent water from spraying. If neither of these remedies works, replace the fill valve.

If a float sticks at the bottom of the tank, water will continually fill the tank. This high water level eventually runs over, down through the overflow tube and into the bowl. This cycle of filling and overflowing continues until the float problem is resolved. Because all of this is unnecessary wasted water, the water bill will also unnecessarily go up.