Customer Reviews

Fluidmaster 400A Anti-Siphon Toilet Tank Fill Valve

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

My nephew, the plumber, gave me the story on this years ago and I've benefited ever since:

1. If you have a different kind of ballcock and it works ok, leave it there until you need to fix it, of course... then install this one. It's not the absolute cheapest but after you install it, you'll be glad you did. It works well, is simple to install and it is REPAIRABLE without having to go to the store to buy a new one, or without having to have a toilet problem for a week while you order another one.

2. If you already have one installed (lucky for you, somebody was thinking clearly and installed the right one last time), you can fix it if it's simply stopped up (water doesn't come out to fill the tank).

--First, turn the water off with the valve handle under the toilet tank.

--Reach down under the little float that moves up and down and you'll find a plastic collar ring. Slide that ring up so that you feel it release it's hold on the vertical shaft it's on. Pop the 1/4 inch tube off the unit and gently pull it out of the vertical shaft. The whole unit slides up and out. Let the water drain out of it before you take it away from the toilet tank.

--Hold the unit over the sink and pop the little cap off the top. You won't hurt it and it won't break unless you do something illogical. Inside there is a white portion that has been twisted past a detent. Raise the little tabs (one on each side) so you can turn it counterclockwise past the detents and it will come out. Voila! There is all kinds of sediment in there that is stopping up the system. Thump it out and rinse it under the sink faucet to remove the stuff.

--Carefully replace the white portion into the unit and twist it clockwise until it clicks past the detents again. Take it back to the toilet tank and slide it back in place on the vertical pipe and slide the collar ring back down to lock it in place.

--Slowly turn the water back on, making sure nothing flies apart or leaks. You're done! Two minutes this took!!!!

3. If you don't want to repair the unit as explained in option 2, buy another Fluidmaster 400 and install it as follows (you DON'T have to take the intake pipe apart and drain the toilet tank!):

--First, turn the water off with the valve handle under the toilet tank.

--Reach down under the little float that moves up and down and you'll find a plastic collar ring. Slide that ring up so that you feel it release it's hold on the vertical shaft it's on. Pop the 1/4 inch tube off the unit and gently pull it out of the vertical shaft. The whole unit slides up and out. Let the water drain out of it before you take it away from the toilet tank.

--Replace it with the same part in your new kit, then slide the collar ring back into place. Adjust the height of the unit so that the top is just below where the tank lid goes, so it's as high as possible without obstructing the tank lid replacement. You may have to readjust this so that the fill level in the tank is where you want it... you want as much water in the tank as possible without flowing over the overflow ... easy to see what I mean.

You're done!

My nephew explained that this is the favorite item for repairing ballcock problems because the plumber can replace it in a minute or two and charge for his full hour and for a new ballcock. No offense, but anybody can do this themselves... no need to pay somebody a hundred dollars to fix it.

I have been a self-employed plumber for over twenty five years and have installed hundreds, if not thousands of fluidmaster #400 A ballcocks. In all that time, I have never had one that was defective, and I buy them 25 to the case. They are ,in fact, the least expensive most reliable unit on the market today. No offense to the other reviewer, but you have installed the unit incorrectly or there is something else wrong with your toilet.

6+ years ago, the old float ball mechanism died after some years of quick repairs. I had 3 choices at the hardware store stocked to ceiling with: similar ball mechanisms, fluidmaster 400s or Smartvalve 2000s, in order of installation complexity. Its not rocket science, but some mechanisms have more to it than others, particularly if you do it rarely, as I, a non-plumber. Reading the installation instructions, I made the mistake of choosing the Smartvalve 2000, because years later I read that it was being dumped the year I bought it. I heard plumbers rave about Fluidmaster, and over years see it installed in most toilets I happened to see.

The Smartvalve was a snap to install and adjust compared to the 400, as it has less moving parts. However, 5 years later it began leaking water into the tub, and with few parts to adjust, I couldn't make it stop. American Standard still ships this valve it its toilets, so caveat emptor. You cannot find spare parts, gaskets, much less instructions beyond what is posted on chat groups or the installation instruction sheet. Many chat groups have one advice: dump it.

Installing the FM was a easy, but it has more caveats in terms of placement of height, hoses, and say, its leak protector. Its easy to do once you know how, but this first one took me a hour to install and adjust. The Smartvalve took all of 15 minutes.

Its been flawless. Plumbers rave about how much more reliable a valve the 400A is, and how easy it is to service, compared to the old float ball, or the Smartvalve.

In the end, all my choices were under $10, but the headache of fixing the water leak, noise, and inconvenience cost far more in terms of labor. So, its good to get it right the first time.

I have installed these in every home I have lived in when the old style valves die. They aren't difficult to install and they just work! The only issue I've ever had is sediment getting in the seal after some plumbing repairs. You cut off the water, just twist the cap 1/8 turn counter clockwise and lift it off. Hold a cup, glass or rag over the top and turn the water back on to flush it out. Water off, replace cap and you're back in business. If the debris messed up the seal, replace it with the seal kits you can get just about anywhere they sell the unit. Easy and inexpensive...

It is a good product. easy to install and it work well so far.
In ref. to Robert R. Rainey Jr. problems; I experienced the same at the beginning and I resolved the problems by replacing the old toilet flapper. The old one was hardened and it didn't seal the opening completely, a very very small leak, I can't even hear it. The leak takes hours to activate the refill action for a second

This is a product you can count on working the first time. No one wants to spend time fixing a toilet. This product installs fast and easy. I tried other products that were just a waste of money.
If you have a water saver toilet with a small tank and hard to find parts- this will work great for you.

The toilet was reflling very slowly, so I just popped out the ballcock and replaced it with his unit. It took maybe 3 minutes to do the job, and saved me the hassle and expense of a plumbers visit.

I installed three of these FM valves at different times. The 1st one I installed has worked FLAWLESSLY! The 2nd one is also working flawless! The 3rd acted up a little bit and required some minor dis assembly and quick cleaning to get it back on track. I also installed the FM flapper kits and the FM bleach dispenser. Extremely happy with those, too.
Overall, our experience with FM valves has been very good and I would recommend to a friend!

Be sure to read the directions carefully and make sure you are not in a rush. I was an expert by my 3rd install! They have an interactive help page that I found helpful. If you are not mechanically inclined, pay someone to install it...
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Bought and carefully installed one of these to replace the original fill valve in a Mansfield toilet. Worked fine at first, then after a couple of weeks the tank would no longer fill. Took the cap off and determined that the lever movement was impeded by the seal failing to seat itself correctly in the cap. Called customer support, the rep suggested that I could try picking up a replacement seal at the store. Keep in mind that the original fill valve in this toilet worked for 16 years without a problem. So I went to the store -- to return my purchase.

Purchased 2 of the Fluidmaster 400A units at Home Depot for $8 - the plumbing rep there recommended the part and told me to read instructions twice before installing. Glad I did.

The parts do not match the instructions included - the "angle adapter" is either missing or has been replaced with a plastic clip of a different design. Not really interested in making up my own design on the fly - I went to the Fluidmaster website. There's no Help for the Fluidmaster products - just a sales-oriented Flash site. I downloaded the PDF instructions available there, and found them to be the same as what came with the 2 units I purchased.

The toll free number on the bottom of the packaging (800-631-2011) is not functioning; the toll number listed on the website only works M-F.

This unit feels cheaply made, and the incorrect instructions combined with the lack of useful support has me heading back to the store for a better option.