Toilet rim jets, which deliver water into the toilet bowl, can become clogged with hard water deposits. When this happens, the toilet might not flush as well as it should.
Vinegar or other acidic cleaning products can be used to dissolve the hard water deposits of calcium or lime scale that might block the rim jets. The problem is getting the vingar where it's needed and keeping it there long enough for it to do the job of dissolving the mineral deposits.
Some people recommend pouring the vinegar (or whatever cleaning product you're using) right down the toilet's overflow tube. I tried this, and all of the cleaning product came out through the main siphon jet at the bottom of the toilet bowl. I think to fill the channels to both the main siphon jet and the rim jets would require a large volume of liquid all coming at the same time, and I just can't pour that fast. also, even if some of the cleaning product went to the rim jets, most of it would go right through and wouldn't remain in contact with the rim jets long enough to do the job.
Some people recommend closing the rim jets and the siphon jet with duct tape. I tried this, but the cleaning product leaked through gaps in the tape or it caused the cape to come loose. The duct tape held the cleaning product liquid in place for a while, but probably not long enough to do the job, imho.
So, how can we put the cleaning product liquid into contact with the rim jets long enough to dissolve as much of the hard water deposits as possible?
This video shows a method of blocking the main siphon jet at the bottom of the toilet bowl and using a pump to circulate cleaning vinegar through the overflow tube and into the bowl, thus putting the vinegar in maximum contact with the rim jets.
P.S. ... Sorry ... If I were a better YouTube content creator I would have taken some video of my toilet's flush before my cleaning attempts, some video showing my experiences with the duct tape method, and a video showing the flush after pumping vinegar through the overflow tube for several hours. But, you'll just have to take my word for it that more water now comes through the rim jets then I've ever seen before. The toilet was flushing okay previously but it's flushing better now. Still, it's impossible to say how much hard water deposits could still be inside the channel that delivers water to the rim jets. A more powerful acid might have done an even better job.
Also, it's possible that vinegar might not be good for the internal parts of a submersible pump. After I removed the pump from the toilet, I ran it with fresh water for a few minutes to rinse out all of the vinegar. It seems to be okay.
