Improved performance toilets? Help me choose...

S

Sid Post

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Oct 14, 1998
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Okay, I've got a lovely Sterling brand "three flush" and "plunge" model at my house :). It has to go!

I'm looking for a plain vanilla model. I'm not looking for fancy colors, or one of those Japanese Toto designs. Specifically, the American Standard Champion or Kohler Cimmaron or the Eljer model. At my local Home Depot, all three cost $200 to $250. How do I choose between them or, is their another one somewhere else that I should consider?

  • Is one model noiser then the others?
  • Is one model easier to maintain then the others?
  • How do I distinguish features of these prior to installation and use?

Thanks!
 
We spent big bucks on Kohler's top of the line turlets 4 years ago when we built our house. They look great, but they don't flush for s%#t. I've sworn at those damned turlets more times than I care to mention, and I'm also wondering what can be done to get some real flushing action so I don't have to keep a plunger handy every time. It's as if more than one small wad of turlet paper will clog the friggin thing.

Ok, can you tell I'm mad. Yes. Anyone know if there's anything that can be done to improve a turlet's ability short of replacing it? I'm in an area that mandates turlets only have 1.5 gallon (or is it 3 gallon) flushes. Argh.
 
I think the law in the USA is 1.6 gallons per flush. I hear ocassionally someone gets busted for smuggling in a toilet from Canada.

As far as water conservation goes, 3 times 1.6 equals a whole lot more then 1 times 2.7 (isn't that what the previous generations used?).

As for mods to existing toilets go, I've seen some inverted bowl things that seem to pressurize as the tank fills with water giving the "swirl" a little extra velocity. What it won't fix though, is the narrow neck that clogs with just a touch of constipation or a single generous handful of toilet paper. Flushing while still on the "throne" gets old fast.

In my case, the toilet I have is a cheap one so, tossing it out for the Salvation Army, Goodwill, or the trashman won't hurt my feelings at all. At $250 for a new American Standard golf ball flusher, a replacement probably is cheaper then any retrofit I could get.
 
My house still has the 5 gallon commodes from the late 1940s.

Flush pretty well.

Phil
 
I have the commerical type valve, thank you NYC water pressure. Incase you don't have pressure for those or you don't like the chrome commerical look, vacuum assisted ones work great
 
5 galllon spackel bucket and the storm drain. Works great. :D
 
Thanks to a tip from a friend, we installed a St. Thomas brand when we remodeled a few years ago. What makes it different that most of the others is that when you flush and hold the handle down it keeps releasing water. Most others just dump their 1.6 gal no matter how long you hold down the handle.
 
Kohler website has not only different styles but different flush systems .These are rated as to how quiet, how much water etc . It's too complicated for me, after all i'm old enough to remember the old outhouse !!
 
Stay away from the one peace designs. They do not work well and they can be an expensive maintenance headache. The Kholer models are especially hard on the pocket. Go with a traditional American Standard two piece tank and bowl.

n2s
 
we moved from austin to the 'burbs about 7 yrs ago and the one thing i miss is the old large capacity toilets, we bought our house new and it has kohler low H2O flush and it doesnt work well at all, it is neccesary to keep a plunger by both, and its not a rare occurence to have to plunge it, i keep threatening to buy 2 new ones from mexico, the old non H@O conservative type, theyre cheap too, every time i plunge it i wish i was plunging the jerk politicians face who came up withthe stupid idiotic law in the first place, what good does saving a gallon or 2 or 3 a flush when ya gotta flush 2 times minimum and 3-4 all the time, not good idea at all,

dont really know a good one but the low H2O flush kohlers aint it have heard the ones with the compressed air work well, might just get me a mex one lol.
 
Is it possible to increase the water level in the tank? Eg. by adjusting the float? I don't know if you can extrapolate British plumbing over there. If the water level is already close to the overflow, perhaps you can put an upward curve in the pipe so the tank will hold a little more water.

Andrew.
 
A.W.U.K. said:
Is it possible to increase the water level in the tank? Eg. by adjusting the float? I don't know if you can extrapolate British plumbing over there. If the water level is already close to the overflow, perhaps you can put an upward curve in the pipe so the tank will hold a little more water.

Andrew.
Click to expand...

the prob is not enough water, no ya cant make it hold more, i guess ya could keep a bucket of water in the potty room to flush with.....or buy a non water saving toilet from mexico for around $50 or so lol
 
Well we had the same problem at our new house for a while.
Well untill we moded the 'john' with a 20 gallon tank on the roof! :cool: Yeah baby! Nothing got stuck in there. I bet it could even handle Ren!

But more seriously, don't f**k around with the new stuff. Buy an old school bowl.
 
The old style from Mex is what I'd be goin after.

At customs you can say it's a lawn ornament or somethin :)
Tom
 
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