New toilet persistently clogs

[Jim Beaver]

Three new toilets in three new bathrooms in a new addition. All built/installed by the same contractor. The only known difference is that the three toilets are different models. Two of them work with nary a hitch. One of them clogs on solid matter 4 out of 5 times, going on months now. Plunging eventually works. Sometimes just waiting a few hours and trying again works. Usually, though, it takes plunging.

I'm presuming that the pipes into which the three toilets empty are a standard, equal, size, since I imagine (but don't know) that toilets are built to fit a standard pipe. Therefore I'm presuming the persistently clogging toilet is itself to blame, not the pipe into which it empties, since the other toilets do not have the same problem. I'm ready to throw out the offending toilet and get another one, but don't want to do so if expert opinion suggests I might have overlooked something. Have I?

Jim Beaver

[Rick Samuel]

On a slab? If not check pitch of drain pipe. How about distance the black water has to travel, compaired to the other two? Some low water flush are kinda sorry.

>

[Freckles]

We had trouble with all three of our toilets until we changed to a cheaper brand of toilet paper.

We always used Charmin in our old house, but when we moved into our new home we had nothing but trouble until my son-in-law suggested we try a cheaper brand of toilet paper.

We bought the cheapest brand we could find, and have had no more flushing problems since.

Freckles

[pheeh.zero]

Some water-saver toilets are not equal...are you holding the handle down for full-siphon?

[ransley]

Maybe the toilet maybe not, price doesnt make a good performing toilet. CR tested maybe 25 of them and rated them and show price doesnt matter. In an apt in 07 I put in 12 of HDs 59.95 Glacier Bay, the cheapest ones they had and all work great. A big glazed trap is needed with low flush units, read CR and try a new one and hope its not the pipes.

[Limp Arbor]

Charmin is the worst thing for any drain system.

[Limp Arbor]

Hopefully the contractor used an experienced plumber. If the drain is not vented properly it will never flush the way it should. First thing I would do is call the contractor and ask him to come check it out.

One thing you can do on your own is completely fill the sink in the offending bathroom then let it drain. Observe the water in the bowl of the toilet, it should not move. If the water in the toilet moves then you most likely have a venting issue.

[Reno]

New toilets are all low volume flush. By law only low flush can be sold or installed. Ours will clog if anyone has a super dump. We now flush immediately before the stuff has a chance to settle into a heavy mass. No more clogs. Solution was to make whoever clogged it use the plunger - this helps them remember to flush right away.

Since 2 out of 3 toilets are working fine there is likely a problem of poor venting or too low a slope to that pipe but the above solution may work well enough or at least until you get problem solved.

[Bob F]

You could try swapping the offending toilet with one of the others, and see if the problem moves.

Or, just get in the habit of pre-flushing the offender before using any paper. Is there a difference in the usage of the toilets? Different people? Different paper usage?

[Smarty]

I had a somewhat similar experience years ago with 2 newly installed and identical toilets. The eventual fix was to reinstall the clogging one with a properly installed and properly seated wax gasket. The prior gasket installation was apparently not centered correctly, causing the first wax gasket to act as a partial obstruction.

Smarty

[mike]

There's a possibility that the toilet has a manufacturing defect that makes a protrusion in trap line. Sometimes the defect is not caught by the manufacturer.

[Jim Beaver]

No difference in usage, and paper's not an issue. That pre-flushing advice is already in practice, to no avail.

Jim Beaver

[Bob(but not THAT Bob)]

Check "Maximum Performance Testing of Popular Toilet Models 14th Edition" at:

See how the "bad" unit's flushing test compares to your other toilets - that might give you a clue whether it's the toilet itself or the installation.

[Red Green]

"Smarty" wrote in news:h0lvnv$riu$ [e-mail]:

Single person install, straddles bowl and holds by the rim, moves over hole and places over the bolts. Can't really see the hole since they're straddled over it. Anyway, concentrating on bolt alignment.

Hmmmm, let's see. Will the toilet just overflow on first flush or will the gas rag lodge somewhere on first flush causing blockage or partial blockage?

[Stormin Mormon]

I move my head left and right, to see the bolts.

Of course, d'uh, you have to leave in the styofoam cup that is jammed into the soil pipe, to keep the sewer gas from choking you. I knew a guy who did that. He said the first flush was a bit of a surprise.

[mm]

Settle into a heavy mass? I've never seen that. Even if it sinks, I've never seen it mass together. Are you and I that different?

BTW FWIW, I've also never had a stopped up toilet in 60 years and I've used Charmin most of time with 3 Eljer toilets in this house, a flushometer in NY,

Charmin is more expensive iirc but the compensating advantage of Charmin is I don't need 12 or 18 inches of it, I can use less length.

[John Gaglione]

I had a similar situation with a Kohler toilet this winter: Remodeled two bathrooms at the same time, one clogs once or twice a week. I finally pulled the unit up to have a look at the drain pipe. I had envisioned there being a rough edge below the flange that was catching paper. Not so. The pipe was perfect, the toilet, however wasn't. The porcelain on the inside of the outlet had a series of barbs protruding into the "flow zone". It looked as if the inner mold for the outlet piece wasn't closed completely and the porcelain "squeezed" out, leaving barbs. How this passed the most cursory inspection I can't imagine.

So I polished the barbs with a diamond flame burr in a dremel.

Flushes fine now.

I felt a little guilty about all the nasty things I said about the plumber who did the install. I suppose no one would think to inspect a brand new toilet before installing it.

[David Combs]

I keep an empty coffee-can; when looks like it's needed, I fill it water, and dump it at the rear of the bowl exactly as I flush.

A bucket sitting in the bathroom maybe sometimes needed, with lousy toilet?

David