More than a million toilet flushing systems have been recalled in the US after a spate of cistern explosions caused injuries.
The bursting Flushmate II 501-B devices have also resulted in property damage costing around $710,000 (£547,000).
The explosions have caused two dozen injuries including one person who needed foot surgery, NBC News reports.
This would be funny if it wasn't so dangerous.
I blame Trump ;-)
Blame GHW Bush. He is the one who signed the "low flow toilet" law followed by Clinton who made it tougher.
Got me wondering when it was mandated. Easy to find:
This law made 1.6 gallons per flush a mandatory federal maximum for new toilets. This law went into effect in January 1, 1994 for residential buildings and January 1, 1997 for commercial buildings. The first generation of low-flush toilets were designed like traditional toilets.
I also remember who was in office then ;)
They work now too. Not so much back then. The first one we had at work took two or three flushes. New models though, have never failed to clear on the first flush.
Mine are all newer too and all flush great. Nicest is a Toto with a 3" flap but I would not buy another as I've had to change the side handle and flap a couple of times so its finicky. The handle has a camming mechanism requiring an OEM handle. Others I have never needed any repair. I was always fixing something on the high flush toilets.
The original legislation was 92 (GHWB) and the actual implementation was as you say (Clinton)
I called the Kohler we bought in 96 the #1 toilet because a #2 would plug it up.
I remember the Clinton inauguration well as I flew through Washington National that evening. They closed it after my flight which made me happy because my a-hole boss on the next flight got delayed.
As usual this is only half the story. For new toilets in NEW and appropriately designed housing they are indeed a boon to the users however the toilets we're talking about that are installed in older houses fail to provide the necessary sized slug of water to properly clear the aged (especially) lateral sewers. The result over time is a clog which has to be removed manually. I suspect that many complaints of poor flushing are not due to the new toilets but to the failure to replace the entire drainage/sewage system at least as far as the street. Somewhat costly I would expect and would have been a real obstacle to the passive acceptance that occurred at the inception of the change if it had have been understood at the time.
I am not away of any change in the required pitch or size of drain pipe.
Change ordained by the powers that be? Local code? National plumbing Code? Me neither.
The above is my diagnosis and solution and that of several plumbers who make a very nice living replacing sections of older piping. If you're lucky enough to have PVC DWV, you'll probably not encounter the problem but if you have steel or cast iron you need the scouring action of the large size slugs of water to dislodge the rust. The rust is not usually the substance clogging the pipe but it provides tags onto which the solid material catches and once a small amount is caught the clogging substance builds to eventually totally obstruct the flow.
BTW the rust we're talking about is not the type of surface corrosion one sees on (say) garden tools left outside in the rain but quarter-sized flakes that can look like leaves in a book.
Apart from replacement at least of the lateral piping another solution is to snake all potential problem pipes at least once a year with a side-cutting head. One of the aforementioned plumbers provides such a service and offered it to me pointing out the disruption and cost of emergency calls. I declined and instead replaced (illegally) the offending section with PVC.
snipped-for-privacy@aol.com posted for all of us...
Mine also. Kohler should have installed plunger mounts on the tank.
snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.gov posted for all of us...
Hey knuck remove this please.
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