I want to pass on my experience putting in a new AS Champion 4 toilet.
The previous toilet was supposedly a lo-flo unit, never measured just how much water it used to flush. However it was quite prone to plugging. Especially when we had company staying with us. It also just recently was leaking around the flapper, so I replaced that, but I managed to get the wrong flapper and although it worked, it would stick WIDE open almost every flush, requiring me to remove the lid and tap it back down.
Anyway, I got completely fed up with it and decided it was time to get a replacement.
Researching the web indicated that probably a TOTO toilet was "the best" to get. However I'd have to get it at a plumbing supply house, rather than my local big box. Convenience factor in being able to go get it evenings, or weekends was indeed a big factor. As well as typical DIY projects seem to involve multiple trips back to pick up something I forgot, or managed to break, got wrong size, realized parts are incompatible with existing stuff, etc.
As I said, I ended up getting the Champion 4 toilet at the big box place. In fact while I was looking things over in the aisle, a woman going by stopped and said the Champion was the best. She had one put in a few years ago and only had a problem with a seal in the flush mechanism early on (sounds like something that was common at the time and now fixed). Since I was already planning to purchase that item, it did make me feel good to hear an unsolicited customer recommendation.
I've had the toilet installed for about a week and so far no issues. Installed easily enough. Hardest part was changing the shutoff valve to put in a 1/4 turn ball valve instead of the crappy multi-turn valve that was on there.
I will give this item a thumbs up for now. It seems the mechanisim works well to flush quickly and it does get everything in one flush. Supposedly can flush something like 30 golf balls at once. It is a different mechanism than the typical flapper so if I have future maintenance issues, I'll have to be sure to get the correct hardware.
I hope this helps anyone else trying to decide on what to install.
The previous toilet was supposedly a lo-flo unit, never measured just how much water it used to flush. However it was quite prone to plugging. Especially when we had company staying with us. It also just recently was leaking around the flapper, so I replaced that, but I managed to get the wrong flapper and although it worked, it would stick WIDE open almost every flush, requiring me to remove the lid and tap it back down.
Anyway, I got completely fed up with it and decided it was time to get a replacement.
Researching the web indicated that probably a TOTO toilet was "the best" to get. However I'd have to get it at a plumbing supply house, rather than my local big box. Convenience factor in being able to go get it evenings, or weekends was indeed a big factor. As well as typical DIY projects seem to involve multiple trips back to pick up something I forgot, or managed to break, got wrong size, realized parts are incompatible with existing stuff, etc.
As I said, I ended up getting the Champion 4 toilet at the big box place. In fact while I was looking things over in the aisle, a woman going by stopped and said the Champion was the best. She had one put in a few years ago and only had a problem with a seal in the flush mechanism early on (sounds like something that was common at the time and now fixed). Since I was already planning to purchase that item, it did make me feel good to hear an unsolicited customer recommendation.
I've had the toilet installed for about a week and so far no issues. Installed easily enough. Hardest part was changing the shutoff valve to put in a 1/4 turn ball valve instead of the crappy multi-turn valve that was on there.
I will give this item a thumbs up for now. It seems the mechanisim works well to flush quickly and it does get everything in one flush. Supposedly can flush something like 30 golf balls at once. It is a different mechanism than the typical flapper so if I have future maintenance issues, I'll have to be sure to get the correct hardware.
I hope this helps anyone else trying to decide on what to install.