How to make the Toto Drake always flush fully?

Users who are viewing this thread

SVTour98

New Member
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Just wondering how to make my new Toto Drake fully flush without having to hold the handle down to keep the flapper up. It's not working out too well with the family not remembering to hold it down in "certain situations" so it has been clogging with the half flush. I noticed the flapper has two holes in it so I assume that it's own weight is allowing it to fall down as soon as you let go of the handle. Unlike other flappers with one hole where it would trap air and allow itself to stay afloat whilst the tank empties itself. So my question is, where in the world can I find a 3" flapper to fit the Toto, that only has one hole in it? Lowes nor Home Depot carry it. I can't find any info. on Google about it. And Toto's site doesn't mention it. Am I stuck here? It's created a very awkward problem here for what's supposed to be (and is) a fantastic toilet. Just wish it would fully flush without having to hold the handle down for 5 seconds... Any help or insight is appreciated!
 

Jadnashua

Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Messages
32,770
Reaction score
1,190
Points
113
Location
New England
Holding the handle down causes it to use more than the designed 1.6 gallons. From the ones I've used, if you need to do that, you may have an obstruction somewhere slowing down the flow, and preventing it from emptying properly. The other possibility is the users are rolling off a huge amount of paper or they have abnormally large bowel movements. It never ceases to amaze me how much paper some people use. After all, it came out of you, and you ARE going to wash your hands afterwards anyways. Try taking a bucket and fill it nearly up. dump it in the toilet and see how fast it drains. If there is a backup, you have a drain problem, and it isn't the toilet's fault. My mother grew up in the depression, and they were limited to 4-squares of TP per use. Now, I do use more than that, but the idea that you need a huge wad of the stuff just always seemed foreign to me.
 

Terry

The Plumbing Wizard
Staff member
Messages
29,942
Reaction score
3,458
Points
113
Location
Bothell, Washington
Website
terrylove.com
Jadnashua pretty much covered most of what I was going to say.

It does sound more like something blocking the exit.
There is a fllapper that stays up longer, it's the blue one, and can be found as the Korky Toto replacement flapper at Lowes.
The normal flapper for the Drake is the Red one.
 

SVTour98

New Member
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
0
It is draining just fine. In fact, the drain for the toilet is literally only about 3 feet away from where the sewer line exits the house to the street. It has no problem flushing, it's just some people in my household (you know who) don't hold the lever down when they do a #2. Just flicking the handle is in many cases not enough to remove all of the debris. The flapper closes so quickly that it really only allows the water in the tank to drop about 3" at most, then it starts filling up again. I'll try the blue one and see if that works better. I did see that one but I wasn't sure if it was compatible with the Drake.
 

Terry

The Plumbing Wizard
Staff member
Messages
29,942
Reaction score
3,458
Points
113
Location
Bothell, Washington
Website
terrylove.com
In my household, nobody holds the trip lever down. The water in the tank only drops about three inches, and that has been enough.
If that's not enough on yours, you may have something blocking the exit.

The only toilets that drained an entire tank, were the old 3.5's and 5.0's
 

SVTour98

New Member
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I'll check again but it was all clear when I installed the toilet a few days ago. It accepts a standard wax ring right? There isn't like an oversized one that is necessary for the drake? Since it has a 3" flush valve? Just trying to think if you are on the right track with something impeding its ability to flush properly... I just used the standard $4 wax ring with the plastic cone attached going downward into the sewer drain.
 

Terry

The Plumbing Wizard
Staff member
Messages
29,942
Reaction score
3,458
Points
113
Location
Bothell, Washington
Website
terrylove.com
That wax should have been fine. The only reason I mention it, is that the directions on the wax box, says to put it on the bottom of the bowl.

Most plumbers will set the wax on the floor flange, and then drop the bowl down on it.
I've seen a few installs that floor installers have done where the wax had fallen off the bowl during installation, and dropped down and blocked some the drain.
 

SVTour98

New Member
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Good point. I actually ignored their recommendation to do that because after I tried picking up the toilet the first time the wax ring fell off. So I put it in place over the drain then slowly lowered the toilet down as my wife watched underneath to make sure it was lined up properly. So it should be ok. But as for that funnel on the wax ring, they are all the same size? No need to get a larger one for the Drake with the 3" flush valve?
 

SVTour98

New Member
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Gotcha, thanks for the replies! We'll keep on using it as it came from the factory. It will probably just take some getting used to. If I get time soon I'll pop the toilet off and make sure it is all clear underneath.
 

Jadnashua

Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Messages
32,770
Reaction score
1,190
Points
113
Location
New England
While you shouldn't have to hold the lever down, make sure you DO push it all the way down.
 

djlazar

Electrician
Messages
16
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Norman, OK
I just bought a Drake and can't stand the incomplete flush either. I measured the tank's volume by pouring in water using gallon milk jugs. Exactly 2 gallons. When you do a quick flick of the handle, the water level only goes down halfway at most. I'm guessing that's a 1 gallon flush? I'm going to Lowes to buy a blue flapper tomorrow. If anyone's interested, I'll post the water usage using the blue flapper.
 

Terry

The Plumbing Wizard
Staff member
Messages
29,942
Reaction score
3,458
Points
113
Location
Bothell, Washington
Website
terrylove.com
There isn't any brand of toilet out there anymore that uses more than 1.6 gallons.

Some are getting down to 1.1 gallons.
And yet they work.
 

Peanut9199

Customer Service Manager Plumbing Wholesale
Messages
869
Reaction score
2
Points
0
Location
Ontario, Canada
The Drake uses the G-Max flushing technology, which means it has more water in the tank. More water equals a greater push.

It uses the same fill valve as the Power Gravity but is postioned higher, the flush valve has a higher overflow tube and the flapper (Red One) has a hole in the front to close faster 1.6gpf.
If you use the Blue flapper used in the Power gravity system it will open longer letting more water thorugh, but will work fine.

I had a customer who used it in a commercial building (about 20 Drake's) and was happy with the result.
 

Timmy

New Member
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I bought & installed a Toto Drake about 2 years ago. After installing it I gave it a test flush and I thought there must be something wrong. The flush was so fast that it seemed not enough water could be going through to do the job. But I was wrong. Never have had any problems with it. My only complaint is it is a very noisy flush but I can live with that.
 

Composter

New Member
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
North Carolina
Got the same issue as SVtour98. I bought the red flapper for my Gmax as the old one leaked and now the darn thing only flushes halfway. I flushed it before the replacement and everything worked fine (except for the leak). I've had this happen on another toilet and still haven't figured out why.
 

Jadnashua

Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Messages
32,770
Reaction score
1,190
Points
113
Location
New England
IF you have the right flapper and the water level in the tank is proper and the water level in the bowl is correct (requires the proper fill valve), and, you have to hold the handle down to fully flush the toilet, there's likely something blocking the pathway either in the toilet (or more likely) in the flange or drain pipe. Another possibility is if you have a partial blockage in the pipe...you can't drain water into a pipe that is already full or partially full. It is very common to have something caught in the trapway of the toilet - a pen, pencil, hair clip, small toy, etc. that can slow the flow enough to cause a poor flush.

If you have really hard water, the internal pathways of the toilet over time can become partially blocked off, and slow things down enough so that it won't perform properly.
 

Composter

New Member
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
North Carolina
Jim, I don't quite get it. I flushed it JUST before the replacement and everything worked fine (except for the leak).
 

WJcandee

Wise One
Messages
3,181
Reaction score
170
Points
63
Location
New York, NY
One problem here is one of communication.

The (I deleted my first choice of words), um, "folks without knowledge" who post asking how to get a "full flush" usually DON'T mean a flush that clears the bowl. They have looked in the tank, some apparently for the first time, and see that the tank only empties half way.

Because they don't understand the mechanics of modern flushes, they think something is wrong, and start holding the handle down or obsessing over how to make more water drain from the tank. Then they post on here. So, "full flush" to them means "empty the tank". As has repeatedly been said on here, the Drake is only supposed to drain about half the tank. It acually flushes better when using the half-tank, because the excess water from holding the handle down overloads the bowl with water, in my experience.

And if it isn't clearing with the designed flush, then something is wrong, either a restriction in the toilet trapway/exit, or in the drain line. THE EXTRA WATER ISN'T GOING TO HELP.

Put another way, if the reason they want that "full flush" is that the bowl isn' clearing, then 100-percent of the time there is another issue involved. Perhaps a clogged drain line outside the toilet, or a slow drain line, or something caught in the trapway or outlet of the toilet (like Terry's famous toy soldier). The homeowner should quit obsessing over the amount of water leaving the tank and start looking at the rest of his DWV system after running an auger through his toilet.
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks