Does G-Max has two flush modes?

[casper]

I just bought my second Toto Dartmouth G-Max (I'm a very satisfied customer!) and I have a question for the Toto experts.

Does the G-Max have two flush modes - a low volume for liquid waste only, and a higher volume for solids? You would think the answer "no" is obvious because there is no mention of that feature in the Toto literature and I can only find one reference to it in all the posts on this forum. However . . . if you pull and release the flush lever right away, the tank only partially empties because the red flapper with the 1/2" hole on the underside immediately fills with water and closes. If you hold the lever for about a second, that's enough time for the tank to empty completely so you get a greater volume of water - good for solids.

As has been mentioned in other posts, if you always want the tank to empty completely, replace the red flapper with the hole with a blue flapper without the hole ( Lowes sells them).

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I love the Dartmouth toilets but the seat design could use improvement. I use Toto soft close elongated seats ( both SS154-12) for both toilets. The seat (bought 9/06) for the first toilet has some play in the hinge mechanism which allows the seat to suddenly shift (whoops!) about a half inch when you lean to clean things up. The second seat (bought 2/08) is a different design and must have been designed by people who always sit :-). The seat does not stay up! You're forced to conduct business using one hand to hold up the seat - a dicey arrangement. Yes, the tank is making three point contact and yes, the tank lid is all the way back.

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I get concerned about tightening the bolts holding the tank to the bowl. As I get close to making contact, I hear a small "crackling" sound - perhaps it's just the glaze starting to crush under the metal washer. This happened for both toilets. For the experts - how much leeway do I have as I approach contact? I sure don't want to crack the tank or bowl!

Thanks, Casper

[jadnashua]

Many toilets will work that way, but it is not by design, it is a side effect. If you want reliable flush, push the lever down fully. You should release immediately. A partial flush is not reliable - it is an acquired feat that requires a little finnese - it is not a designed feature. Those who espouse it as a planned feature are somewhat mislead...

Those toilets that are designed for it send fairly precise, measured, and tested quantities of water in their selected modes...on one not designed for it, it's a crapshoot and may require a second flush which defeats the purpose as it would probably use more water than if you did it 'right' the first time.

[casper]

jadnashua - thanks for the comment.
Let me clarify my post - I pull the lever to the hard stop and release it immediately. This gives me a partial flush - about half a tank. The flapper is pulled all the way up and then goes down all the way when the lever is released because the air in the flapper quickly escapes through the 1/2" hole. I would imagine that the combination of the half tank volume and the water already in the bowl gives the toilet the design rating of 1.6gpf.

[Terry]

You can break a tank, if you tighten too much.
It's made of fired clay, and it can only take so much.

1.6 gallon toilets are set up to use 1.6 gallons.
The tanks are bigger, so the flappers are designed to close quicker.

You can hold the handle down, if you like to see lots of water whooshing by, but you don't need to. I don't bother doing that.
I'm finding that the 1.28 gallon flush tanks on the Drake work just fine.

I don't recall tanks keeping seats from staying up.
When I install, I try to center the tank, as I tighten down. I balance the tank over the hole in the bowl, going for vertical, and massage it into place as it's being snugged down.

[jadnashua]

Modern toilets rarely empty the tank like the old ones did...the refill consists of two parts...replace the water that left the tank, then refill the bowl. The part that leaves the tank is only part of the 1.6 gallons, by no means all of it. Someone did an experiment and found about 1/3-gallon goes to filling the bowl, barely a gallon comes out of the tank that probably holds 2 or so. That height gives it the 'push' like from a water tower.