Toto toilet design question, and wax ring size

[npurdy506]

I'm getting ready to install a Toto Eco Clayton. I looked carefully at the new toilet today and noticed two things I wouldn't have expected:

1) Although the bowl is smoothly glazed, the trapway inside feels rough, sort of like 220 grit sandpaper.
2) There is a lip inside the trapway exit that would seem to be able to trap things as they exit the toilet (see attached photo)

Are these two things normal?

Also, how do I know what size (thickness) wax ring to use? The flange is sitting on top of the bathroom floor, and it's 1 inch deep inside the flange. It seemed like I scraped a lot of wax out when I removed the old toilet. Thanks.

[Terry]

If the flange is setting above the floor, then one wax ring should do it.
If the flange is slightly below the floor, we use two.

The roughness in the trapway works better then a smooth trapway.
It's impossible for a baby wipe (which shouldn't be flushed) from sticking to the roughness of the trapway. If it' smooth, then things will stick to it.
Imagine throwing a baby wipe at your bathroom mirror, it will stick.
Then throw in on a texture wall and see which one falls quickest.

We've sold thousands of bowls that look like that, it's the sweep before the outlet that makes the difference. The sweep points the waste down the drain.

[npurdy506]

Thanks for the helpful information. As for the wax ring, I clearly don't understand where it seals. The Fluidmaster full-size wax ring I bought is just over 3/4" thick. The flange is 1" deep inside. It seems like the wax ring could seal against the flange, or against the toilet, but not both. What am I missing?

[Terry]

The wax need to contact both the flange and the bowl, use two wax rings then.
If you don't feel the wax compressing, pull the bowl and add a wax ring.

[npurdy506]

Thanks - that's helpful. If I use two rings, do I just stack two plain rings on top of each other, or should I use one with a horn as the top one?

I also found a "jumbo" sized ring that appears to be thick enough, but it has a horn in it and your site recommends plain wax instead of horns if I remember.

[Terry]

We personally use wax with the horn on top, or you could use the jumbo ring.

The outlet of a modern bowl is about 2"
The horn is bigger then that. I don't know how a horn bigger then 2" is going to block a 2" outlet, been doing it this way for 36 years.
Put the wax on the flange, and lower the bowl down onto the wax.

[jadnashua]

If you install it properly, and have a decent flange, the horn will work. If you get things off-center, or they used an internal mount 3" flange, the horn may not fit into the pipe, and can pinch partially closed. It is all in the workmanship. A DIY'er may not notice or understand, and that can lead to problems. If the flange is excessively high, it can squeeze out too much wax, and then you might end up with plastic from the horn on porcelain, and a poor seal. If you ever have to auger the toilet, you could catch or damage the horn and create other problems. My (unprofessional) feeling is that it is more trouble than it is worth.

[Jim D]

First post. Although descendant from a proud plumbing family, I have no experience in plumbing. See photo of the horn on my new Toto Drake II CST454CEFG with C454CEFG bowl w/SanaGloss (1.28gpf). I expected the horn to be round and uniform all around, but as you can see, it's not on the side closest to the front of the toilet. Looking down on it, it is not round. Secondly, there is a 3/8" vertical ring of porcelain down into the toilet all around except in that front area where it's about half that. It this a defect? Should I return it to my local supplier Webb and get a replacement? (I uploaded 2 photos but don't see them, so if they don't go through, I'll try again.)

[Jim D]

Hopefully, here are 2 photos for the above post. I had to re-size them down (often blogs do that automatically so I had to figure out how to do it). I should take this opportunity to thank Terry and all of the rest of you who have provided so much help to me in selecting a toilet.

[wjcandee]

It's not how my Drake looks, but see Terry's post below.

[Terry]

Jim D,
It's nothing to worry about. They pretty much look something like that and we keep selling them and we keep getting happy customers.
Once you have it installed and you are using it, it will just be a distant memory. We just installed six more TOTO bowls today, Drakes and Ultramax's. That's what they look like when you turn them over.