Joe Papworth
New Member
I have two success stories that you may want to share with Champion toilet users:
I've had one since 2003. It rarely flushed reliably. To their credit, the American Standard folks sent me many free parts, even after the toilet was out of warranty. Recently, I replaced the flush mechanism (again) but this time with the Champion IV version. Things looked hopeful for a while, but soon it was up to its old tricks. The problem became compounded by very slow refill. If someone needed to flush a second time, they had to wait an excruciatingly long time for the tank to refill. I solved that problem by removing a light-greenish-colored bullet-shaped piece of foam plastic inside the base of the fill valve. Voila !!!!
Success # 2 happened today and I should have thought of this years ago: I flushed the toilet with the tank-top off and it went ka-woosh, like it should. I then wondered if it was possible for the tank-top to form such a perfect fit that no air could enter the tank, resulting in a vacuum as the water emptied. (Like when you try to put gas in your lawn mower and forget to open the gas can’s air vent) "Nah", I thought. That's too simple. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. To quickly test my theory, I clipped one of those giant paper clips (the kind with the two squeeze handles) on the lip of the tank and put the top back on. The paper clip left just enough of a gap that air could rush in during a flush. I flushed the toilet...ka-woosh. I repeated that 3 or 4 times and it worked every time. A few hours later my son asked me if I had done anything to fix the toilet. That was music to my ears.
I answered "Yep, I fixed it with a paper clip."
My "Air-Flow Version 2.0" will replace the paper clip with something that won't rust.
Hope this helps.
Malcolm Papworth
Delaware, Ohio
I've had one since 2003. It rarely flushed reliably. To their credit, the American Standard folks sent me many free parts, even after the toilet was out of warranty. Recently, I replaced the flush mechanism (again) but this time with the Champion IV version. Things looked hopeful for a while, but soon it was up to its old tricks. The problem became compounded by very slow refill. If someone needed to flush a second time, they had to wait an excruciatingly long time for the tank to refill. I solved that problem by removing a light-greenish-colored bullet-shaped piece of foam plastic inside the base of the fill valve. Voila !!!!
Success # 2 happened today and I should have thought of this years ago: I flushed the toilet with the tank-top off and it went ka-woosh, like it should. I then wondered if it was possible for the tank-top to form such a perfect fit that no air could enter the tank, resulting in a vacuum as the water emptied. (Like when you try to put gas in your lawn mower and forget to open the gas can’s air vent) "Nah", I thought. That's too simple. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. To quickly test my theory, I clipped one of those giant paper clips (the kind with the two squeeze handles) on the lip of the tank and put the top back on. The paper clip left just enough of a gap that air could rush in during a flush. I flushed the toilet...ka-woosh. I repeated that 3 or 4 times and it worked every time. A few hours later my son asked me if I had done anything to fix the toilet. That was music to my ears.
I answered "Yep, I fixed it with a paper clip."
My "Air-Flow Version 2.0" will replace the paper clip with something that won't rust.
Hope this helps.
Malcolm Papworth
Delaware, Ohio