Toto tank contact points question

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I Play One On TV

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Hello Terry and forum members:

I've been enjoying the info in these forums for quite some time, but this is my first post. Using the help found here, I just picked out a new Toto Eco Drake, and installed it last night. I've installed toilets before, but this was my first Toto. My question/issue is this: in tightening down the tank to the three points of contact, I am not quite down rock solid on the front 2 points. It looks like the tank is down, but l can slip a piece of paper in there, and if I pull forward on the tank, I feel a tiny bit of "give." No give pushing back. I hate to tighten the hold-downs any more--I didn't like the noises I was hearing from the tank and there is a lot of pressure on them already. So, do I have a problem that I need to correct, or should I just leave it alone?
 

Ian Gills

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A little bit of give is quite normal. If it doesn't leak, leave it be.
 

Terry

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Sometimes you can pull on the tank as you are tightening to make it come down better, that being said, a little give is fine.
 

I Play One On TV

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Thanks both Ian and Terry. And I figure a little give to the front, rock solid towards the back, is the better of not-perfect, because most people lean back.

A couple of things I would recommend to other DIY weekend plumbers. First, maybe check the level of the tank before tightening down using an actual level. I just eye-balled mine; maybe a level would have made the difference. (Terry, I did pull down/shimmy the tank a little while tightening it down.)

Second, the Toto instructions say that when installing the tank hold-down bolts, tighten the nut on the bottom of the tank finger tight, then tighten another half-turn with a wrench. Whoever wrote that must have very strong fingers. Using that method, after installing the tank, I could see that the nut and washer on the bottom of the tank had pulled away from that tank at least a quarter-inch if not more. I removed the tank, and re-tightened the nuts on the bottom of the tank to an amount of pressure I thought acceptable without risk of cracking the porcelain. This time when I installed the tank, no separation.

The Toto is the only toilet I've installed where the bolt inside the tank has an over-sized head and does not use a metal washer on top of the neoprene washer. On the next one I do, I think I'm going to add my own metal washers. I would have felt a little less stressed about tightening down the tank if they had been in there.
 

Terry

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The drakes uses two bolts, two rubber washers, four washer and four nuts.
The rubber goes on the bolt, which is then dropped inside the tank, secured with a washer and nut on the bottom.
We tighten these up pretty good.

ecodrake_tankbottom.jpg


Then you set the tank on the bowl, and use a washer and nut to tighten.

toto-tank-parts.jpg


Installation instructions

ecodrake_insidetank.jpg

Looking inside the new Eco Drank tank.
 
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I Play One On TV

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We tighten these up pretty good.

Exactly. This is where the instructions that come with the toilet say to use a wrench to tighten a half-turn past finger tight--which is definitely not tight enough. They need to be tightened up, as you say, pretty darn good.

And on that note, if you check the install instructions you linked to, written by Jamie, you will see he forgot this step! Look at steps 9 and 10. He has you dropping the hold down bolts through the holes in the tank, then securing under the bowl, without any mention of having installed the washer and nut directly to the bottom of the tank. (In fact, using his method would make it very difficult to do that, as he already has you setting the tank on the bowl without tank-to-bowl hold-down bolts installed.) May I suggest that his instructions need a step 3A? After step 3 (tightening flapper assembly nut on bottom of tank), the hold down bolts need to be installed on the tank, just as you, Terry, explain above.
 
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