How to increase flush on Kohler Class Five Toilet?

[gplumb]

My Kohler Highline Class Five 1.6 gal toilet (K-3611) flushes with approximately 1 gal of water when the lever is pressed and released immediately. This leaves 1 gal of water in the tank so you can flush a second time or hold down the lever on the first flush to get more "flush". These are amounts I measured. I would like to have all the water to be used on one flush. If the canister could be made to float down and close more slowly, a lot more water would be released. Has anyone tried to add some kind of "float" material to the canister to make it more buoyant so it would close slower? Or is there another way to slow down the canister?

[Terry]

I haven't heard of a hack for that.
It should work fine out of the box though. New toilets use something like 1.6 or 1.28 when the handle is pushed and released.
You have the option of holding the handle down to force more water out, but it should work without doing that.

[gplumb]

I haven't heard of a hack for that.
It should work fine out of the box though. New toilets use something like 1.6 or 1.28 when the handle is pushed and released.
You have the option of holding the handle down to force more water out, but it should work without doing that.

Thanks, but the 1.6 toilet only releases approximately 1 gal on a "push and release". I'm exploring if there is a mod so a "push and release" would push more water without the "hold". The water saving comes from the paltry amount of water released unless you hold the lever down. I think people are used the push and forget of the old toilets.

[jadnashua]

You're forgetting that during the flush, it dumps what is in the bowl, too, and then, both the tank and the bowl have to get refilled...that total will be more than what it takes to just refill the tank. My guess is that if you measure the water it takes to refill the tank plus what goes down the overflow (or maybe another path in that toilet) to refill the bowl, you'd come very close to the stated 1.6g. SO, what I'm saying is the 1-gal from the tank added to what's in the bowl is likely to be that 1.6g.

[Gary Swart]

Basically, you're trying to make a poor quality toilet perform like a Toto. Ain't gonna happen. Sure, you can hold the hammer down and make the toilet flush 3 plus gallons of water, but that's not really a solution to the real problem. Sorry if that's too blunt.

[gplumb]

You're forgetting that during the flush, it dumps what is in the bowl, too, and then, both the tank and the bowl have to get refilled...that total will be more than what it takes to just refill the tank. My guess is that if you measure the water it takes to refill the tank plus what goes down the overflow (or maybe another path in that toilet) to refill the bowl, you'd come very close to the stated 1.6g. SO, what I'm saying is the 1-gal from the tank added to what's in the bowl is likely to be that 1.6g.

True, but new clean flush water that powers the flush is still just 1 gal and there's closer to an additional 1 gal in the tank that could be used.

[gplumb]

Basically, you're trying to make a poor quality toilet perform like a Toto. Ain't gonna happen. Sure, you can hold the hammer down and make the toilet flush 3 plus gallons of water, but that's not really a solution to the real problem. Sorry if that's too blunt.

I haven't had any problem with this toilet and it does it's job well. My idea is simply to come up with a mod to make use of the water that's there in one flush rather than have to hold the lever down or press the lever a second time to release the balance of water that is still in the tank. I would say that I'm tossing out an idea for the experts to ponder. It is interesting that Kohler doesn't advertise holding down the lever to release more water or at least I havn't seen anything.

[mrmedic]

If you are saying that it should use the rest of the water in the tank I think that is wrong. The newer tanks only use part of the water in the tank as per design. If it is working fine why would you want to use the rest of the water in the tank if not needed?

[Gary Swart]

Mr Medic is absolutely correct. Low flow toilets do not use the full tank of water for a normal flush. This is by design. The additional water in the tank give a bit of pressure boost to the flush. I haven't measured the percent of water in the tank that is used for a flush, but I would estimate it is about 1/2. This would me that a flush using the entire tank would be 3.2 gallons which is what the old outlawed full flow toilets used. I do not think that a modification to use the entire tank for a normal flush would be legal since full flow toilets are not longer legal except for those grandfathered and the modification would eliminate the low flow. If your Kohler is so wonderful, why do you need 3 or more gallons to make it flush? The newest Toto designs coming on the market now only use 1.28 gallons per flush, and the work just fine.

[Mad Plumber]

Yeah, whell htat reminds me that I have a cupboard of food, so why can't i geat it all at once. Why doex mey wife want me to only east some of it. I can seel all that food, whoso whtt the hckeck?
Shoulclbdn't I gbe able to empty the cupbaord whenever I see her fill it?
It makes sxense to me.

[mrmedic]

Yeah, whell htat reminds me that I have a cupboard of food, so why can't i geat it all at once. Why doex mey wife want me to only east some of it. I can seel all that food, whoso whtt the hckeck?
Shoulclbdn't I gbe able to empty the cupbaord whenever I see her fill it?
It makes sxense to me.

What ?????????

[LLigetfa]

What ?????????

Probably thumbing it on his cellphone without a spellchecker.

My toilet (not a Kohler) has dual flush so I can use more or I can use less. Very seldom do I have to use more and being on a septic tank/field, that is a good thing.

[gplumb]

Yeah, whell htat reminds me that I have a cupboard of food, so why can't i geat it all at once. Why doex mey wife want me to only east some of it. I can seel all that food, whoso whtt the hckeck?
Shoulclbdn't I gbe able to empty the cupbaord whenever I see her fill it?
It makes sxense to me.

Now you're talking. My wife's rule would be 1.6 small cookies per trip. Really, is this enough? This will take several trips!

[Charlie 3]

It's a great looking contraption, but it doesn't work. We have to slow down the drop of the cylinder for sure.
I just remodeled two bathrooms. Fixed the lousy flapper that dropped too quick on the first toilet. See related post. This one I'm working on now. I intend to put some silicone on some of the openings at the bottom of the cylinder, to slow down the rate of water entry into the cylinder after the flush, thereby slowing the drop. If that doesn't work, I may put a sign up that says "Press for 1, Hold for 2." This system must have been designed by the Bush Administration. We need less government. In the future, I'm saving the guts from the old units.

My Kohler Highline Class Five 1.6 gal toilet (K-3611) flushes with approximately 1 gal of water when the lever is pressed and released immediately. This leaves 1 gal of water in the tank so you can flush a second time or hold down the lever on the first flush to get more "flush". These are amounts I measured. I would like to have all the water to be used on one flush. If the canister could be made to float down and close more slowly, a lot more water would be released. Has anyone tried to add some kind of "float" material to the canister to make it more buoyant so it would close slower? Or is there another way to slow down the canister?

[Gary Swart]

You can put all the lipstick you want on that Class five, but it will still be a pig.