American Standard Champion toilet Review and comments. Rated #1 by Consumer Reports

[Reader Review]

I purchased 3 AS Champion toilets for our new home. Within a few months the periodic flushing began. First with one then all three. Upon discovery I found all 3 red seals to have a small "bump" approx 1/4" x 1/4" on the edge of the 3 seals. Thinking they might be defective, I purchased 3 seals at Home Depot for almost $6 each. Fine for a month then problems recurred with same result. More red seals, more leaks. Finally after 3 each seal replacements I contacted American Standard. They said I had the "old"
models and they would ship the replacement tank parts complete for all 3 toilets which they did. Fortunately I was able to act as the plumber here which saved us huge sums of money but if I weren't able I shudder to think how much more we would have had to spend on each and every call.
Everything was fine for the first 7 months then, voila! Then the "new"
green seal developed a 1/4" x 1/4" bump near the edge just like the red seals!! Two calls to AS Customer Service with a direct request to talk to a qualified, ranking design engineer resulted in several rebuffs and finally a call back several days later by someone identifying themself as a design engineer.
Our story is this. My wife is a regional/national accounts manager for GE's water treatment. We are on a well and because of this paid for a 150 point water test in a nearby state's lab. The results were used to design a whole house system by GE engineers for our home as we are a Beta site for water testing for GE.
The AS "engineer" upon learning of this said it must be our water quality causing the bumps not the Champion design. He sent 2 vials for us to fill up with water for AS to "test".
After reading numerous blogs of disatisfied customers, I trust AS does the right thing and responds very quickly to our concerns "in the field" as the Champion falls far, far short of quality claims.
D Srygley
Delaware

[Reader Review]

We purchased a Champion Elongated Toilet in Dec 2004. It has started the " running" I have seen posted.
I found all your comments and was very concerned. I called American Standard gave them the model number and they are sending replacement parts. They said there is a 10 year warranty and if I have any
further problem to call and give them the reference number and there is a file and any other problems within the warranty they would resolve.

Maybe if you haven't called American Standard 1-800-442-1902......you might try if you still have warranty on your purchase.

[Reader Review]

I installed the American Standard toilet in 2006 and less then a year later the gasket that ships with the toilet for the flapper was leaking so the toilet would drain a little then refill frequently.

To solve this I went to a hardware store (plug: Casper True Value Lake Zurich, IL - great place), I had some time to kill so I asked for some advice. Basically I bought a "make your own" rubber gasket 1/8" thick and cut it to the same size.

[alextheone]

I am sad.
I wished so very hard I knew about this evil toilet, so I could have
hit my husband over the head and brought a Kohler, like the one I
chose for upstairs. I am sorry one person thinks these attacks are
on Americans, but buddy, the top and the tank are stamped with Made in Mexico. Now maybe that is where Americans work now, but all I know is this toilet is an evil water running machine that has become the bain of my exsistance. No wonder when I first went to the AS website, they were so pleasant to look at...but no mention that the Champ was the evil toilet that is evil. I am sorry people...I just at the thing.

[Reader Review]

American Standard evidently realized that the engineering on the original Champion – Flush Tower was not perfect. They have since replaced the original Champion flush tower system with the new and improved Champion 4 flush system. The Champion 4 flush system works even better than the original with none of the problems.

Original Champion toilets can be retrofitted with the new Champion 4 flush system and enjoy a problem free product. Call American Standard customer service for more information (Ph 800-442-1902). There is also a video showing how to replace the old flush tower with the new Champion 4 flush kit at http://plumberprotects.com/flushology_champion.htm .

John Reiss

[diprivanrn]

Has anyone out there had any bad experiences with the new champion 4 toilet. I am curious if the redesign on the flush tower had helped out the design in general. The physics sound pretty good, but the proof is in the pudding. The old toilet was a bomb.... how about the new one? did the design change redeem itself. I know that there are some out there with sour expereinces from the last one.

I am designing a house right now and I have been reading about different toilets and looking at the designs. I was initially going to go with the champion 4 toilet, but got to reading and I then decided that either the toto drake or the cadet 3 might be the way to go. I was going to the plumbing supplier soon to look at the designs a little better. I was wondering if I should give the champion 4 another chance or just pass it by for either the drake or the cadet.

Any input?

Would like to hear of recent Champion 4 experiences-post...post...post

Thanks

Paul

[Redwood]

I have 2 words for you...
Think Toto!

Those Am. Std. Toilets are Junk!
The chumpian after 4 redesigns still has a wobbling tank and a patch on the back of the trapway that leaks on many of them.

The Cadet 3 has some quality control issues as well!

[gaw]

...I found a link where they replaced the Champion flush tower with the flush valve/flapper from an Eljer Titan:

http://unitelater.com/s9y/index.php?...-Solution.html

has any one else done this? It scares me a bit that the tank opening on the Champion is 1/4 inch larger than the Titan - sounds like a possible leak spot. I like the idea of replacing the flush tower (if it eventually becomes a problem) with a flapper/flush valve...

I'm the guy that put the Eljer flush valve in the Champion. That was over a year ago, and I am happy to report that I have never had a leak, and get a perfect flush every time. Since I am able to modulate the length of the flush, I get complete removal of residuals on the first flush.

If you still have the old style flush tower (I pity you if that is the case) then HURRY and get the Eljer flush valve- now only $12.00 at Locke Plumbing! No leaks, no running toilet, and no double flushing... it will be the best $12 you ever spent!

[maddog]

Thanks for the update GAW. I already called American Standard and they sent me the replacement flush valve - just haven't gotten around to installing it yet. Still no problems with the original flush tower, except for the 'clunk' ..... -dog

[maddog]

Finally got around to replacing the flush tower with the replacement flush valve sent by American Standard. The new flush value works great. Very powerful flush and good bowl wash. I would recommend that anyone having problems with the original Champion flush tower, to call AS and request the new flush valve. It came with new tank bolts, seals, and a new spud gasket.

old flush valve (hose clip already removed), new flush valve, got it tight (no tank wobble), but not too tight... I took my time and slowly tightened the tank bolts, a little on each side. It took less than an hour to replace. -dog

[Reader Review]

Does anyone know if there has been a recall on the American Standard low water toilet. Mine was just installed and broke & I noticed alot of comments on the msg brd about these. Thought I'd ask before I call American Standard. The stupid thing is costing a fortune bc it doesn't stop running.

Dok

[Redwood]

There should be if Am. Std. had 1 ounce of decency!
But there is a class action lawsuit in the works...
Check back several pages in this thread!

[maddog]

Not sure what the 'American Standard low water toilet' is. This thread deals with the American Standard Champion model. If you're not sure what model you have, lift up the tank lid and see if you have the white flush tower in my previous post. If you do have the Champion tank, call American Standard and they will send you a new re-designed flush valve that works much better than the original, problematic flush tower. They won't pay to have it installed by a plumber, but it's not too difficult to replace if you have a ratchet set with deep sockets (you'll need a 1/2 inch socket for the tank bolts). They will send you the new flush valve, seals, tank bolts, and the tank/bowl gasket as well as a large plastic wrench that makes it easy to remove the original flush tower.

Good luck ... -dog.

[d0n]

I saw this toilet at Lowes and thought... if it can flush 24 golf balls, then I want it! Not that I ever crap that much but if I need to get rid of 24 golf balls really quick, I'm all set! It is definately a good advertising campaign.

I bought it about 4 months ago. I installed it myself and then immediately noticed that it keeps filling itself after 10 mins. Every 10 mins!!!

The build date inside the toilet is 6/22/2007. After reading this forum I see that American Standard has known about this faulty seal for a good 4 years but they continue to sell the toilet?! WTF?

Is it even worth it to have AS send me the new seal or whatever new, supposedly redesigned parts they think will fix it? Should I just return this piece of junk to Lowes?

[jadnashua]

The repair parts are free if you ask. If you can install them yourself, it should be an okay deal. The majority here don't recommend them - a pro can't afford callbacks for defective products. Doing it yourself, you can save a little, if you don't have to travel too far to find a good one, or return it for a second try if you don't.