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

[Yehoshua]

Thanks to all for all this information. Two questions:

1) There seem to be many different models of the "Champion" toilets. Does the above leakage apply to ALL of them? My wife very much likes the look of the "Townsend Champion."

2) I followed the thread above where the leak problems seems to have been fixed in the Champion 4 models. Does everyone agree that it is now a safe toilet to buy, or should it still be avoided?

[Reader Review]

hello my name is shannon foshee i own the champion toilet 4260 also.

i called american standard last week to get a replacement tank i bought this toilet four years ago. i sent american standard a letter i needed a new tank i got hassled about it they wanted me to take pictures of the cracked tank i did not have a camera then the man wanted me to send him pictures of it that's hard to do if you don't have a camera and. he refused to send me a new tank under the ten year warranty. and i get a call today from american standard that they will be sending me a new tank. i.m still waiting on it i will let you know when i receive it.they acted like they wasn't going to.

thanks shannon foshee

[Reader Review]

The Champion toilet has a new flush valve made by fluid master for American Standard
they put it in the new models and it replaced the part numbers for the older models



Here is a link to the page with the part
http://www.lockeplumbing.com/search.asp?key=am-4266&x=10&y=15

here is a link to the brand / model number index
http://www.lockplumbing.com/toiletguide.htm

Hope this helps some folks
Jeff

[Reader Review]

i had bought this toilet 1 year ago it continues to lesk water and sticks all the time my first and last one
jerry

[Reader Review]

I to installed champion super flush toilets in my home about 1 year ago. Worked good for a while but very noisy. Then it started leaking around the flush valve the red seal would not hold the water in the tank. I called American Standard at 1-800-442-1902 told them the problem and they sent me out a new tower (black) to replace the white one and has worked GREAT AND NO MORE CLUNK when you flush. Thanks American Standard.
Dan

[micp879]

I have a question regarding this new flush valve that American Standard is supposedly sending out as a replacement for the pain in the butt flush tower. If I remember correctly, when the Champion first came out, when it had the leaky flush tower, it was only a 3 inch valve. Well this new flush valve is supposedly a 4 inch. Am I missing something, or does that mean that this new valve can not be used to replace the initial 3 inch tower? The leaking tower has been a pain in the butt on my parents Champion, and I was hoping that this new valve could solve the problem. But now that I see the valves are different sizes, Im a bit confused.

[SamC]

Not to worry. Look carefully at the picture, and you will see that the threaded part at the bottom that fits into the hole in the tank is actually the same size as the original flush tower. The tube flairs out like a trumpet to mate with the four inch flapper. The idea is that the water flows in faster with the funnel-like flair.

[Dac]

I also purchased an AS Champion 4260 toilet about a year ago. It has the white, clunky flush tower model. It has been ten months since installation and it finally started leaking past the seal. Some how it had developed a bubble. After searching several hardware stores, I stumbled upon some bulk rubber gasket material which was the correct thickness and proceeded to make a replacement. The first one I made was made to conform to the measurements of the original gasket. It leaked also. So I made a second one. This time I widened the flange by adding an 1/8" to the outside diameter. It has been in place 24 hours and has not leaked so far. I also lengthened the chain. That has reduced the clunk slightly. The clunk I don't mind. I'll be happy if I can stop wasting about 150 gallons of water a day. Thank God I'm not on a municipal water system.

[Reader Review]

Since we purchased the so called Champion we've had nothing but problems. You dare not touch the bowl or it starts to leak. No parts available at Home Depot were we bought it. The handle is about to fail....it sticks all the tme. Sometimes I think we would be better off with a bucket! American Standard...........never again!

Jerry Miller

[Reader Review]

We have a newly built (two-years old) townhouse with three bathrooms; two adults and have occasional guests. The contractor installed American Standard “Standard Collection” Elongated Toilets. They have been nothing but trouble from the beginning. The toilets do not flush well and are constantly clogging. We need to flush two or three times to get the waste down.
The problems seem to be in the bowls. The plumber who installed the toilets broke one open and discovered that the porcelain on the toilet was not throughout and the toilet paper was getting caught on the rough spots. All three toilets were replaced once during the contractor one-year warranty period. It is now year two, and we experiencing clogging in one toilet, and staining where the porcelain has worn off in another. One of the toilets gets very little use. We needed to call a plumber that we trust very much to take a look at one of the toilets that is no longer flushing down waste…no matter how many times we try. After a half hour of his time, he told me that we needed a new toilet. We will never purchase another American Standard product again. He recommended Toto or Kohler. Since we have heard nothing but good things about Toto, we decided to bite-the-bullet and replace the two toilets that get the most use. M. Cellucci 9/17/07

[zerkle50]

This review is for the newer AmStan Champion 4 (RF) design, without the spring-loaded tower outlet valve. I replaced my aging Kohler Wellworth, responsible for many overflows onto the old linoleum floor. (I swore never to buy Kohler again.) As advertised, it would be almost impossible to clog the AS Champion 4.
The new outlet valve consists of a large PVC tube with top flange. A huge float with attached gasket sits on top. The seal is very positive. Unlike a small flapper “ball,” the float assembly is heavy and closes before the water level reaches the top of the outlet valve tube. There is no way to adjust this shutoff level. I use a two-stage flush: For liquid waste I just tap the handle for a normal flush, but for solids I hold it down for a slightly longer cycle. (In either case, the flush is less than a second so the value of this longer cycle is questionable.)
I do not like this new FluidMaster 400 valve. A vaned diverter disk at the input pipe slows down the fill to about 45 seconds. The old Fluidmaster 400A had a straight-through pipe, so fill was only about 15 seconds.
The trapway pressure is tremendous. Rinse down the sides of the bowl is only adequate, although the under-rim holes are really large and angled. Kohler also had inferior bowl rinse, especially after the tiny rim holes clog with lime scale.
Installation was easy. (Truthfully, I am an amateur, but have had to replace too many old or terrible toilets.) As users have noted, the tank mounting instructions don't match between the assembly sheet and the hardware bag. I carefully tightened the bolts for a 1/4 in. gap between tank bottom and raised rear rib on the back of the bowl. Any further and the tank would lean backwards. (Front and rear ribs on bowl are of different heights). Be careful, as you can crack the porcelain-coated clay and/or crush the grommet seal around the bolts, leading to leaks.
Quality control is a little below average. There is some slight lack of symmetry inside the bowl and a few places where the porcelain coating is thinner (like inside the critical trapway!), but it does not seem to affect function.
I paid $199.00 at Home Depot. Was it worth double the new $99.00 Kohler Wellworth/Ingenium? Only my new floors can answer that!

Grading the best toilets, the ones that work!

[davecoon13]

I called American Standard at 1-800-442-1902 told them the problem and they sent me out a new tower (black) to replace the white one and has worked GREAT AND NO MORE CLUNK when you flush. Thanks American Standard.
Dan

I just called them and they said that "there is a new flush tower design, that looks different, but it will work" they are sending it to me. Does installing this require that the tank be removed from the toilet? Will I need a new tank gasket?

[micp879]

Yes, you will have to remove the tank from the toilet. When I did the repair to my parents toilet, I was able to use the same tank to bowl gasket. However, a week or so later, a new gasket arrived in the mail just in case it was needed. Im not a big fan of the Champion, but the new design does seem a little bit better. No rubber valve gasket to constantly pop off, and the "clunk" sound when you press the trip lever seems a little bit less drastic. It was a pretty easy change out, don't be intimidated. Make sure to follow the directions, and alternate retightening the bolts, to avoid cracking the porcelain.

[davecoon13]

Yes, you will have to remove the tank from the toilet.... It was a pretty easy change out, don't be intimidated.

I did it!!!

AS mailed me the kit for free from Kentucky, it took 5 biz days to Virginia.

The kit included a giant plastic wrench that I was able to use to remove the nut from the bottom of the tank. That nut would have been easily cracked with my channel locks. It sure was a stubborn nut. I used that same wrench to tighten the new flush tower. I am gonna keep all the spare parts (new tank bolts, that wrench, old plastic nut from the old flush tower) in case I need them again.

Once I got that nut off, I installed the new flush tower. It was pretty painless...but once I had everything re-assembled, I realized the fill tube should have been further away from the Flush handle rod, but it is OK.

The kit included new tank bolts w/ gaskets, a new giant plastic nut for the bottom of the flush tower, a new tank/bowl gasket

I was worried when I was bolting the tank back on with the new tank bolts. One of the nuts for the tank bolt just wouldn't bite...no matter how I struggled. So I used the old tank bolt and its decrepit gasket on one side. It hasn't leaked yet. Once I reinstalled the tank and had everything together, I connected the supply line. When I turned the water pressure back on, there was water gushing everywhere. I went to Lowe's and got a new supply line, hooked it up, and the toilet works like a charm! I installed it last night, and tonight I took my first #2, and I think the suction power is greater than before. And the best part is that the annoying kurplunk is gone...

Now I think I am gonna call AS and get another Flush tower to keep as a backup in case it breaks again.

I read in Wikipedia that AS ceased making toilets as of 2007, yet there are plenty of Champions in the local Lowe's and Home Depot.


My basement has a Briggs Toilet made in 1977 (pre low-flow) that works much better, even than the Champion. I still don't know how these new toilets save water if they leak or if you have to flush them three times with one square of toilet tissue.

The whole reason I put in the Champion in 2005 is because my house came with one of those super cheap $60 Toilets that clogged with only a pee and 2 squares of tissue.

The Champion worked well for 2 years with that white plastic cylinder until this month. Now it seems to work even better with the new flush tower design, I hope it stays that way.

[jluksic]

Replaced the "original" Champion flush tower with the redesigned parts/package this weekend -it took about 30 minutes total. Easy.

1. No more "clunk".

2. Lever effort is higher than before.

3. Flush action is the best and still better than my Toto Drake.

4. Rear of tank still sits 1/4" above rear of bowl.