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

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About five or six months ago, I installed two of them. One upstairs, one down.

Until last week, no problems and am pleased with the performances.

My wife noticed that water was cycling through the toilet every five minutes or so.

The red seal turns out to be not sealing.

Do I get it fixed through Home Depot or through American Standard I wonder?
1/29/2007
D Fedorick
 

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Our American Standard Champion toilet is an insult. It is obvious AS did absolutely no testing of this terribly designed toilet before marketing it to the unsuspecting public. We ordered this toilet through our plumber and did not realize AS's reputation could not be relied on. Besides the poor design of the red "stopper" ring, we did not realize from photographs the top was rounded which does not allow us to store anything on the tank surface.
Replacing this nasty toilet will mean a trip to the landfill - including a disposal fee. Just how many thousands of these will end up in a landfill? Shame on AS for creating a product destined to be found by future archaeologists in such great numbers - not in homes, but in the trash. This is just one irresponsible example of manufacturers contributing to global warming via cheap products which must be replaced much too soon. Just think of the energy consumed by manufacturing & shipping of such junk.
2/10/2007
D. Rogers, Minnesota

 
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We have owned the American Standard Champion toilet for almost 3 years now and have had a continuous problem with water leaking from the flush seal and my husband has continuously had to readjust the seal.
The problem is getting worse and more often and we have tried to replace the seal but could not find one
at Home Depot (where we purchased the toilet) or Lowe's. I tried to get in touch with American Standard today, but they were closed. I plan to call them on Monday to try and obtain a new seal or to find out where
I may purchase one locally. I am very disappointed with American Standard and do not ever plan to buy their products. Our previous toilet was about 30 years old and never gave us this much trouble. Wish we had researched this toilet before buying it. I hope someone reads our reviews before buying.
Peg Sat 3 Mar 2007
 

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We have had to replace our tank 3 times. We continue to have issues, they continue to send us parts dated earlier than the previous. Does anyone know if there is a class action suit in regards to this toilet? The worst money I have ever spent!
3/12/2007
M. Hall

 
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I am a plumber also and have had my share of problems with this commode. However when I bought these commodes from a home improvement stores, I've had that same problem with the flush valve. I would call the company and they would send out a upgrade part. So far there have not had any problems with them. It's been over a year. But they are suppose to have a ten year worry-free guarantee, right? Now, the same commode (the Campion) I have purchased at a plumbing supply store, I have never had any problems with them at all.
4/11/2007
Bossvulcan

champion_tank_lid.jpg

Champion tank lid
 
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Based on Consumer Reports recommendations, I installed an A.S. Champion toilet in my house about a year ago. Just like V.S. French (26 Apr 2005), the spring within the 'piston' on the inside of the flush mechanism fell out when a plastic piece it was attached to inside the piston broke. I can't find replacement parts. A.S. has no web site that I can find to order these particular replacement parts. Their customer service site is worthless. Anyone would be crazy to buy A.S. products.
4/14/2007

D.Hall
 

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I bought the Champion in June 2004 and had no problems with it after the 1st 2 years. I then started to hear the toilet refilling itself around September 2006. I went here and saw all the problems everyone was having with it. I went to Lowe's, the store I bought it in and I was told that I had to deal with American Standard since it was past the time limit Lowe's will do anything to help a customer with a bad toilet.
When I tested the leakage problem by turning off the water, I found the tank completely empty in less than 1 day.
Unlike some of the others who have tried numerous fixes, I just gave up, replaced it & threw the thing away. It's not worth it to bother trying to fix something that will just break again and again.
 

Unhappy Crappy

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Finally Found My Hero!!! And He Aint No Champion!!!

JUST TO LET ALL OF MY UNHAPPY CHAMPION OWNERS OUT THERE KNOW THAT.... THERE IS A COMPANY CALLED KORKY WWW.KORKY.COM THAT HAS RELEASED A FLUSH VALVE SEAL THAT REPLACES THAT WONDERFUL PIECE OF RED RUBBER WE ALL HATE SO MUCH. AND ITS AVAILABLE AT HOME DEPOT..... IN THE PLUMBING AISLE.... PART NUMBER 428BP... ITS IN A BLUE AND WHITE PACKAGE AND SAY IT FITS AMERICAN STANDARD CHAMPION FLUSH VALVE SEAL.... SUPPOSEDLY IT RESISTS CHLORINE TOO. I WILL KEEP YOU ALL POSTED AS TO HOW LONG IT LASTS..... AND BEST OF ALL ITS MADE IN THE USA!!!! THANK YOU KORKY....LAVELLE INDUSTRIES.....
 

Bosco7284

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The Answer To The Problem

Finally the answer to the leaking red gasket on the Champion Toilets. The Home Depot stores (at least in the north east) now have in a new Champion tank. It is called The CHAMPION 4. It is a direct replacement of an original champion Tank and will fit on any champion bowl. It has basically a plain 3 1/4in flapper instead of a flush tower. Also it has a Flat tank lid so you can store stuff on top of the tank. The model number on the tank is 4266014.020 and the Home Depot Sku is 872235. I’m sure if you complain to the store they will let you do an even exchange for the tank. It cost the same as the old tank. I hope this helps :)
 

Andrew21

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Is it me or you cannot lean back on this tank either? I'm scared as hell to lean back since we tighten the bolts tight and the tank might crack. What to do? I have a piece of wood on the back hoping that nobody will lean back but COME ON! Who has a piece of wood on the back's of their toilet tanks? UGHHH
 

Dpullem

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Thanks Boscoe

I purchased the Champion couple weeks ago, hadn't really had any problems except the tank was a little wobbly (I was afraid to tighten it down till it touched the bowl) and I didn't like the slope on the lid of the tank. I called Home Depot and they let me return it without the box. I picked up the new
Champion 4 tank and it looks better then the older model and it fits great. The new flapper works good. I'm a happer camper.

Boscoe thanks for your input.

Don
 

Andrew21

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Jeeez..if that fits good, then Champion should let us exchange these damn tanks. I have to cut a piece of wood and put angles on them so that it fits between the wall and toilet. I don't want anyone to lean on it.

ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wish I bought a toto..
 

Vanlin

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American Standard Toilet From Hell

We also, have an AS Champion and have had this jewel for almost one year. It was touted as the best thing since sliced bread and with it's price it should have been. But it's not. It's the worst ripoff that I have suffered in my 62 years. I won't go into all of the problems with this piece of crap because they have been well covered on this forum but I do have three questions.
1. Is there any current or planned lawsuit against AS and all of the big box stores that sold this thing and refuse to make the bad ones right?
2. Do all of them make a loud thunk or crash sound when flushed and then all of the water shoots through in about three seconds?
3. Do all of them wobble in the back and cannot be tightened at all? Our installer broke two bowls trying to tighten them down and the sales folks at the Greenville, NC Lowes where we purchased it know absolutely less than nothing about how it's supposed to work. They could not answere ANY questions about the flush mechanism or the wobbling back. Also, does anyone else have a wooden brace built onto the back of theirs so that you feel safe when leaning back on the thing? One more, have you yet tried to tighten the bolts on most toilet seats that you attach to this thing? The bowl is designed so that you have to have a one inch wrist and fingers nine inches long to reach the nut on the seat bolt.
It's the worst thing to come down the pike in all my years. As soon as the gasket starts to leak like most of the posters have said, ours is going back to Lowes for a try at an exchange and after they refuse to do it, we are leaving it there and let them throw it in the dump where it belongs.
 

Stran

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Why is Terry still sellling this toilet?

Given the pages and pages of negative reviews about this toilet I'm curious as to why Terry is still selling this toilet. I note the Briggs Vacuity toilet is marked as Not Recommended but this one is still being sold. Am I missing something?

:confused:
 

Terry

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I list it. But no body has ever ordered one from me.
Most of the time, these are bought at home centers and installed by homeowners.
I did install one to see how it worked, that's when I noticed that the seal was leaking and the trip lever started going out.
I posted that information, and then I started getting emails from others with the same problems.
The best way to gather information sometimes, is to have a place to find it.
 

Stran

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Champion Toilet

Terry I agree that information is important to have. It was in part thanks to your website we decided on the Toto Drake toilets that we love so much.

I guess I was just wondering why the Champion toilet didn't have the "Not Recommended" designation as it certainly seems to deserve it based on the experiences from the posters on this board. I shudder to think how bad the Briggs toilet must have been to earn that.

As an aside, I think I actually read each comment about ALL the toilets you listed. My wife believes I have a problem, especially when I begin the tour of our house with our new toilets.
 

123WHM

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Champion clunk

Reader Review said:
I've had the same problems and recently got it working with a new gasket sent free from A.S. but because of the clunk I just removed the toilet from our hall bath to a rental I have that needed a replacement. Let them deal with the clunk! Today I went on line to find a new toilet and was going to purchase another A.S. model. After stumbling into this web site and reading these consumer reports I see a Kohler or Toto as the answer. We have several Totos and although expensive, they really do the job! Never another American Standard!

I bought this Champion model at HD in Feb '06. First problem I noted was the
clunk, and the second was the flush mechanism slipping occasionally and having to retry once or more times to get it to flush. Lastly, the flush rod handle fell off several times and I had to pound it back onto the rod. I read somewhere in a blog about someone who connected the flushing rod to the LAST link (closest to the rod) on the chain to the flush valve. When I did that, I found that by pushing the flush handle all the way down - slowly and firmly, the clunk had been eliminated. Now it looks like for $105 at HD you can buy a new tank with a flapper to fit this toilet and I assume that is the way it is being sold now, 8-7-07. WM
 
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DumpyMcgee

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Has Anyone tried...

I've heard all of the comments about this supposed "champion", but I have a buddy that installed a new Champion 4 (4" flush valve) and said its been problem free so far. Question is...would I be crazy to try the new one? wouldn't it be pretty ridiculous to sell another product by the same name if they didn't fix it?
 

Master Plumber Mark

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Go for it......

Why don't you try one and see what you think??

They are not that much money, so its not that big

a risk... you can always just take it out and get an Eljer or TOTO...

I would try one again if they would give me one for free
to try out
but I won't put in another one where I am on
the hook for call backs.
 
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