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

Wed, 07 Jun 2006

I purchased an American Standard Champion toilet in November, 2005 from Lowe's. After several weeks, the flush valve seal began leaking. Now, after 7 months it leaks about every other flush.
Lowe's told me that I have to contact American Standard to get replacement parts. I love the concept
of this toilet, but obviously the engineering is not up to speed yet. I would not recommend buying this
toilet until improvements are made. M. Knight

Champion Flush Valve Seal Leaking 6-18-06

I just wanted to add my experience to the ever growing list. I purchased my Champion "Williamsburg" from Home Depot based on the advertised flushing ability. I had it professionally installed by a plumber who I use regularly and he felt that AS had a good reputation - though I imagine that was based on their other toilets. Anyway, about a year after installation with relatively minor problems (ie, flash valve not seating properly), we got the leaking issue referred to here in many posts.

Essentially, when the toilet is not in use, it leaks from the tank into the bowl causing the need to refill. I tried to reseat the existing flash valve seal several times to no avail. I was unable to replace it due to the fact that neither Lowe's nor Home Depot carry the parts (something my plumber did warn me about, but I figured by that after a year these parts would be more widely available ).

I called AS and let them know about the problem I was having. To their credit, I did get right through to customer service and she was very pleasant. What gives me cause for concern is that she didn't even hesitate before authorizing sending me new parts. Seems to indicate that they are used to getting these kinds of calls. The other unfortunate aspect is that they only ship fedex ground, meaning that I'll have to wait 7-12 days before getting the part.

Given the long list of problems, I'll give this fix one shot before I replace te toilet with the traditional flush system. Hate to take the loss on the $$, but life is too short for the aggravation...and with two kids I like having my own toilet!

As for the calls for a class action suit, count me in if one ever gets started. I made my e-mail available under my profile.

Update: After about 14 days, the parts arrrived from American Standard. They sent two sets of complete replacement parts. I choose to simply replace the seal. After the first week, all seems fine and I've not experienced any leaking from the tank to the bowl. While I'm happy with the fix, I'm troubled with A.S. First off, the part should not have failed so quickly. Second, the number of days I had to wait for the parts was unacceptable, and extremely frustrating to have a toilet down. I would have to say that I'm not so sure I would recommend this toilet to friends and family. At the very least, I would issue a strong caution!

Fri, 7 Jul 2006

I have three of these super champion toilets. Two work okay, one has had its guts replaces three times, and they are only a year old. AS has sent me out parts and has tried to troubleshoot this ongoing problem of the cup dropping too quickly and not letting enough water out, or the seal coming off. Class action suit, hello, I'm in. I just ordered a Kohler and hope it works better. My plumber says AS should redesign this disaster. L Hay

Thu, 6 Jul 2006

I feel so stupid. I saw these toilets at the home show in Houston. Saw them flush and entire bucket of golf balls and in a house of men, decided... I wanted these toilets. I installed seven of them at my new beach house, and replaced 3 at my home in Deer Park and never thought to check the web reviews. I have problems with every single toilet. First they are all so loud that you tend to not flush early in the morning in fear of waking up the rest of the house. The plunger assembly has disintegrated in one and two of them leak constantly. Couple this with the fact that the only plumber in the beach house area is an older gentleman who stated, he had never seen new fangled toilets like these!!!

I know I am late to this site, but has anyone gotten resolve from American Standard and can you advise me how first to proceed?

M. Barnes

Mon, 31 Jul 2006

In July 2005 we saw all the advertisements in the local press and from Home Depot on the merits of the new and innovative American Standard Champion toilet. I purchased two from Home Depot - Home Depot never mentioned the history of problems with these toilets. After living with the loud noise of the flush, almost a year to the day both toilets have problems. In one toilet a piece of plastic must have broken in the flush tower because the unit is now inoperable. The other unit began a chronic and slow leak. We called the Customer Service Department at AS, and were told the parts would arrive in a few weeks. A non-working toilet for two weeks! We recalled the customer Service Dept. at AS after 2 weeks, and they said the parts were packaged, but not yet shipped on July 31, 2006? Now they promised a three day delivery time. Other manufacturers will send out parts by FedX, or whatever, overnight for non critical parts. A nearby Holiday Inn (right next to a Home Depot) installed these toilets, had problems, and were waiting for parts. Home Depot does not have replacement parts for the AS Champion. Not sure what to do. Fran

Thu, 20 Jul 2006

I bought an AS Champion from Home Depot and lost the receipt. The tank leaked the first week and has leaked constantly for about four months now. Also, parts of it came apart and the handle would intermittently stay down. Those two problems were taken care of by our own modifications. Some day I will replace it, meanwhile my blood pressure rises everytime I enter my bathroom. I will never buy American Standard again.
Tom S.

so far, so good .... but for how long?

while tiling upstairs bath rooms, decided it was a good time to replace the cheap, 11 yr old Mansfield toilets the builder put in that were always clogging. I too got steered to the AS Champion by HD. I didn't bother to research as I thought it would be safe to stay with a well-known brand. what could go wrong with a toilet??

I ran into the thick gasket while putting the tank and bowl together. called AS and was assured the gasket would compress and the the tank would not break, and to tighten until snug but don't need porcelin on porcelin. she was right and it installed ok. we're happy with the flush and the 'clunk' isn't too bad. no leaks so far, but it's only been a couple of weeks. I ran into this forum after it was installed and called AS again, about the leaking-seal problem. they assured me the problem was fixed and the new models won't leak. I would feel better about this if I saw some more positive posts! this thread has me sufficiently worried and I'm wondering if I should pre-order the replacements seals for the eventual leaks?!? I think we'll be going with the Kohler Cimarron in the next bath room, even though the Champion is working fine so far. The Kohler seems like a simpler design with far less complaints.

Tue, 1 Aug 2006

Add me to the list. I installed the American Standard Champion in
December 2005 and it started leaking in May 2006. It ruined my
hardwood floors that needed to be taken up completely around the
toilet. The floor was repaired the toilet was repaired and now its
August and the toilet is leaking again. Its a relief to find this site
because now I know it is a known problem and to just ditch this toilet
before more damage is done!
J Irvin

Sun, 10 Sep 2006

After 7 months of home renovation, we finally got our new toliets. We wanted Toto but, not being in stock and according to the contractor they were 4-800$ we accepted the in stock American standard with Toto seats. One worked fine but, the one in our master bathroom leaked from the seal and constantly had to refill itself. I noticed the red seal was popped off the plunger so I carefully put it back in the slot it was supposed to be in.. The flush is rather abrupt and the plunger drops down hard knocking the seal off again. What a stupid design!
I took the seal off and turned it over thinking the seal was designed for this , why doesn't it work. Since then, it has been staying on even if you do let the handle just drop when you flush. Wish we knew about the cheaper toto's.
Any knowledge about this problem? John

Love my Toto

I can't believe that people say they do research, but never found the Terry Love site before they bought a new toilet.
6 years of 4 people flushing, never a clog, never a leak for the Toto!
Why settle for less?

I bought 2 of these. I want my money back. They flush great 9 times out of 10, then hang up and run continuously wasting water because the mechanism to does not close properly. Same as everybody above.

Thanks to all the posters! I've had my "champion" for over two years and the problems just started.

I sent my retailer the URL for this site and he promised to chat with his AS guy and get me a solution ASAP

Richard

My American Standard Champion toilet began running constantly one month after installation – right as I had accustomed myself to the phenomenally loud “kerPLUNK” with every flush. I could not, however, accustom to or accept the constant filling and the needless cost and steady water waste as the toilet ran continually. When I finally tired of turning on and off the water at the shut-off valve, I bought a new gasket. This worked for a week then the running began anew.


A couple weeks later and with the top cover off while I was, again, trying to figure out another fix (because, despite efforts, I had been unable to reach American Standard for assistance), when I flushed the toilet a piece in the piston/tower broke off and a spring shot out at me with enough force that it bounced off my face and landed in the sink next to the toilet.

Then I had not only to manually turn on and off the water at the shut-off but I also had to lift the tower by hand to trigger every flush.


Denver, 2006

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!

Mr. Terry Love,

When we were remodeling our home, we purchased 3 of these ***GD*** things! The one we placed upstairs leaked and ruined our downstairs, newly installed, brand spanking new $18K kitchen cabinets! We've relaced that one with a Kohler, which is a great unit (less money too).

I now spend most of my retired time running between the other upstairs toliet and the one downstairs trying to keep them from "running." Would someone please tell me why American Standard has done this to the public?

That orange valve they put in it is completely useless. Once it loses it's life it gets progressively less and less able to seal properly. Our current one in the downstairs bathroom is now so loose that recently it almost flushed with the tank contents!

We're still in the process of remodeling two of the baths, so I guess we'll have to "eat it" again, like we did with the master bath.

Thank you American Standard, you sorry bastards. Where'd you get your engineering degrees from: Mad Magazine? Screw you.

PS: How can I get some more of those orange valve rings until we can replace these pitiful remainders?
R. Miller

I am a bathroom remodeller. Last year I was installing a Champion toilet for my customer (as part of the bathroom remodel) because she had specified it. The specific directions read that you are suppose to tighten the tank down to where it just barely makes contact to the bowl china. So I am tightening the tank down. I am having my helper push down on the tank in order to ease the tightening process because it seems that bolts are pulling a lot of pressure. The bolts are really really tight and I still have a 1/4" left to tighten down. I can not believe this is right so I call American Standard and tell them what is occuring. The rep assures me that I do not have to worry, that the bolts will be tight but I NEED to keep on tightening down the tank until the tank makes contact to bowl or otherwise the tank will rock. I tell them I can not believe that because the bolts are VERY tight. The rep assures me it WILL NOT BREAK. So I get off the phone and proceed to start tightening. The tank BREAKS. So I return the toilet and get a new one at Lowe's (not smart). On this toilet, I am tightening down the bolts and it is very tight once again. This time I go as far as I feel comfortable and I still have 1/8"" gap between tank and bowl. I leave it alone. I turn on the water and the tank begins to fill. It gets almost all the way filled and then I hear a slow faint cracking sound and then BLAM! the tank breaks and water goes all over the place. I return the toilet and buy her second choice (an Eljer Cadet I think it was).

I will never install another Champion toilet. The flushing system appears to be good, but from my experience and what I read on hear, there are MANY other issues with the champion.

I purchased a Champion from Home Depot in Aug, 2006, and a plumber installed it. In early October, the flush mechanism broke, making the toilet unflushable. I headed off to the American Standard store here in Fresno, CA. Guess what? They refuse to carry this toilet, because it has such bad design! The parts department manager felt sorry for me, as I had bought the toilet based on the (former) good name of American Standard, and had been assured it was a "great product, no problems" by Home Depot, so he sold me another toilet at the price a contractor would pay, this one with the good old flapper valve.

The reason I bought a whole new toilet: the Champion flush mechanism cannot be fixed, it can only be replaced, and this involves removing the whole top tank. The labor costs for this are nearly as much as replacing the whole toilet. So my plumber said, "Why take a chance on a second valve?" Amen! I then went to Home Depot to return the toilet, and they refused to accept it, based on health issues (toilet was used). I am out over $300.00 on this Champion, and will be glad to join any class action suit. I believe American Standard is guilty of dumping the defective toilets on the big box stores such as Home Depot, and Lowe's. Gail in Fresno, CA

Champion flush tower

I haven't had any problems with the Champion I installed about 5 months ago, but all the negative posts have me a bit worried. I found a link where they replaced the Champion flush tower with the flush valve/flapper from an Eljer Titan:

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. Sounds like a great opportunity for an after-market company .... has anyone found a good replacement for the Champion flush tower? If I eventually have to remove the tank, I only want to do it once and don't want to gamble on a replacement tower from AS.

I recently replaced a leaky Mansfield flush tower with a Fluidmaster flush valve/flapper for $10. No more leaks and it actually flushes better. Seems the flapper floats a bit before closing, probably using a little bit more water per flush.

Champion flush tower seal

I noticed that our local HD now has replacement seals for the Champion flush tower - for about $4. They also carry replacement 3 1/4" flappers for the Kohler Cimarron - both are from Korky....

Hi tichridgescott,

I have to say that a little common sense should have prevailed. When you though it was tight, it was, and you should have stopped with the wrench.