Installing a Caroma Inivisi Wall Hung with Somerton Bowl

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Jbrk

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Caroma Somerton Invisi Dual-flush Wall Hung Toilet

I have installed a couple of these Australian toilets now, and to be honest it was a learning experience. This website has helped me out of jams before so since I have some spare time, I thought I'd give back to the community and anyone else that googles this toilet and finds it on this site. Thanks Terry for running a site like this.

There's a few animated videos online for install instructions but other than that resources are scarce. My install isn't the typical mounting within a stud wall, but it gives a bit of a real life and get it done approach to it. I know I'm on a plumbing forum, but I'm not a plumber by trade, I'm a designer/builder. So when toilets like this get spec'd, that no local plumber has ever heard of before, I'm the guy who has to pull out the jackass-of-all-trades ticket and get it done well (this happens often). So plumbers, feel free to critique, you can have your 5 seconds, I can handle it.

Product Website
Invisi II wall bracket Install instructions
Somerton Bowl Install instruction


The install instructions aren't the easiest to follow, this company has been doing this for a while and there are many variations of products and installs configurations. I haven't install are toto or a grohe wall hung so I can't compare.

Step 1: You gotta know you're doing this toilet at the rough in stage.

This particular install is on a finished concrete floor. So during the sub slab plumbing, I had plumbed a 3" abs pipe sticking up exactly where I planned to have the carrier. It needs to be dead centre as it sits in between the carriers legs unlike other brands 2x6 wall carriers. The waste outlet pipe coming out of the slab can be a max of 4". The carrier comes included a rubber bushing to fit into a 4" pipe. In fact, the instruction say to cut the 4" pipe flush with the top of concrete, but in my case, I have 3" sticking up, and the downpipe of the carrier is also 3", so I went with a 3" rubber coupling to connect them together.

This requires setting your carrier height first (if you're going to adjust it) do this by measuring from the centre point of the inlet pipe (Called Datum A in the install manual) 6-1/8" to the centre of the waste pipe. Once you have the downpipe set, then measure and find the point of where to cut both the white downpipe and the black ABS pipe. This isn't ideal, but I left myself a 1/2" gap between the two because you'll later find out that the distance between the carriers inlet and outlet pipes have to be bang on 6-1/8", or your bowl wont fit. So having the ability to adjust it later is important, (yes I learned this the hard way)

Toilet 1.jpg



Step 2: Venting, do that before the slab gets poured too

So I also learned the hard way that the vent for the toilet got forgotten after the slab was poured. In my case here I would have included a subslab vent and had it pop out either beside the waste pipe or within one of the side walls. However, I noted on the carriers downpipe , that there's this strange 2" pipe sticking up out the top of it. I called my distributor and he said that it is for venting... "just drill a hole in it"... sure sounds great, but then in real life I couldn't get an elbow on it without interfering with the supply pipe coming in from the cistern. so I had to do a slight modification to the carriers supply pipe to make it fit. I went with a rubber elbow for the vent, in case I need to adjust the height of the outlet or if I need to remove it one day.
Toilet 1.1.jpg


Toilet 2.jpg

Toilet 3.jpg


Step 3: Put the cistern in and add a water supply

The cistern comes already in place within the carrier out of the box. If you've vented properly, you don't have to take it out and go through the shenanigans that I did. OR you could install the cistern remotely somewhere else for style points.

Once you've got the cistern in place, the water supply connection is 1/2" BSPP, most of us north american folk don't know what that is, its British Standard Pipe Parallel, meaning its a *slightly* different thread but its not tapered at all like our NPT system here. Luckily my distributor provided me with an adapter. I'm not the biggest fan of parallel thread becasue they rely on rubber washers for the sealing, which makes me wonder when are they going to wear out, but maybe some Aussie plumbers on here can tell me. I added T-tape to the BSPP thread anyway just to make myself feel better, and added a 1/2" NPT to Pex-A fitting. I used Pex-A (Uponor) for all the supply lines on this build, and this 1/2" supply line is coming from a 1" manifold directly above the carrier.

Toilet 5.jpg
Toilet 7.jpg


Step 4: Install the bracing and front wall

In my case, since I'm not putting it within a stud wall, I needed something to support the front wall (which in turn supports the weight of the bowl). So getting this rock solid is important. I decided to tapcon 3/4" Ply to the concrete wall, shimmed on top of them to get the 2x4 studs flush to the front face of the steel carrier and so they're sitting plumb and true. I tapconned to the floor as well and supported the studs at the bottom. Basically, get these studs rock solid, becasue the finished wall you're putting on it needs to be solid. In fact is says in the instructions that you can't you drywall (gyprock), it needs to be pretty solid because the weight of the bowl (and people sitting on it) bears on this finished wall.

This is where you'll have to pull out your fine carpentry skills, Double check you've got your 6-1/8" centre to centre on your supply and waste pipes and measure the location of the cutouts for your waste pipe, supply pipe, threaded rods with nuts, and push button panel. Cut them out with hole saws and jig saws. The toilet bowl covers a lot so the holes you cut don't have to be perfect, BUT the push button cover panel only has about 3/8" of trim cover, so be a little more precise with that part.

Also note, this kit gives you the option to remote mount the push button panel, they're operated pneumatically, so you just have to run tubing (I think 1/8th tubing) to wherever you want to mount it. Next build I'll actually mount them remotely on the side wall... you know, for the cool factor.

Install your front wall. In my case, I just screwed them to the studs. I also added an opening panel above it to have better access to the cistern, access to the manifold and have a storage spot for spare parts and manuals.

Toilet 8.jpg



Toilet 11.jpg


Step 4: Install the bowl and the button panel

Here comes the money shot. The fancy-ass bowl with the special coating, water that doesn't spin in any direction regardless of hemisphere, a 3" outlet for no blockages, and no siphon action to so crazy gurgle noises that we all learned to love.

So that this system can be installed in a variety of applications and wall thicknesses, they leave all those pipes and rods long. So this means you have to precisely cut them to length off the finished wall to fit the bowl in. The length of these cuts are specific to the particular bowl your installing, and the instructions come with the bowl. The instructions are not too assuring when you do it for your first time, just make sure you cut the pipes pretty dam straight. Also note that the length of the rods will determine how far the bowl sits from the wall. They attach by these threaded cam nuts and set screws within the bowl, so it'll suck the bowl into the wall, but only 1/4" or so. Also, I found the instructed length of the rod doesn't give for a tight fit between the back of bowl and the wall so this is another place I went rogue on. I omitted the gasket since its not going on a tile or concrete, and I had to take the bowl on and off several times and cut the rods shorter until I got it right.

The way the bowl sits, it fulcrums off the threaded rods and the bottom braces against the wall. BUT as tight as I could get it with the threaded rods, the bowl still "wiggled" when I added weight to it simulating someone sitting on it. Not good enough for me, so looking harder at it, I noticed the bowl tapered in at the bottom, so I shimmed it with wood shims that I painted black to match the wall. its now rock solid and level.

Toilet 12.jpg

Toilet 13.jpg


Step 5: Install the seat, push buttons and caulk the bowl

Installing the seat and push buttons are a little fancy, but its not rocket surgery. follow the instructions that come in the box. I opted for black buttons which matched the wall. Unfortunately, I can't get any Caroma bowls in black. I'd be very happy with that. I don't know if any of you have used a black toilet before, but its a real treat. I assume most of you old guys are used to the avocado green toilets of the 70's.

Turn on the water supply with the little lever inside the cistern, adjust the cistern water fill level with the adjustment screw, caulk the bowl to the wall.

That's it, you're done.
 

Jbrk

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I maxed out the allowable pictures in the first post.

Here is a picture of the toilet fully installed.

I'll be adding 2" strips of maple with 1/4" reveal gaps on top of this black wall to make it a feature wall.

Toilet 15.jpg
 

Jbrk

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I came back to this post earlier today to reference something and realized I never posted the final photo.

Here you go. Again, pissed that Caroma makes black button plates but not black somerton toilet bowls.

Cheers,


Jamie

IMG_20200826_135727.jpg
 
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Terry

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Wow! Thanks for posting this. I need to read this over a few times since this may be the most amount of information that I can get on this toilet. Thanks
 

Jbrk

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This is a great article; I have saved it hoping we will be installing the same toilet. Do you know what size the trapway is?

It's 3"

So there isn't really a trapway in these toilets. At least not your common toilet trapway.

It's like very short sweep Ptrap, so it holds the water. But there's no symphonic action.


The pro of this is that being 3", ain't nothing getting clogged in it. It also doesn't do the suction gurgle that most toilets do.

The con of it is it doesn't do a complete suction flush like we're used to. For instance, if you have an avid floater, you gotta flush a second time to get it down.

Still a great toilet though.
 
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