New Kohler Santa Rosa Clogging Issues...

[Starglow2005]

I recently installed a new Kohler Santa Rosa K-30812 continuous clean toilet in the 2nd floor master bathroom. We used it during the first week after installation and it flushed fine, but it was mostly liquids and a few small "loads". But when the first "mother load" came along it went down but then clogged on the next smaller load. It did not respond to plunging, but then I used Dawn dish soap and warm water and it went down. Now the bowl is completely clear and when I quickly dump a bucket of warm water into the toilet bowl with dish soap it immediately goes down. However when I flush the toilet normally with plain water from the full tank it still backs up in the bowl. How can a clog still exist if the warm water goes down so easily and quickly? This toilet is shimmed level and caulked and I used a regular size wax ring with the horn. I hate the thought of having to pull it out again, but my real concern is that the 1.28 gallon flush isn't going to be enough water for this toilet location. My house was built in 1974 and has ABS plumbing. The toilet is located not far from the waste stack but there are a few turns...and all of this piping is buried in the ceiling and front wall where I can't access it without ripping stuff out. Any suggestions to remedy this without pulling the toilet? Thanks...!

 

[Jeff H Young]

something might be in inside id pull it

 

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[Reach4]

Could your plunging have forced solids into the siphon jet?

 

[Starglow2005]

Could your plunging have forced solids into the siphon jet?

I don't think so. I called Kohler today and they suspect a possible venting issue and said these new low flow toilets need good venting to work properly. There are no plumbing roof vents on the front side of my home where this bathroom is located, most likely due to aesthetic reasons when the home was built. The vent pipe comes up from the bathroom into the attic to a 90-degree elbow and then runs horizontal about 15 feet and Tee's into a roof vent pipe on the back side of the house. This had always worked fine with previous older toilets, but perhaps it's not good enough venting for the new low flow toilet? A friend has suggested cutting the vent pipe off below the elbow and installing a Studor vent and then cap off the original pipe coming out from the Tee. Is this a viable solution or a bad idea..? Thanks...!

 

[Reach4]

Bad, IMO.

With other fixtures, the main job of the vent is to prevent the trap from siphoning. You want a toilet to siphon.

So in the rare case where a vent problem makes a toilet not flush well, it is not the only problem. The pipes should have a clear path to the roof to let the slug of water push the air ahead of it. An AAV does not relieve pressure.

 

[Starglow2005]

Bad, IMO.

With other fixtures, the main job of the vent is to prevent the trap from siphoning. You want a toilet to siphon.

So in the rare case where a vent problem makes a toilet not flush well, it is not the only problem. The pipes should have a clear path to the roof to let the slug of water push the air ahead of it. An AAV does not relieve pressure.

There is a clear path to the roof however it's not straight up vertical. Most of the vent pipe is laying horizontal in the attic space except for the vertical pipes running down inside the wall and up through the roof. Trying to clean the vent pipe or run an inspections camera down through there would be nearly impossible without cutting open the horizontal section.

 

[Jeff H Young]

kohler I think is full of it nothing wrong with that vent my code would allow 40 ft of horrizontal (we use 2 inch minimum ) i dont know what your code allows but even 1 1/2 running sideways across attic for 15 ft wont matter