from
http://www.jldr.com/crapper.htm
which states amongst many interesting facts
"Crapper was not Sir Thomas, although he and the company which he founded did work at various royal households, including Windsor, his company were plumbing installers."
I had thought that this famous Victorian had been knighted (possibly for services to the 'Bowel Movement") but no nor does it seem that he was either the inventor of the
syphonic flush toilet or the original inspiration for the good old four letter Anglo-Saxon epithet.
Nor was he buried in the United States which is just as well as if he were his body would surely be turning in his grave.
I have used this as an introduction to my rant of the day.
Susan is completely brassed off by my frequent outbursts about examples of uneccessarily bad design. and I thought why not try to entertain my friends here??
My
bête noire concerns the standard American (American Standard) method for allowing water to flow from a toilet tank into the bowl. Specifically, and this is a problem that one year ago I was seeking guidance about from plumbing guru plumguru2/ Doug Kirk in California, the means by which the water flow is shut off when the tank has refilled.All he could do was ask me to tell him the make and model number.
It is 40 plus years since I graduated with a degree in engineering and have never seen anything more pathetic than the "design" of the common valve used in tanks here
(note that the UK design of tanks has entirely different problems)
Note the prosaically named "flapper" (valve)
The first "house repair" task I encountered soon after arriving at Susan's house in 2000 was that in one of her two toilets (the one in her basement "bathroom" that has only the W.C. and a sink) the water had started to run continuously: this is a real pain in this house because when showering and after getting the hot and cold supplies balanced to give the required temperature any untoward running of a cold water device is likely to cause the shower to scald the unfortunate showerer.
Off I went with my stepfather to our local Sears Hardware store to purchase a new flapper valve.
That cured it and some months later the same for the main bathroom.Since then I have been buying new flappers every year, most often in Winter when the water in the tank is near freezing.I have googled for advice but typically am only told to replace the flapper and I have found several pearls of wisdom:-
"Although durable, the flapper can wear out over time, providing a less-than-perfect seal.".
You can say that again:-
"usually once a flapper valve starts leaking it only gets worse and should be replaced"
and this one takes the prize from:-
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/inftoi/inftoi2.shtm
"One peculiarity with flappers is that on some toilets, one style of flapper might work while another one will not. So if you replace the flapper, adjust it correctly, clean the seat, and it still doesn't seal... don't cry, just purchase another brand or style of flapper and try again"
OK been there done that I have repeatedly had problems with a plethora of consistently useless flappers whether:-
Bright Red
Dull Red, light red,dark Blue or
medium blue
also Pale Blue Black Clear or
Hard White with and without built in new seats
almost all like just about everything on sale here is made in China where the smanufacturers have probably never even seen an American toilet let alone have a sample in the factory to check their products out on
Typical advice from the web site of one of America's leding DIY stores is at:-
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...iletRep.html#7
where they advise in a section headed:-
The Toilet Will not Stop Running
Here are some things to try if your toilet will not stop running:
"Sometimes the flapper valve becomes worn or distorted and does not seal the tank. This problem is
easy to fix. Just empty the tank, remove the flapper and replace it with a new one"
Absolute poppycock!!
A cursory look at the design should make it bleeding obvious to everybody that:-
It consists of a largish hole in the bottom of the tank with no a proper seat but a pointed rim and onto this drops the floppy flapper valve.
It then is supposed to rely on the flapper resting on the rim under a head of under one foot of water above to form a seal.
Unfortuneately the hole is say 68mm diameter and the flapper only a mm or so larger.
Now if the flapper were to fall exactly centred over the hole all might then be OK BUT:-
1. the flapper's hinge is a highly flexible part of its moulding and
2 there is absolutely no form of guidance facility to self-centre it over the hole.
Currently for our main toilet I have to be on call after every flush to position the flapper by hand, wait for the tank to refill then wait to ensure a 100% seal.
I have tried a couple of more expensive kits
like this
that contain a rigid flapper that is comparatively rigidly hinged to a seat assembly that is sealed by a squishy ring to the original rim but getting a seal to the rim has proved impossible.
I have thought hard and often for a logical solution and it seems patently obvious to me that there are three inherent problems:-
1. the flapper's diameter is inadequate (very difficult to add any extra meat to an existing flapper but simplicity itself for the manufacturer)
2 there is no self centering arrangement
3 the hinge is not capable of accurately lining up the flapper with the hole.
To cover 2 and 3 all that is required is a conical underside to the flapper.
I have now found that the top of a standard US 12 oz soft drink aluminium can is the ideal size and by the look of it shape.
Now to experiment by rivetting a cut off can-top to an old flapper.
If it works I may well patent it then just maybe I'll get rich woo hoo!!!
John Fowles
Apologies for boring you with this technobabble
If I do not get any real negative reaction I will come back with my other bad design rants
starting with the needless ambiguity and general user-unfriendliness of nearly all electrical and electronic plugs and sockets:
The USB configuration being the prime example
[ April 10, 2006, 13:27: Message edited by: johnfowles ]
