kailor
Member
Hello. I'll be purchasing a Toto Drake and in my research learned that the fill valve is not the best that it could be. Should I put in a Korky 528MP or a Fluidmaster 400A when the toilet is initially installed? Thanks in advance.
Buying a Toto Drake CST744SL; Best Replacement Fill Valve?
- Thread starter kailor
- Start date
Users who are viewing this thread
I would use whatever fill valve it comes with. Everybody has an oppinon though. I've installed thousands of them though, so I'm going to notice that I hardly ever have a call back, ever.
I would not use a Fluidamaster 400A in a TOTO. Ever!
TOTO uses three fill valves, and they all work fine.
Some do come with one made by Korky.
Korky 528T Replacement TOTO Toilet Fill Valve - Fits G-Max and Power Gravity Toilets -Easy to Install -Made in USA
The Fluidmaster 400A is much noiser, has more water hammer, and it overfills the bowl by a bunch. The 400A would wind up costing you a lot on the water bill.
I would not use a Fluidamaster 400A in a TOTO. Ever!
TOTO uses three fill valves, and they all work fine.
Some do come with one made by Korky.
Korky 528T Replacement TOTO Toilet Fill Valve - Fits G-Max and Power Gravity Toilets -Easy to Install -Made in USA
The Fluidmaster 400A is much noiser, has more water hammer, and it overfills the bowl by a bunch. The 400A would wind up costing you a lot on the water bill.
Last edited:
Sponsor
Paid Advertisement
Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
I would not replace the fill valve on a new toilet. ANd, I agree, I like the Korky valve they build for Toto. Yours may come with one of those, it's sort of pot-luck. If it fails in the first year or two, Toto will send you a free replacement, but that rarely happens. I'd definitely wait until I had a problem.
WJcandee
Wise One
Terry is rational and correct, of course. All a fill valve has to do is open to fill the toilet and close when it's full. It's not a hard job. Hard to imagine that some of us have "preferences" about something so basic. However, as Terry points out, the design of different fill valves can lead to things like water hammer, etc. My own experience with several Toto toilets now is that the Voreto valve (the one with the white screw) is more likely than the others to chirp or screech when it closes, after it has been used for a while. If you don't experience this, then leave the thing in until it stops working correctly, which is probably a matter of five or ten years. If you do, then swap it for a Korky 528MP (528MPK is the number Lowe's lists it under) MaxPerformance fill valve with the silver cap. (The white cap and red cap Korky 528s don't have the proper refill ratio for your toilet; the blue-cap 528T does for the 1.6gpf Drake that you are buying, but it's likely to be more expensive for no reason other than scarcity.)
The official Toto "universal" fill valve that Toto now sells/ships as the sole replacement fill valve, the TSU99A.X, is made by Korky and is basically a 528MP.
Good luck. Enjoy your Toto and it's likely to be just fine right out of the box.
The official Toto "universal" fill valve that Toto now sells/ships as the sole replacement fill valve, the TSU99A.X, is made by Korky and is basically a 528MP.
Good luck. Enjoy your Toto and it's likely to be just fine right out of the box.
Last edited:
Melissa2007B
Member
We've had a couple of these CST744SL's in this house since 2005, and one of them just now needs a new fill valve. What's a good one to use? They apparently come in kits too? And there's some kind of filter in the bottom?
Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Look at the Korky website...if yours looks like that, instead of replacing the whole thing, pick up a replacement cap and restore it to like new operation without tools in less than 10-minutes. If it's one of those that has a screw adjustment on the top (it's for height of the water level), you may want to replace it with the Korky equivalent.
WJcandee
Wise One
Like Jim says -- the 528MP "Platinum" MaxPerformance fill valve is the best value -- if you need a new one. You may not. I have fixed mine by following this video and chucking the cap rather than rinsing it as shown in the video. The cap is a couple of bucks, and widely available. Google for R528. That's the model number of the cap.
Melissa2007B
Member
Just took a look inside the tank. Mine has a blue top and says Gmax on it.
Melissa2007B
Member
Hi again guys. Well,
wjcandee, I was reluctant to get into that video because I'd never done it before. Fear of the unknown.
But TODAY it finally reached the point where it wasn't doing brief bursts of refills, and stopped refilling altogether. RIGHT when I was in there.
So I just went to the other bathroom and finished my business then watched the video, with my little lovebird on my shoulder, and went and did it. Didn't even need a replacement cap ( yet anyway ). The filter rod area was gooped up, so I washed that out good and used an old toothbrush on it, and to brush the rusty stuff off the cap rubber. I also found some trash in the tank where the float floats. Not toilet paper, but some whitish trashy stuff that I removed and got rida.
Put it all back together, with no leftover parts and it works great again.
So thanks and respect,
wjcandee, and all the rest of you here. Fine forum!
wjcandee, I was reluctant to get into that video because I'd never done it before. Fear of the unknown.
But TODAY it finally reached the point where it wasn't doing brief bursts of refills, and stopped refilling altogether. RIGHT when I was in there. So I just went to the other bathroom and finished my business
then watched the video, with my little lovebird on my shoulder, and went and did it. Didn't even need a replacement cap ( yet anyway ). The filter rod area was gooped up, so I washed that out good and used an old toothbrush on it, and to brush the rusty stuff off the cap rubber. I also found some trash in the tank where the float floats. Not toilet paper, but some whitish trashy stuff that I removed and got rida. Put it all back together, with no leftover parts
and it works great again.So thanks and respect,
wjcandee, and all the rest of you here. Fine forum!
WJcandee
Wise One
Melissa, your note made my day!! Glad it all worked out! I'm sure it feels good to know that you can do stuff like this yourself! Have a great weekend!
Melissa2007B
Member
Ack. It just did a stuttery run again. Where it does a little refill, stops, does some more, etc., until all full. Not sure what it needs now.
That filter rod was all rusty colored and I had to pull hard to get it out of the tube.
I guess I could try a cap replacement now, if that would actually fix it.
Suggestions?
That filter rod was all rusty colored and I had to pull hard to get it out of the tube.
I guess I could try a cap replacement now, if that would actually fix it.
Suggestions?
That replacement fill valve sounds like it is going to be thing to do. https://www.korky.com/sites/default/files/media/product/pdf/528MP_3.pdf is the instructions.
Melissa2007B
Member
The whole thing?
I just remembered that the video mentioned that the float had to be good and loose. When I had this apart, the float was a bit snug after it went back together. Not super tight, but not real loose either. Could that account for this fill-stop-fill-stop thing?
I was thinking that, but I was unable to envision how that slide sticking would cause the on-off behavior. Still, maybe you could take the existing valve off, and clean it with dishwashing soap and get things sliding better.
What would also be nice is if there was a valve replacement that was compatible with the current one. Remove the top part with the float, and replace just that part with the same part from the new float valve. I don't know what valve would be compatible in that way, but somebody might.
That would save you from laying on the floor and working the nut from below the tank.
It will be interesting to know what fixes it. But a new valve would fix it for sure, and it is usually not as hard as you might think.
Melissa2007B
Member
Searching Google & having a hard time finding a Korky valve that specifically says it's for Toto ST744.
WJcandee
Wise One
The Korky 528MP, with the silver ("Platinum") cover, is the replacement that I would recommend.
For that tank, there is also the 528T (blue cap), which is preset with the right refill percentage for that particular toilet, but is more expensive, so the 528MP is the one I use. The 528PRO (black cap) is essentially-similar to the 528MP, and will work as well.
All of the above use the exact same R528 little replacement cap when the time comes; in fact it fits ALL of the Korky 528s.
For that tank, there is also the 528T (blue cap), which is preset with the right refill percentage for that particular toilet, but is more expensive, so the 528MP is the one I use. The 528PRO (black cap) is essentially-similar to the 528MP, and will work as well.
All of the above use the exact same R528 little replacement cap when the time comes; in fact it fits ALL of the Korky 528s.
The tank is a ST743S or ST743E
Melissa2007B
Member
The actual model we have is the TOTO cst744sl, which I think we bought from this site.
Melissa2007B
Member
On the 528T, it says: Higher refill ratio for optimum performance in TOTO toilets.
What does that mean?
Last edited by a moderator:
If you have a 1.2 gallon per flush toilet, the flush valve must provide a higher proportion of refill water to the bowl than it did with a 3.5 gpf toilet. So that "higher" is with respect to old fill valves.
Since the fill valve you are looking at has a variable refill rate, you can tune the refill. Ideally the bowl gets filled to the amount it can hold at close to the same time that the water gets shut off. Thus you are not using more water than needed for the bowl fill, and you are not leaving less water sitting in the bowl than optimum.
That Korky Platinum fill valve is also under $10 at HD and Menards.
Last edited:
