Gerber Quality Issues

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Gusherb94

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Has Gerber quality gone to pot (no pun intended) recently? I purchased a Viper the other day and the first bowl had a tiny pinhole of glaze missing inside the bowl. Took it back and I'm noticing after mounting the tank to the second one that it has a pretty extreme rearward lean, that to me is unacceptable. It's about to the point where it makes Installing on a standard 12" RI a bit tight to the wall.

After comparing with an old Viper, it's those tabs on the back of the bowl where the rubber spacers go that are shorter then the sanitary dam on the front that the tank rests on. they're supposed to be even.

I tried getting an Entrada but they don't seem to be In stock locally.

I fired off an email to Globe Union and waiting to see what they say...
 

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WJcandee

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I tried getting an Entrada but they don't seem to be In stock locally.

Open the yellow pages and look up plumbing supply. Call the 5 closest places and give them the Entrada model number and color you want. Ask for their best price if you came in today to order it. Pick the cheapest/nicest place. They should be able to have it in a few days. CST244EF is the elongated, which is what you want. Figure 200-ish should be what you can get it for. You will be happier with the quality control.
 

Plumbs Away

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Has Gerber quality gone to pot (no pun intended) recently? I purchased a Viper the other day and the first bowl had a tiny pinhole of glaze missing inside the bowl. Took it back and I'm noticing after mounting the tank to the second one that it has a pretty extreme rearward lean, that to me is unacceptable. It's about to the point where it makes Installing on a standard 12" RI a bit tight to the wall.

After comparing with an old Viper, it's those tabs on the back of the bowl where the rubber spacers go that are shorter then the sanitary dam on the front that the tank rests on. they're supposed to be even.

I tried getting an Entrada but they don't seem to be In stock locally.

I fired off an email to Globe Union and waiting to see what they say...
Did your new Gerber, by any chance, happen to come from The Home Depot? It seems that they are connected with the major pluming manufacturers to act as a factory outlet. When reading The Home Depot's customer reviews, there are almost always QC issues with the toilets.
 

Gusherb94

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Did your new Gerber, by any chance, happen to come from The Home Depot? It seems that they are connected with the major pluming manufacturers to act as a factory outlet. When reading The Home Depot's customer reviews, there are almost always QC issues with the toilets.

Absolutely not. I got it from the local supply house.
 

Reach4

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Is that some kind of pad between the base and the tank at the rear on the closeup photo?
 

WJcandee

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You sound like you know what you are doing, so I wouldn't suggest that you try pulling the tank and seeing if you can get it to go down straighter, which would be my normal suggestion. The whole thing looks like it's tilted backwards, so it doesn't seem to be some kind of casting error in the tank. From your description, it appears that some aspect of the base's construction is causing that tilt. I would be interested to hear what the manufacturer says.
 

Gusherb94

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Is that some kind of pad between the base and the tank at the rear on the closeup photo?

That is the "channel spacer" (as the lady at Gerber called it) that goes where you see it to act as an insulator against the tank and bowl and to give it just enough give so that the tank can be tight but not crack if someone slams their back up against the tank or something.

You sound like you know what you are doing, so I wouldn't suggest that you try pulling the tank and seeing if you can get it to go down straighter, which would be my normal suggestion. The whole thing looks like it's tilted backwards, so it doesn't seem to be some kind of casting error in the tank. From your description, it appears that some aspect of the base's construction is causing that tilt. I would be interested to hear what the manufacturer says.

I had it apart about 10 times, I even found some rubber washers to add to the channel spacers to try and correct it. It was so bad that that didn't even help much. And the base/bowl being the problem would be correct, the rear portion where the rubber spacers go are not tall enough which when tightened down causes the tank to lean backwards. The front sanitary dam and rear tabs should be level. (I compared against an older Viper model I have here)


I took the toilet back to the supply house today, they were quite interested to see what I was talking about so 4 guys and a plumber stopping in all were checking it out in the parking lot. Everyone agreed that it leaned back a bit far, mr plumber included, but he said that it would "still work". I agreed with that statement but at the same time that it would not be acceptable anywhere but in a public restroom or something. I would not wanna stare at a toilet for years that was crooked and knowing that it was caused by a defect.

I wound up exchanging for an Entrada (that they had in stock to my surprise), that ended up being within $3 of the Viper. These toilets are a great value! I will definitely be giving Toto more business now that they have a "budget" model that's not a mediocre performer. The quality is very good too, not as good as the Drake but still very good.

I still have yet to hear back from Globe Union/Gerber...

 
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Gusherb94

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So I did end up hearing back from Globe and pretty much just got a canned response. Telling me to make sure my floor was level, make sure bolts are tight etc. it was as if they didn't even look at the photos I had enclosed clearly indicating what was going on. *sigh*

I'm still surprised that for the exact same price, Toto can turn out a much better made product then Gerber. The Entrada I picked up isn't as perfect as the Drakes I've bought in the past (it has a high corner on the tank and the front of the bowl isn't perfectly level), but it's still quite good.
 
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