HELP New Drake II keeps plugging up

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Riderman

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I Just installed a brand new Drake II CST454CEFG-01 tonight after reading posts from this site recommending it. It flushes water fine. My son christened it. It plugged up, he tried flushing it again, and it flooded my bathroom. We plunged it, and it passed water fine. We put about an 1/8 roll of toilet paper in it, the toilet plugged. I Plunged it again. The toilet now flushes water with no problem.

A little information...I purchased this from a local plumbing supplier tonight. I noticed about a 1/4" lip "inside the trap" at the bottom of the toilet where the trap\drain of the toilet meets the 3" sewer pipe. It is just inside the edge of the of the discharge pipe of the toilet. I used a regular wax ring, not an extra thick one and it had no plastic ring inside it. I set the toilet straight down upon the wax ring.

My drains are clear as my other toilet flushes fine and both showers were used with no problems.

Any Ideas on what I should do next?

PS I just put 1/4 a roll of TP down my old AS 3gal? toilet, it flushed with no problem. The other 1/4 of the roll plugged the new Drake. I cannot unplug it with my plunger as of yet..GRRR
 
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Terry

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Pull the bowl and check the connection at the floor.
When installing a bowl, it's important to put the wax on the floor flange, not the bowl.
If the flange is below the finished floor, it will need either a thick wax, or two rings.

Often I've seen wax stuck to a bowl drop off the bowl and land across the drain opening.
I have also seen users put too much down to test it. Sometimes that has involved crumpling up the wax paper from the wax and trying to flush that down. That is never a good idea.

Check to make sure that the fill tube from the fill valve is pointed into the overflow tube.
This refills the bowl after a flush. Unless the bowl is at the correct height, there won't be enough power to the flush.
The bowl rates at 800 grams, which is well above the 500 gram ratings that I refer to as super. The EPA Watersense approves at 350 grams.
 

Riderman

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Pull the bowl and check the connection at the floor.

I am pretty sure it is good, but I will pull it up again. Any thoughts on that 1/4" lip at the toilet tap exit? It is all around the inside of the tap exit.
 

Riderman

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OK, I pulled the toilet, the wax ring was in the proper place. I replaced the toilet and reconnected the water line. I went researching this site for more information. Someone here posted a video of their flapper valve opening during a flush. His flapper valve chain was almost tight and his flapper stayed open for about a second I'd guess. My flapper valve chain had about 2 inches of slack and the flapper valve would close immediately after the handle was released. I bent the brass lever up until I have about 1/4" of slack in the chain. We shall see if it solved my issue. Any opinions?
 

Jadnashua

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The instructions will say how much slack there should be in the chain, but it's not very much. It sounds like you were not getting the designed water volume in a flush. That will make all of the difference in the world.

Unless the lever is pulling the flapper wildly to one side, you shouldn't need to bend it...unclip the chain, and make it shorter that way.
 

WJcandee

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You want about one link of chain, or a smidge less, of visible slack fon that Toto when the handle is at rest.
Do what Jim said and clip that hook onto a lower link in the chain.
 

Terry

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I bent the brass lever up until I have about 1/4" of slack in the chain. We shall see if it solved my issue. Any opinions?

That will probably do it.
You only want a little slack in the chain. 2" ??, That was a lot.
 

Riderman

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That will probably do it.
You only want a little slack in the chain. 2" ??, That was a lot.

Yea, well, about that, give or take a little. :) That was the problem. That white tube on the flapper chain was almost lying on its side. I thought the brass rod was bent down a little. Maybe it wasn't after all. I adjusted the chain until it had about 2 links of slack. That took care of the problem. It flushed half a roll of Charmin ultra soft TP like it was nothing. Several people have used it, there are no issues whatsoever. Another thing, we had a little get together here this past weekend. After dozens upon dozens of uses by several people, no streaking in the bowl at all that some have mentioned. My old 1.6 gal Kohler would have plugged at least once with all of those people using it.

What is that white plastic tube on the tank flapper chain used for/supposed to do? Mine is down at the bottom of the chain by the flapper.
 
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Terry

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What is that white plastic tube on the tank flapper chain used for/supposed to do? Mine is down at the bottom of the chain by the flapper.

That's to prevent the chain from slipping under the flapper.
And yes, the Drake II when adjusted works like a charm. That little spit and polish when the install is all done, making sure the water levels are just so, and the chain where it should be makes a difference :)
 

WJcandee

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That little spit and polish when the install is all done, making sure the water levels are just so, and the chain where it should be makes a difference :)

That's a great point, Terry. I wonder if it would be helpful to add a couple of sentences about post-install checking (proper water level on overflow riser, refill tube daylighted above the top of the overflow riser, slack no more than 1-2 links of chain, etc.) to the end of the sticky post on how to install a Drake or Drake II. I found that sticky very helpful back when I installed my first Drake, and I imagine it receives a lot of views...
 
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