Need to find 5 gallon flush toilet

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KCFormula

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Does anyone know where I can find a 5 gallon flush toilet? I know they are very outdated but I was hoping to find one, I would even be up for shipping it long distance.

Thanks in advance,

Joe
 

Gary Swart

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Can't imagine why you want one, but since they are now illegal for new installs, you're have to find one on the used market.
 

Terry

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Just ask any local plumber.
We are throwing away about 20 five gallon toilets a week.

Talk about living in the past.
The five gallon toilets will plug more often then the new ones.

norris_cracks_2.jpg


A 70's Norris toilet that we pulled out of a customers home. I also had some like this in a 1974 home, and needed to plunge often.

norris_cracks.jpg


Notice the cracking in the bowl?

The 1.6 gallon TOTO that replaced it was far superior! I was finally able to throw away my plunger that I needed constantly on the old five gallon beast.
 
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hj

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Do you know how old a 5 gallon flush toilet would have to be. 3.5 gpf was the standard after them and before the current 1.6 gpf, so you are looking for a toilet that is at least 20 years old and probably more than that.

1.6 was signed into law by George Bush in 1993.

toilet-36-dollars.jpg
 
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99k

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Does anyone know where I can find a 5 gallon flush toilet? I know they are very outdated but I was hoping to find one, I would even be up for shipping it long distance.

Thanks in advance,

Joe

Just buy a toto Drake and you'll never look back. It's like saying I'd really like to buy a model T, there are just such a reliable car :D
 

Don Snider

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Just ask any local plumber.
We are throwing away about 20 five gallon toilets a week.

Talk about living in the past.
The five gallon toilets will plug more often then the new ones.
Why would a 5 gal toilet plug up more often than a 1.28 gallon toilet? The pressure from 5 gallons must be stronger than using far less water.
 

Reach4

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Why would a 5 gal toilet plug up more often than a 1.28 gallon toilet? The pressure from 5 gallons must be stronger than using far less water.
The way that I picture it, the 1.28 gets a lot more speed on its water. The flush is sudden and short. There is a big siphon jet to get the water going to the trap the right way. The trap is less angled and more smooth with less turbulence so there is less to get caught up on. The higher exit speed gives it momentum.

The older toilet may have a small or no siphon jet. The water rises in the bowl and swirls more lazily before exiting.

Another bonus of the lower water use toilets is that if there were an unlikely plug, a flush does not have enough water to overflow the bowl.

Here is a drawing of some older toilet cross sections. Note they have sharp switch-backs in their traps. The siphon jet drawing is a really small path.
3toilets.gif


Compare that with the smoother turns of a newer toilet:

toilets-00.jpg
 
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Terry

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The old five gallon toilets needed a plunger by them. I grew up with five gallons, and plunging was the order of the day.

With the new bowls, most people would use a plunger so rarely, that "finding" the plunger is a problem.
In my mothers home, three bathrooms and old toilets replaced with the new low water usage toilets and constantly 30-40 people on weekends, we went several years without needing a plunger. That's how good the new stuff is.
The new low flow flush with so much power that they even have instructions about what high flow fittings should be used.
 
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Plumbs Away

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toilets

Do you know how old a 5 gallon flush toilet would have to be. 3.5 gpf was the standard after them and before the current 1.6 gpf, so you are looking for a toilet that is at least 20 years old and probably more than that.
Closer to 40 years-old. To my best recollection, the 3.5 GPF enforcement was in '77.
 

Gary Swart

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The comment about 5 gpf toilets being "all over Ebay" is BS. Unless you count portable camp toilets, there are zero. Likewise with 3.5 gpf.
 

Plumbs Away

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The comment about 5 gpf toilets being "all over Ebay" is BS. Unless you count portable camp toilets, there are zero. Likewise with 3.5 gpf.
Excuse you. Go to eBay and search "vintage toilet." Assuming that you know what you're looking at, there are MANY 3.5 GPF and larger toilets there. Some people who are not knowledgeable about such things refer to anything over 1.6 GPF as a 3.5 GPF. But the pictures generally speak for themselves. You're welcome.
 

Plumbs Away

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Really? I dump them all week long. It would sure save me in dump fees if people started taking the ones I'm hauling away. It's not like they are rare :)
Terry, maybe they're "rescuing" them from the dump and selling them on eBay???
 

Terry

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Terry, maybe they're "rescuing" them from the dump and selling them on eBay???

I dump them, because we are selling so many "new" toilets. I don't know what others do. I have had a few people over the years ask on the phone about buying a good "used" toilet.
It's pretty funny really, because when people have spent good money for the replacement, you can imagine how bad the old one was. They have been glad to be rid of them.
The first thing I did when I moved in here, was to pull all the old toilets. And frankly I remember dating a woman, and after a bit I asked if I could replace hers. Actually, I have done that before. It must be a habit of mine. I'm so used to installing new stuff, that I do it in my spare time even.

 
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