Sloan valves

[Ian Gills]

I think I am ready to know a little bit more about commercial plumbing now. I think about this a lot as I sit on my commercial toilet in my commercial office building.

So, let's start with sloan valves.

1) Why do commercial toilets use sloan valves? Why not just a tank like an ordinary toilet?

2) How the heck does the green handle on the new sloan valves prevent germs?

3) Would a sloan valve outlast the flush mechanism in a ordinary residential tank toilet? Think Sloan valves versus Korky Quietfill.

4) Why are sloan solar powered faucets so expensive? What are their advantages over a residential faucet?

There must be a reliability issue here as well as an efficiency one.

 

[Redwood]

Phew...
Looky Here!

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Ian Gills]

Thanks but it does not say why they are needed, just that they are the bees knees.

It does say they are water efficient, but would a Sloan valve outlast a Korky Quietfill valve in commercial use? By how much?

I would just be so much happier knowing on my deathbed why the flush mechanism in my household toilet is not good enough for the office.

 

[Redwood]

Count the number of flushes per day at the office then count the number of flushes a year on your Cadet 3 at home....

 

[Jimbo]

I think I am ready to know a little bit more about commercial plumbing now. I think about this a lot as I sit on my commercial toilet in my commercial office building.

So, let's start with sloan valves.

1) Why do commercial toilets use sloan valves? Why not just a tank like an ordinary toilet? A tank is much more vandal prone, and is more work to clean.

2) How the heck does the green handle on the new sloan valves prevent germs? It is coated with an antimicrobial coating ( probably microban or something like that as is now used in some childrens toys..etc.

3) Would a sloan valve outlast the flush mechanism in a ordinary residential tank toilet? Think Sloan valves versus Korky Quietfill. Think about flushing that korky perhaps 200 times in a day.

4) Why are sloan solar powered faucets so expensive? What are their advantages over a residential faucet? Electronic/sensor faucets are quite expensive due to the circuits, etc. Solar just adds to that.

There must be a reliability issue here as well as an efficiency one.

From an operating standpoint, there really is nothing which flushes better than a flushometer.

 

[Ian Gills]

Wow.

It would be a push, but I am sure my little Korky could just about handle it.

What really surprised me was the 3 inch plus water pipe that feeds the four toilets and three urinals with sloan valves in our office. They must take some serious juice.

The best toilet I have ever seen was a Toto urinal with a Toto sensor valve. That was something to behold. The porcelain was beautiful. I doubt their residential products are like that.

 

[Redwood]

For how long?

 

[Ian Gills]

At least a week.

 

[Ian Gills]

I am not going to install a sloan valve at home.

I do not have the money and I do not have the time.

But surely, one could be run off a 3/4" pipe commonly found on household plumbing? My estimation is that this would just about provide enough guts.

 

[Redwood]

Probably not. Unless you installed a pressure tank right by it.

 

[Ian Gills]

Wow. I wish all plumbing was commercial grade.

With bollards and flashing lights.

What a happy and safe world for pipes and fixtures that would be.

Can a licensed residential plumber do commercial plumbing too or is there another test for that?

 

[Redwood]

It depends on where you are...
Some states differentiate.

 

[Jimbo]

But surely, one could be run off a 3/4" pipe commonly found on household plumbing? My estimation is that this would just about provide enough guts.

Nope.

A urinal flush could run on a 3/4" pipe, but a toilet needs a one inch pipe. The toilet flusher uses just 1.6 gallon PER FLUSH, as required, but to work, the flushometer needs momentary water flow of about 30 or so gallon PER MINUTE. A 3/4" line will just stall out.

 

[Master Plumber 101]

In Wi. when your a journeyman you are licensed to do every aspect of plumbing. Although contractors were at one time trying to separate the two. It amount's to paying the worker's less for residential work, needless to say they did not get there way.

There are no specification's as far as I know for flushometer type fixture's in commercial bldgs. I have put tank type in already, it depends on the builder and owner. Initial cost savings I guess.I think by far Sloan and other type's like it would out last any tank type fixture, depending on water quality and thing's of that nature. If they are using Eco friendly fixture's there might be a incentive for them to do that, other than water consumption, because those valve's are pretty costly. Flushometer valve would not work unless your water distribution was sized for it. I take that back, it would work but not well.

 

[Ian Gills]

I am starting to worry about how street mains can take the requirements for Sloan valves.

I mean, I work in a building with 11 floors, with four toilets with sloan valves and three urinals with sloan valves on every floor.

That's a big pipe needed to supply the building.

But then, if I look out of my window in the center of DC there are buildings like mine everywhere.

Even a four foot main isn't gonna handle all of those Sloan valves out there is it?

Or is this a "if everyone jumped off their chair then the earth would move" principle. That is, is everything OK as long as we do not all flush our Sloans at the same time?

 

[Jimbo]

Even a four foot main isn't gonna handle all of those Sloan valves out there is it?

?

Remember that the cross section of a pipe increase as the SQUARE of the diameter increase. I don't even have a chart which shows the gallon capacity of a four foot main. But there is another word for a four foot main.....RIVER!

 

[hj]

sloan

1) Why do commercial toilets use sloan valves? Why not just a tank like an ordinary toilet?

They are more reliable, but the biggest factor is the recycle time between users. A tank toilet usually takes at least 2 minutes before the next usage. Sloan valves are ready to go again as soon as they shut off.

2) How the heck does the green handle on the new sloan valves prevent germs?

Antibacterial coating, and it does not last forever.

3) Would a sloan valve outlast the flush mechanism in a ordinary residential tank toilet? Think Sloan valves versus Korky Quietfill.

Sloan valves last as long as necessary, or until you make them so scuzzy looking you get tired of them and want a new shiny one.

All automatic devices cost more. The more sophisticated the power source, the more it costs. Toto uses a "smart" recharger that works off the electical aura in the room, photovoltaic grids also cost more than a transformer or replaceable batteries.

 

[Achutch]

Toto Urinals at the "Factory" / Auto Flush

The "factory" where I work has been renovating some of the older restrooms in areas where customers might be in the area of.

The most recent is near the cafeteria. Everything was gutted and replaced. Everything is sensor operated, even the paper towel dispensers. The toilets are American-Standard wall mounted bowls with Sloane valves fitted up it "Auto Flush". BUT, the 4 urinals are by TOTO! They too are fitted up with Auto Flush as most of the urinals at the "factory" have been for years. Only problem with the Auto Flush is that when the batteries get low, they beep at you. Sometimes they won't flush, and there is no override button on them like there is on the toilets.

They seem to be sensitive to color too. I had one black tee shirt (that I always wore on Friday, the start of the hated 3 day work weekend) that failed to trigger the Auto Flush. I thought that I always seemed to be picking a defective urinal until I noticed that they always worked except when I was wearing that shirt.

The shirt is worn out, and my new black shirt doesn't have that problem.

Strange, huh?

 

[Jadnashua]

I think I read one brand has a little turbine in the water stream, it connects to a small generator which recharges the battery. Most of the sensors seem to be IR, so color shouldn't matter. I suppose it could be made to work with contrast, and then a color might be a problem - it would depend on what was there before you walked up.

 

[Redwood]

As far as automatic sensors without an overide that is one thing I really don't care much for. I have seen enough sensors with problems and no way to flush... It makes for one ugly stankin bathroom in a hurry.

I really like these sensors. A nice mechanical override to all those convienient sensors that sometimes stop working...
Sloan Smooth EBV-200-A Click Here