Caroma Dual Flush watersense toilet review & pictues

[WJcandee]

The Toto Aquia gets amazing reviews and customer approval from those who want a dual-flush.

The new Connelly dual flush is up on the Toto web site, although documentation (spec sheet etc) isn't up yet.

 

[Reader Review]

Caroma Caravelle 270

I bought a Caroma Caravelle 270 dual-flush in May, 2013 and am not happy at all. It does not wash the sides very good, it splashes up on the seat and cover (especially if toilet paper is not covering everything) and does not always flush the bowl clean. So if you have yellow stuff in the bowl you have that splashing on the seat/cover, if you have brown stuff in the bowl you have that splashing on the seat/cover. What a joke this toilet design is, you often have to dry the seat before sitting and forget about flushing while still sitting there or you will get a wet bum.

I suppose you can't bad-mouth a toilet without getting sued but judging by my experience i find it hard to believe that there are any happy customers using this toilet.

Normal siphon-type toilets mix things up a bit while swirling around and must help in pipe drainage, the Caroma quick splash overflow brainfart can only make drainage worse.

I stumbled on your website a few times while checking out toilets and saw your comment "also good are the Caroma" and wonder how many people you are leading astray with this comment and link.

This has to be the most unsanitary toilet on the planet. Sheesh.


Thanks, Wayne.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reader Review]

You obviously didn't try the Caroma to include it in your review with a rave. Worst toilet ever. One inch of water in the bottom and the smell that goes with it.

The poop lands on the ceramic area above the water toward the front and stays there since the front flush goes high and over the solid waste. One must clean the poop with a brush after every use and if you wait an hour or so, it dries and the typical toilet brush is not strong enough. Then you have to scrape it off.

Also, even with the double flush, while the poop that hits the water will flush, it leaves the water a soiled brown color and that stains the ceramic bowl in the one inch of water. My ceramic toilet bowl may be stained forever. I have only had the toilet for a month with one user. I am returning it to Costco after paying a plumber to install and now another to uninstall.

With the single flush, half the time, toilet paper is left in the bottom, requiring two or more flushes.

Please try products before you write reviews. Or just read some of the reviews online.=

Kelly

 

[Begreen]

We have had the Caroma dual-flush toilet since our bathroom remodel in 2003. My first impression was similar to all the negatives posted here. I even posted a review, but it looks like the older ones are no longer online. However, after having this toilet for 11 years I need to correct the record. This is a fabulous toilet. In 11 years we have done absolutely nothing in the way of repairs. It has served our family of 4 with no service and never a clog. Yes, it is miserly with water. This is a very good thing, especially when you are on a pricey water system that charges by volume. And yes, the drop zone is small, but you learn to scoot forward a little and voila, success. All it takes is a little target practice.

In the meantime this toilet has saved us a lot of money in both repairs and water bills. We have no staining whatsoever. The bowl looks like new. I have a friend that installed a high-end Toto a year before ours. It has been repaired twice and the seat needed replacement. We have spent nothing on the Caroma and it continues to perform well. Good job Caroma!

 

[Terry]

Sydney with 270 bowl for ADA height.

The new seats have metal pins. The seat can lift off for cleaning, and they are slow closing.

The lower side of the bowl.

Which drops into an adapter that will swivel to allow a rough from 10" to 12"

Caroma Sydney with a 270 bowl. Dual Flush toilet with ADA height.
It gets the Premium rebate with Seattle Water.

 

[Terry]

We have the Caroma Sydney Smart 305 elongated in the Seattle area for $299.99

It gets the Seattle Premium water rebate for toilets if your home qualifies.
https://www.savingwater.org/rebates/

 

[WJcandee]

Nice looking toilet. Looks well-made. The only thing that kind of skeeves me out is that the pushbuttons look like blackheads. I just want to pop those "zits" on the top of the tank.

 

[Terry]

Nice looking toilet. Looks well-made. The only thing that kind of skeeves me out is that the pushbuttons look like blackheads. I just want to pop those "zits" on the top of the tank.

Oh dude, what kind of image are you putting in my mind?

 

[Terry]

Caroma Sydney Smart 305 EL

Caroma Sydney Smart 305 RF
Round front

Inside the Sydney tank.

In the Seattle area
http://terrylove.biz/home/119-caroma-sydney-smart-305-elongated.html

 

[kmuddzy]

I hate to resurrect an old thread but I found this one very helpful. Unfortunately my family has a member that is in the 1% so I believe we will be reluctantly going with a Caroma. What I don't understand is why all toilet manufactures just don't go with a larger trapway and flush valve. What am I missing? Even those with "normal" families have visitors come over that might clog things. I'm sure there's a reason for it but I find it amazing that in 2017 we basically have at most 3 brands/models to choose from that don't clog as easily as the "standard" toilets.

Anyway, anyone know the functional difference between the Caroma models? I can see the aesthetic differences and compare the specs (seat height, gpf, etc.) but Caroma does a terrible job telling you if there is any functional difference between the units. Do some flush better than the others? If the seats are higher is there less splash? Does a 1.6 gpf flush more consistently than a 1.28 gpf? Any thoughts?

On their website they have the following models but no comparison.

1. 
   
   1. Brisbane 270 Round Front Plus
   2. Sydney Smart 305 Round Front Plus
   3. Sydney Smart 305 Easy Height Elongated 1 Piece
   4. Somerton Smart 270 Easy Height Elongated
   5. Sydney Smart Point 8
   6. Sydney Smart II Elongated
   7. Caravelle Smart 270 One Piece Toilet

THANKS!

 

[Reach4]

What I don't understand is why all toilet manufactures just don't go with a larger trapway and flush valve.

Larger trapway means shorter flow or slower flow. It seems to me that if you want to get things moving, and if there is some ability to follow the path, the higher velocity or longer flow would help things get moving in the right direction.

 

[kmuddzy]

I guess it's a matter of water volume & velocity created from it - the larger the trapway/flush valve the more water is needed to create that velocity so I guess it gets more difficult to conserve water while enlarging the diameters.

Getting back to the main topic, I did contact Caroma and I was told several things. Generally, most of the models above perform very similar. Only 1 model is 1.6 gpf and that one won't be around much longer. She claimed that one really didn't perform any better than the 1.28 gpf models (some of them rated higher). When I questioned her about the difficulty of the flush not cleaning the skid marks on the inside of the bowl (due to low water level), she said that they recommend waxing the inside of the bowl with Caranuba wax and that really helps and will last up to 6 months. I will give it a try when I install mine and try to remember to report back on the success, or lack of.

 

[Rick F]

I will give it a try when I install mine and try to remember to report back on the success, or lack of.

Any update on this?? I had never heard of Caroma before, but have had a number of Toto’s in the past 20 years and all are still going but are certainly not clog proof. A few months ago I had a trip to Brisbane, AUS and found Caroma toilets in the airport in Fiji as well as the hotel I was staying in. I had never heard of them nor seen anything like them but I never clogged one of them either and I was impressed with the functionality even if it didn’t quite work like every other toilet I’ve used here in the US over my 50+ years.

The toilet I used for close to a week in Brisbane was their Sydney II Elongated Easy Height 305 model (as far as I know) and I realize that the company over here making them might be making adjustments to the models sold here to conform with local codes possibly. I’m kinda hoping they’re essentially the same. Right now I’ve got a 10-12 year old low flow toilet — just a cheapie that came with the house I bought a few years ago here in Cali. I clog it probably 95% of the time. I hate to call the plunger my friend but frankly it is with this toilet. I was looking at a Kohler Valiant Toilet (a bit over $250 at the big box stores) for about the same as the Caroma but I really want a clog free setup and am just not sure whether I’ll be happy with the Kohler which I’ve never used and in spite of the complaints about the Caroma not having a super clean bowl, I’ll take that over a clogged one any day. Thoughts? At this point I'm very much leaning towards the Caroma as the reviews on the Kohler are not looking good.

 

[Terry]

Installed this one in Bothell WA today.
I took out the builder grade that was getting plugged too often. The large 3" trapway on this will fix that.