Gerber Ultraflush pressure assist toilet review and comments.

[Terry]

Gerber Ultraflush Pressure Assist toilet review and comments.
A former Rated #1 by Consumer Reports

I find it hard to get someone that has one already to sell them a second one.
It does some things well and also has some cons.

The Gerber Ultraflush comes with two pressure assist tanks.
Flushmate makes a 1.6 gallon and a 1.1 gallon flush
or the EcoFlush WDI Technology makes a 1.6/1.1 dual flush tank.

Gerber Ultraflush

Made in China
Gerber was bought out by Globe Union of China.

Gerber 21-302 with the Flushmate 1.6 gallon tank.
The small foot print does not cover the old foot print very well.
If you are thinking about the Gerber Ultraflush as a replacement, consider getting new floors first.

The Gerber Ultraflush looking down from the top.

The trapway outlet is 1-7/8"
There is room behind the bowl for a heat register.
Pictured above is the standard 12" rough.
You can also order a thinner tank and set it at 10"

It also has the 10" rough tank option

The Gerber Ultra Flush
#21-302, regular bowl, standard 12" rough
#21-312 elongated bowl. standard 12" rough
#21-318 17" high elongated handicap bowl, standard 12" rough
#21-300, regular bowl, 10" rough
#21-311, elongated bowl, 10" rough
#21-317, ADA 10" rough
#21-310 Floor mounted back outlet

To purchase in the Seattle area

These can also be ordered with the WDI Dual Flush tank which Consumer Reports Recommends as their top pick for dual flush.
However, we no longer sell the Gerber with WDI Dual Flush combination.
We have had to replace more than 40% of the tanks in the first year of production due to failure of the actuator mechanism.
They are a piece of junk.

 

[Terry]

The 1.6 gallon Flushmate have been fairly reliable. (This one works)
However, that was when they were made in the USA.
Recently Gerber, a longtime family owned business, has been bought by Globe Union of China.
Quality seems to have dropped some since they have changed manufacturing.
We recently had one home where we tried two of the Gerber 21-312 elongated Ultraflush toilets, and could not get a good enough flush to satisfy the homeowner.
After two different toilets, we tried another brand, just to make sure it wasn't the house plumbing.
We were able to get a working flush with a Toto Drake.
When Gerber were made in the USA, we didn't encounter problems like this.

The dual flush by WDI has had handle problems. (Not Recommended)
When the handle quits giving a choice between the two flush types, most homeowner return the tank.
40% of the WDI Ecoflush tanks have come back for replacement.

Gerber says it has a 3" trapway on it's literature.
Not really, more like 2" at the max.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[CastIron]

Gerber Ultra Flush 1.1

Terry:

Tapping your knowledge, what do you think about the Gerber Ultra Flush 1.1? Will it consistently evacuate waste and clean the bowl? As far as pressure assisted water closets go is 1.6 gallons the magic number? Or have water closet designs advanced to the point of 1.1 gallons being able to successfully do the work of 1.6 gallon units?

I am looking for water efficiency but not at the expense of becoming my own maintenance man. Your thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Terry]

The 1.1 will flush the solids.
It's not much for bowl rinse.

I had the 1.1 gallon Flushmate installed for a while.
The bowl wasn't often clean.
The flush was rather sudden, so I tried not to flush it at night.
And the cartridge on the Flushmate would trickle water through.
I use the same amount of water after switching to a 1.28 gravity with 3" flapper Toto Drake CST744E

 

[CastIron]

Terry:

Thanks. I know what you mean about the associated noise, but from what I understand if the Gerber 1.6 pressure assisted ever clogs you need a snake not a plunger.

My preference for a pressure assisted water closet is due to a problem with tank sweat. Additionally, even with my large capacity 41 year old AS I occasionally have to use a plunger. Do you know if the Ultra Flush 1.6 provides a good consistent bowl wash to keep The Princess happy about 98% of the time?

The Eco Drake CST744E you suggest . . . Will The Princess be happy with waste evacuation and bowl cleanliness? Will I still need to keep a plunger handy? Is there anything I can do to eliminate tank sweat?

Thank you for your thoughts. I am looking for a product that will perform yet be trouble free in my home as well as rental properties.

 

[jadnashua]

Old, high volume toilets usually emptied the tank. That, plus running the water longer to fill it meant that the tank ended up with a bunch of cold water. With the new ones, their tank may be the same size, or at least bigger than they would seem to need to provide the flush. They use it for the height to get the oomph from that height, then they cut it off to conserve water. That means that there's a fair amount of water left in the tank. Unless your incoming water is really cold, there's usually enough to temper the water so it doesn't sweat, plus, since it doesn't run much, the water in the line is warmed up, too. Unless you often flush multiple times before it gets a chance to warm up, sweating isn't usually a problem with the new ones.

 

[Terry]

This is supposed to be a thread on the Gerber Ultraflush, so I hate to bring in other brands and types of flush.

Will the Gerber with Flushmate move solids?
Yes

Will be bowl be cleaner than others?
Not really

Will the wife be happy with how it looks and how it flushes?
Not that much if she is like the rest of the women I deal with.

The Gerber is rated high by two guys that test toilets in a warehouse.
They never let their wives or kids use it.

I sell to women most of the time.
So of course, what they are picking is going to be different.
The only way for you to get where I am, is to do what I do.
Install the darn thing, you will find out pretty quick whether it is going to work.

The best one
Toto Drake with CEFIONTECT
CST744SG
The toilet on the left is the CST744EG Watersense Drake.

 

[Dunbar Plumbing]

I think the Gerber toilet...just does not look pleasing to the eye in design.

Looks like an oversized tank on that toilet, and the rest of it looks rental property grade.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

the gerber its not too bad

I think the Gerber toilet...just does not look pleasing to the eye in design.

Looks like an oversized tank on that toilet, and the rest of it looks rental property grade.

The Gerber toilet is not too bad looking....
and it has a very solid base on the floor


If you really want to look at a shabby peice of junk,

I just installed an ELJER Patriot yesterday morning
and it literally looks like it was made by a cross-eyed mexican..

the bowl is not level it leans to the left,
the ballcock had to be changed out right from the start
, and the lid literally wobbled a good half inch on top the tank..



I will have to find something better in Biscuit and
install it next week...

this one is going back.

 

[Terry]

Consumer Reports Best Buy, Eljer AquaSaver toilet



A few years back the two guys at Consumer Reports gave their "Best Buy" to the Eljer Aquasaver with PF/2 Economizer flushing system.
I installed it in my home for a few weeks and didn't get divorced during that time.
The two women in the house, wife and daughter, hated the thing.
They were afraid to push the lever to flush it.

And then it would shred TP and float little bits of it back into the bowl.
The company that made the flush mechanism is now out of business.
I could see that one coming a mile away.

If women like something, it's going to sell.
There should be women and children in all testing facilities.
It would save the world a lot of grief.

https://terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18849&highlight=energizer

 

[CastIron]

Gerber UltraFlush Pressure Assisted

Terry and Other Forum Contributors:

Thank you for your response to this thread, I have made a Toto selection and will post my thoughts after a little experience with our selection.

Again, thank you for your in-put!

 

[Terry]

The front of the Sloan Flushmate 1.6 gallon flush

The back of the Sloan Flushmate

 

[Terry]

WDI Technology EcoFlush

For some reason the handle quits working the dual flush.
I haven't figured out a fix for it.
Since these have come out, I have replaced 40% of them.
That's a high return rate for a new product.
Made by Globe Union in China.

 

[Terry]

Consumer Reports in the August 2009 issue picks the Gerber Dual Flush as their top choice for dual flush toilets.

However, we no longer sell the Gerber with WDI Dual Flush combination.
We have had to replace more than 40% of the tanks in the first year of production due to failure of the actuator mechanism.

They are a piece of junk.

Shame on CR for not doing their homework.


If you buy a Gerber Ultraflush, don't get the dual flush.
The 1.1 Flushmate or the 1.6 Flushmate would be a better choice then the Dual 1.1/1.6 made in China that is failing too often. When 40% fail in the first year, that is ridiculous

 

[OhioJohn]

Gerber Ultraflush toilet

You need to be very careful around these toilets. I have personally experienced a violent explosion that sent shards of the tank into the room. The pressure chamber split open and shattered the tank. I have also found another almost identical example on the internet from another source.

I am removing these toilets from my home.

 

[johnshcarter]

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen the company with a long and excellent reputation and excellent products sold out to someone whose idea of "how to succeed in making more money" is to cheapen the product in some fashion. SLOAN VALVE has been a business to be proud of for a long, long, long time. In fifty years, I have seen good performance for their products. The same was true for Gerber before it was sold to some outfit from China. Their toilet is NOT a Gerber and its pressure tank system is NOT a SLOAN, no matter what it says on the box. I will not buy a toilet from any company which, itself, is not at least twenty-five years old and which has a "tried and true" product line. Wake up American Business. Off-shore sourcing is NOT the way to go unless you are a "fast buck artist" and plan to get lots of $ for 3-5 years and then leave.
jc.

 

[Terry]

And a straight on view of the Flushmate unit.

 

[Terry21]

Terry, Thanks for this Web site. A number of years ago, I bought a Gerber w/ a Sloan Flushmate system after reading a review on this site. It has been extremely reliable - and the "flush" is sometimes a part of a tour of our house for 1st time visitors as it has been such a good consumer product and I want to encourage others to use good environmental practices. Last year I bought the the EcoFlushWDI Technology 1.6/1.1 dual flush tank for the bathroom my wife likes to use, even though I understood that the Gerber Brand had been bought out by a company in China. Here's the secret of using this toilet. If you push down on the handle as hard as you would on the original 1.6 Gal Gerber, it doesn't work reliably and you will be disappointed compared to the originally owned Gerber brand. However, if you press the handle down or up with a light touch, it works well.

Anyway, I know you have been pleased with the Toto drake brand toilet. Given that, are there an pressure toilets you would recommend? The noise really doesn't bother anyone I know (stout Mid-western Upbringing and all).

 

[CintheUP]

So I got the 1.6gal Ultra Flush this past weekend and did the install today (or at least tried to install it today). Everything thing went fine, got the old toilet off and installed the new one without any hiccups. Turned on the water, heard the pressure tank fill, and then flushed... What the heck? Water sprays out from between the tank and the bowl (and it sprays big time!!). The toilet did flush a bit, but nothing like it should. I take off the tank and make sure the seal and everything else is in place. Reattach the tank and try again... water flys out again between the tank and the bowl. Sigh...

So after a few more times of trying to adjust seal etc without any improvement (my bathroom is now soaked by the way, ha), I took a closer look and realize that the hole (where the flush valve assembly slips into) where the water flows into from the tank has standing water in it, and I don't mean a 1/16" of water, I mean the water is almost at the rim. I watch it for a few minutes and see that it is slowly going down and into the bowl (I presume). I get a cup of water and pour it into the hole again and it fills up completely without going down, at least not quickly. This does not seem normal in the least bit.

It seems to me that there is some kind of issue with the internal plumbing of the toilet that is preventing the toilet from flushing correctly, and in turn, causing the "ultra flush" to blow water out from the spud gasket (in between the tank and the bowl). Anyone have thoughts? Dang defective toilet!

Oh, so at the end of the day, I reinstall the old toilet - a total waste of a day. Sigh...

 

[CintheUP]

I called up Gerber today and told them what was going on (see above story). After hearing the issues, the rep says that yes, the toilet has some type of internal defect and that I need to exchange it. They apologized and are getting a new one sent to the nearest wholesaler for me to exchange the non-working one with. A pain in the ass, but at least they are helping getting the issue resolved.
Cheers.