Is my wax ring likely to fail?

[Rossn]

Could use a little guidance... thank you in advance

Background
Installed a Toto Nexus, with the Unifit connector. My metal flange was on the subfloor with about 1" (maybe 7/8") of backboard and tile, bringing finished floor above the flange.

Did all the reading here and went with the two wax ring approach... Harvey #1 (no horn) on bottom with Harvey #1 (with horn) on top. Then found unifit adapter would compress the ring about 7/8-1", and was concerned rings might slide apart with that much compression, so followed tuttle's advice, took a razor, and trimmed off 3/8", which went better than expected. With Unifit, was able to apply pressure relatively evenly, alternating between tightening sides. It compressed around 3/8" +/-. No leaks with water flushes, and the toilet is now polyseamsealed to the ground.

Here is why I am concerned
When the wax rings came out of the packaging, there were some surface areas that had small divots... maybe 1/8" deep. I 'repaired' them sacrificing wax from the thicker parts of the ring. I also tried to massage the seam (probably a mistake, but the divots had me questioning the need) to make it more smooth and more uniform inside and out. Ultimately, the 'disturbed' wax didn't seem as strong as the native parts of the ring.

Questions
- What's the best way to remove a wax ring from packaging to prevent the divots; do plumbers ever get these, or it's all about technique?
- What's the minimum amount a wax ring (or double wax ring) should compress during install?
- Should I have just compressed the 7/8"-1" without trimming?
- Do you think my wax ring is likely to fail, and that I should pull the toilet and re-do before using?

 

[WorthFlorida]

Three ways a wax ring can fail, 1) the toilet anchor bolts become lose causing the bowl to rock thereby lifting from the wax ring, 2) with a blocked waste line and using a plunger with enough force the wax ring can blow out, 3) the flange itself breaks rots away, and in rare cases the waste line line support fails and pulls the flang down from the floor level should there be no support under the flange or the floor rotted away. This happened to my neighbor.

Sometimes two wax rings is too much and all that extra wax spreads and can partly block the trap way. With some experience, you can feel the wax ring compress as you place the bowl on the flange. Most of the time one wax ring is only needed. Larger or thicker wax rings can be had. Those divots as you call them have no impact since the ring is compressed on the install.

From your post it sounds that you did good.

https://www.terrylove.com/wc/unifit.htm

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Rossn]

Three ways a wax ring can fail, 1) the toilet anchor bolts become lose causing the bowl to rock thereby lifting from the was ring, 2) with a blocked waste line and using a plunger with enough force the wax ring can blow out, 3) the flange itself breaks rots away, and in rare cases the waste line line support fails and pulls the flang down from the floor level should there be no support under the flange or the floor rotted away. This happened to my neighbor.

Sometimes two wax rings is too much and all that extra wax spreads and can partly block the trap way. With some experience, you can feel the wax ring compress as you place the bowl on the flange. Most of the time one wax ring is only needed. Larger or thicker wax rings can be had. Those divots as you call them have no impact since the ring is compressed on the install.

From your post it sounds that you did good.

https://www.terrylove.com/wc/unifit.htm

Whew! One of those things that you wake up thinking about when you're not a pro

Thank you for the education!

I figured if I didn't do OK, would be better to repair before letting everything cure and using the toilet.

Maybe in the future I will just go with the Jumbo/10, as based on yours and others descriptions, it seems like the interface to those two rings is a more suspect area to blow out plunging. But that might just be in my head.

 

[Reach4]

Things may work so well that you never need to use a plunger. If you have somebody who had a tendency to need a plunger, suggest a "courtesy flush" mid-way through the operation.

 

[Rossn]

Things may work so well that you never need to use a plunger. If you have somebody who had a tendency to need a plunger, suggest a "courtesy flush" mid-way through the operation.

That is my hope

The former toilet (Kohler Ladena) did clog somewhat regularly... maybe a half dozen times per year, and courtesy flushes had become more customary. Between change of technology (Toto) and the bidet seat, hoping that is a thing of the past.

From the flange, newer 3" ABS drops 1', then does 90, but I assume this isn't the issue.

If nothing else, I learned from this effort to go easy when plunging a toilet for fear of blowing out a wax ring! Even my wife is now educated on the topic Which, of course she should not have to know.

 

[WorthFlorida]

That is my hope

The former toilet (Kohler Ladena) did clog somewhat regularly... maybe a half dozen times per year, and courtesy flushes had become more customary. Between change of technology (Toto) and the bidet seat, hoping that is a thing of the past.

From the flange, newer 3" ABS drops 1', then does 90, but I assume this isn't the issue.

If nothing else, I learned from this effort to go easy when plunging a toilet for fear of blowing out a wax ring! Even my wife is now educated on the topic Which, of course she should not have to know.

The clog I was referring to is in the main stack past the toilet. Your problem was clogging in the toilet trap. The first generation of 1.6 gallon flush was most US manufactures played with the tank for volume control and did not redesign the bowl.