Dunbar Plumbing Forums - Northern Kentucky's 1st DIY Plumbing Forum

At the first use and look, American Standard Cadet 4 is a good unit of toilet since it is known to be user-friendly and with no-tools installation. But then, like what most people noticed, the tank's fitting to the bowl is really not good.

Dunbar Plumbing replaced a defective Sewage Ejector Pump on Kimberly Drive in Union Kentucky. Kimberly drive is off of Kilarney Drive off of Frogtown Road. The entrance onto Kilarney is directly across from the Union Post Office. Kimberly Drive is also paralell with War Admiral Drive in the Triple Crown Subdivision.
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Customer is a former acquaintance and recent facebook fan. Our Facebook Fan Page: http://Facebook.com/NorthernKentuckyPlumbers/ 
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This job replacing a defective sewage ejector pump is never a clean job and rather disgusting.   
 
   When we arrived on site to address the issue the customer had already removed the sewage ejector out of the pit. The unit was still wired in to the outdoor switch that served the pump inside the tank. The job started with the removal of the wiring from the switch so the new pump system could be installed. Here is an image of the sewage ejector pump installed. The product name is Liberty Pumps. 

LE41A 4/10 horsepower all cast iron housing http://www.libertypumps.com/Data/SalesLiterature/LE40web.pdf
This unit has a 2" discharge port as most sewage ejector pumps have.
 
 

We were called back out to this location in regards to "leak coming from second floor ceiling underneath toilet."
 
When talking to the customer we asked if the wax rings supplied by us for the reset of the toilet were used. They in fact were used, but apparently this toilet was reset two times since we cleared the obstruction. The customer bought a horned wax ring not understanding why we were against the use of such product. Horned wax rings are not recommended by Dunbar Plumbing as the application serves absolutely no function or purpose on a perfectly good leak free toilet closet flange. It is also an item that the closet flange itself can readjust the horn to bottom out to the flange or the bottom of the toilet in the process, not allowing any wax to provide the positive seal between the plumbing piping system and the toilet fixture.
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The customer made the decision to replace the toilet, have us come and install the new toilet to end the issue of leaking under the toilet. The customer chose to install an American Standard Cadet 3 toilet. This is an all-in-one toilet found at Home Depot that offers a good quality flush for under $150.00. This comes with a no tools necessary design, a slow closing toilet seat. We were also supplied with a new toilet supply line and two wax rings to make this replacement complete.
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The installation of the American Standard Cadet 3 went smoothly and before the toilet was set, we removed the old horned wax ring, used 2 wax rings before setting the toilet. One of those wax rings was used to "butter" the flange to prevent any water seepage from entering the wood structure below to prevent damage in the case of a leak or a blown wax ring from plunging.
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Once the flange was ready for the installation of the toilet bowl, we installed new brass toilet bowl bolts and proceeded to install the toilet. The American Standard Cadet 3 comes with all the necessary components to install this toilet quite easily. It's a very good operating toilet for it's cost with minimal issues regarding performance. Dunbar Plumbing installs a great deal of American Standard toilets in the past few years due to public product choice. We are comfortable with this product choice as the complaints/defects on these are minimal. Customers are satisfied with the results of flushing as well.
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We were happy to solve this customer's problem, not knowing that any problems existed as the customer stated they would reset the toilet themselves. All in all the new toilet will serve its function well and the expense to upgrade to a newer toilet was warranted. It was an older toilet that had been modified by the changing of a flush valve that most likely was to blame for our initial arrival, a clogged drain line from the toilet.
 

http://thumb.tk/2hmu http://www.thumbtack.com/ky/independence/plumbing/24-hour-plumbing-services
 
 
 

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A service call regarding water hammer isolated to a toilet on the first floor of the structure.


Inspected the toilet, age of fill valve was original to the toilet (1993) and replacement of the fill valve along with the toilet supply line was necessary. Along with solving the issue of the old fill valve the pressure was gauged at 80+ pounds. The time of the day (around 4-5pm) indicated that the majority of property owners were arriving home at that time, doing laundry, cooking meals, doing dishes and a vast array of uses involving water demand.

Water pressure if unregulated will fluctuate throughout the day determined by peak/non-peak demand. The very best time to check your water pressure for its maximum or highest point is in the middle of the night, around 1-3am in the morning.
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This is the best time to test as the majority of people are sleeping across the nation, and more volume is present in the water piping system in the ground. More volume equals a higher static line pressure in a standstill position.

Water Pressure cannot be measured solely by water flow emitting from your spout. It takes a pressure gauge that measure the water pressure. Here is a pictures of a Water Pressure Gauge:

After performing this test it revealed that the operation/draining of the two fixtures in the bathroom did not cause a disturbance in the toilet trapway of residual wastewater. This test proved that the clog was isolated and only affecting the toilet itself.
 
This resulted in our use of a Closet Auger that was more durable than the economical one bought/used by the property owner. We always give the customer top notch approval for trying to attempt to clear an obstruction themselves whenever possible. The reward is solving the problem without the expense of a plumber.
 
Using the Closet Auger in its design is made to be a handheld, hand crank type drain cable that has a slight hook end with protective covering to protect the trapway of the toilet from porcelain scratching/damage. The goal is to push and turn the closet auger's hand crank as you're using the device, allowing the device to remove/retract the foreign object or obstruction inside the toilet's trapway.

Not always will you retrieve what is blocking the toilet. In cases where soft stoppages exist, it might be excessive toilet paper that is to blame. Others can be the situation of hard or large stools that did not break up through the passage of the trapway. Recent usage of medications or the changing of one's medicine intake can cause an interruption of one's bowel movements resulting in issues such as these that can lead to stoppages or clogged toilets.
The use of the Closet Auger proved successful and the repeated flushing of the toilet to ensure that the trapway was clear offered the guarantee that the stoppage was removed. It is imperative that once a toilet is free from obstruction that multiple flushings take place in order to remove or send the foreign object or matter down the drain line if the Closet Auger does not grab on or retrieve the item causing the blockage.
 
However, (EXCLUSION TO THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH)
 
If you are aware that an object or item is something that might end up causing a clog in the drain piping due to its size or shape, then it's important that the toilet is removed from the closet flange mounted to the floor and attempt to remove the obstruction by retrieval. This will provide the guarantee that the item will not cause future backups in the piping system.

 
The property owner attempted to clear the obstruction by repeated use of the plunger and the use of an economy closet auger. This did not resolve the issue given the size of the obstruction in the toilet trapway.
When we arrived to perform the task of the clogged toilet we performed a short diagnostic test of the following:
Ran water down the drain of the adjacent tub

Ran water down the drain of the adjacent lavatory

If either of those two fixtures would of created a disturbance of the water in the trapway of the toilet, that would of led to the obstruction of the drain line, not the toilet in question.

Lateral branches tie into the larger piping that serves the toilet in the bath group it serves. When more than one fixture is affected in a clogged/backed up scenario, this implies that the location of the clog is beyond the toilet, requiring a longer "reach" to break loose the obstruction.
 
 

A new plumbing customer to Dunbar Plumbing contacted us regarding a clogged toilet at the home. It was mentioned that plunging and the recent purchase of a closet auger did not rectify the situation. Below is an image of a closet auger and its use.

Picture of a Closet Auger