Unexpected toilet technology teardown

That's a very good video. It must have taken a lot of time to make it.

Big Clive

Why not build a small ozone generator that activates when someone sis on the seat?

Robert Martin

Nice video here by MrMattandMrChay about the "autosyphon" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3So7W34KNV8

We got a new toilet a year ago with double flush. The buttons on the top cover push down on two studs on the mechanism. No cables or anything. I do worry about the mechanisms having so many parts. It seems like that means there are more bits to go wrong.

Nani Isobel

We do have the "Double Flush" type mechanisms here in the states now... its a godsend... I'm so glad to be done with the stupid flapper. I replaced the mechanisms in both toilets in my house as soon as I saw them at the home center a few years ago.

Matt Enwright

This is genius 🤯

Cerity

US, Washington state. A dual flush is an option here, may vary by state. Recently acquired dual flush has a flush valve about as complicated as your teardown, but the connection to the button uses two pushrods, no cable, so removing the lid is simple. Single-flush toilets typically still use a flapper valve.

I have toilets in my house that have flushes just like that. I am in Atlanta, GA USA. I would have liked to see you open up the end of the cable near the switch to see how it was pulling the cable. from a push of a button.

Matt Larson

Yeah, the little sub-float tank is clever. Very fast shutoff.

Big Clive

Mine has been going strong for about 6 to 8 years so far. Maybe the cistern is smaller.

Big Clive

I mentioned that system in the description. Loud and scary.

Big Clive

Thunderflush. Just outright scary.

Big Clive

What about the button....

Michael Gilchrest

I thought that was a the motor out a vacuum for a second...

Lostngone

The Royal Flush. That UK version is pretty fancy as flushers go.

Adding in the functionality of a garbage disposal and a pressure washer would help. Or kill us all. One or the other.

Mark Trombley

We have a ~40 year old toilet that had the flimsy plastic issue Clive mentioned. About 30 years ago, my Dad replaced the torn plastic with a matching cut-out of a large soda bottle and the toilet continues to flush fine to this day. Despite its age, the toilet is dual flush, i.e. push the lever and let go for a short flush or keep it held down for a full flush. I think the biggest improvement with modern toilets is the water fill cut-off, where a small float suddenly cuts the water supply off once the cistern has filled. The floating ball based cut off usually led to a dripping sound that lasted a good while after it had filled.

Seán Byrne

As far as I can tell modern European toilets use about 6l (1.6 gallon) of water for a full flush and 2-3 liters (0,5-0,8 gallons) for a half flush. Several countries have regulations on maximum water consumption due to shortages of drinking water. The price of water is not a concern here either.

Thor Syvertsen

Yeah, for all their simplicity, the American flapper toilets are just amazingly unreliable. Trivial to fix, mostly, which is a plus, but hilariously short service lives before the rubber breaks down or something tears. I grew up in the wilds of the west of Ireland in a very elderly house with almost-as-elderly plumbing. All our syphons had mechanical (rigid, hinged) valves, I believe, and at least some of them had metal bell-housings as well. All working just find today as they have for the preceding ~80 years. I had never heard of a toilet flush mechanism failing before moving to the states in 2000, where 'replace the toilet flapper' has been on the assigned husband task list with depressing regularity. I've been tempted by the high pressure, low volume flush systems over the years (the ones with a little pressure tank that fills at line pressure), but the prospect of one suffering catastrophic failure and inadvertently opening a cold line in an upstairs bathroom was enough to put me off the idea.

Dermot Conner

The flapper system used in the USA is very failure-prone. Most of the flappers used are just pieces of rubber, no plastic support frame at all. So, eventually they deform (get partially sucked down into the drain) from the weight of the water & breakdown of the rubber material and start to leak. They also tend to tear over time, so the chain will rip off, or one of the rubber attachment arms will rip off. In a heavy-use setting, with crappy water, those flappers are only good for about 3 years before they start leaking. And they do leak quite a bit.

Sean M

Spot on.

Charles Bruckner

My next upgrade is going to be the pressure assist flushing system. They used to look like mini kegs keeping the flush water at line pressure. Now the pressure tanks are plastic.

Jim

We have a old cistern high up the wall with a real chain. Plenty of flushing power. The thin flaps are still available if you go to a proper old fashioned plumbing shop. Firmer plastic than Clive demonstrated. To save water we put a couple of bricks in the cistern.

Nuts 'n' Proud

The half flush isn't very common in the US as far as I know, I do live in the boonies however. One possible reason is that most modern US toilets use <2 gallons and water rates are cheap enough, the toilet isn't going to make much of a difference. Really it's the ridiculous lawns in the desert that need water economizing more than household appliances.

Bryan Humphreys

Condensation dripping and efficiency in winter With all tank flush systems the mad thing is you bring in a tank of cold water and let the room heat it up then you flush it away, in the UK in summer the floor gets wet with condensation dripping from the tank. In Canada they put an insulation liner inside the tank. My granddad sent in a patient in to allow a dual flush action on a UK siphon during WW2, I am not sure what happened to it. What I always wanted to add was a small extractor fan to suck air from the UK siphon and hence the bowl an blow the smell out through the overflow pipe, which in the UK is normally an 21.5mm pipe through the wall for the spiders to invade the bathroom ;-)

John Harrison

Wild guess on the adjustment of the red thing: It looks to have a hole in the bottom so when closed the water drains out. Then when it opens it fills up with water but leaves an air bubble to make it float so it stays open when the button is realeased. When the tank gets low, it starts closing and the water rushing by pushes it firmly closed. Rotating the red bit moves the small hole on the side up and down (relative to the open position) and adjusts how much air is trapped which affects the water level at which it closes and therefore how much water is used. The air leaking out of the small hole may also help with regulating the delay, hard to tell without experimenting with one. The European one looks very clever, but seems a little overly complex to me. I've seen a couple of them break, but one was 60 years old and the other was in a really crappy toilet which always had stupid issues.

Thor Syvertsen

I'd like one with a double-full flush for those sticky moments.

Ymir the Frost Giant

An unexpectedly running toilette is a money pit. Not fun.

Peter Stevens

It's refreshing to see that cleverness can still be achieved purely mechanically!

Dr Andy Hill

This is why I love being up this hour... Oh man I want that half flush feature that's cool.

Michael Thompson