New Kohler Toilets

[grin]

Kohler makes toilets that are available here in Thailand that come with a floor flange that does not require a wax ring. They supply a soft foam rubber o-ring that is about one inch thick. I'm assuming it is made of some kind of high tech closed cell rubber compound. The o-ring fits around the horn on the toilet and fits into about a 2 or 3 mm circular depression in the flange.

Kohler installation manuals for similar toilets in the US and Mexico only show installation with a wax ring.

I can't find any information on the net on waxless systems other than the Fluidmaster and Fernco systems from the US but both of these have a sealing ring with a horn that fits down through the flange.

Has anyone used these Kohler toilets with any luck? I.e. no liquid or gas leakage problems?

Or is anyone even familiar with this new technology? Any recommendations?

My first thought is to just try them out and replace them with wax rings if they don't work.

Seems weird to find a high tech item here that does not seem to be available elsewhere.

Grin

[longball53098]

When we had our 2 Kohler comodes installed in the new house I never saw what they did and the left over parts and boxes were gone by the time I got on site. Don't know what they used but the toilets are glued to the floor as there are no bolts showing so I guess the normal Thai way was used. To date we have no problems with drainage or smells.

[Beardog]

They are supposed to use the (now rubber) gasket & install the bolts in the cement to lock the toilet down. Here in Thailand they usually chuck the rubber & cement the commode in if you don't hover over them & make sure they actually use the rubber gasket. You can get a wax aftermarket- but the rubber looks pretty worthy of use.

Tis a shame that the pride of craftsmanship is missing in LOS..... but I guess for 300 baht a day you can't really expect a craftsman.

[fremmel]

I put in 3 Kohlers with the rubber o-ring about a year ago when I built my house and haven't had any problems with them. I did watch to make sure he seated the flanges at the right height and that they were flat. But, my contractor hadn't used them before and was really uncomfortable about trusting them so I let him run a bead of silicon around the base of the toilet where it wouldn't show. With this sort of "belt and suspenders" approach I can't say for certain that the o-rings are what's sealing things but I'm pretty comfortable they would have worked by themselves.