IMHO those dual-flush conversion is pretty much a waste of time (been there, done that).Here's what I've done during the most recent hype RE: save water and go with conversion (bought the kit from H-D).
Victim: Crane 13L flush toilet --standard, run-of-da-mill stuff gets installed in this area during the 70s. Good flush if you use all 13L of water, decent performance(no clogs).
installed dual flush system: fine-tuned low-flush section to approx 4.6L (per trial-n-error), to flush liquid waste (tested it with a sheet of toilet paper, and achieved a consistent 100% flush-out rate).
observations:
(1) after months of service, determined that not enough water to wash the bowl properly. As a result: I need to scrub the toilet bowl at least 4x more frequently than what I used to.
(2) during low-flush mode: not enough fresh, clean water to replace that "pool" of water and over time, pee stains became apparent. Oftentimes, ended up having to hit that low-flush button twice in order to replace that pool of water with fresh one and that still means unncessary water waste.
Conclusion: 13L cannot be converted successfully 1/2 the time.
Our municipality now has a program to replace regular 13L+ old toilets with low flush (6L or less) and get a 100bux rebate per unit, 2 units total. I've been shopping and doing research as carefully as possible and have observed the following:
(1) RE: most of the Am Std Cadet 3 poor reviews on the internet is pretty much outdated. Apparently, AmStd made some design mistakes originally and has made all the necessary adjustments and corrections to make this particular model a pretty decent unit now. The only trouble remains are:
a. production runs maybe from Honduras or Mexico, and quality may not be consistent from batch to batch. Don't be surprised if you get one that is tilted.
b. H-D has aggressive promotions on AmStd low flush, but the timeframe of the release typically is at the time where I cannot get them (out of town,short on cash reserves, or both)...
c. the ultimate performer is, IMHO, Toto Drake. That thingy can get virtually anything in 1 pass, even with just a mere 6L (or higher end model 4.8L). Unfortunately, the lowest price (my buddy contractor's cost) is 250 a piece...ouch!
2 technical points to be aware of:
(1) the throat (opening) of low flush toilet must be at least 2 and 1/8" or bigger. Anything 2" or less, you are gonna get clogs rather freqently (have a very early version of Crane 6L in my office, and with 2" throat, it tends to get clogged frequently.
(2) Get one with the tank flush opening of at least 3" or better. Newer AmStd Cadet3 are all 3" in openings. All older designs of Cadet 3 are not (and thus the insuffucient water velocity to "flush" the earlier models of low-flush...causing serious performance issues).
(3) Most of these newer designs/redesigns, including AmStd, Toto, etc. use super smooth ceramic glaze coating on their bowls, to reduce possibility of debris trapped on the surface of the bowl and reduce the possibility of clogging/enhance performance. Imagine teflon coating on your bowl?
That's all for now.
Quest-TD
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