Building a better mousetrap, or toilet

Innards of the Super Toilet. The
white ring around the green
doohickey is the flapper valve. 

 One of the good things about having a blog is that I have inadvertently created a timeline of projects that I have completed. This helps we when something fails and I can go back and see when I fixed or replaced it. So, back in 2019 I replaced the sink and toilet in the bathroom. I recently noticed that the toilet was running randomly, a sure sign that the tank was leaking into the bowl. So, being the Amateur Plumber First Class that I am I removed the tank cover and literally looked into the problem. I was immediately reminded that I had purchased a Super Toilet, one that could apparently flush dozens of golf balls at once, a useful feature at times. One thing that was a hidden feature that this mad flusher possessed was an increased difficulty of repair, and more expensive parts. For those of you that have reached my lofty status of Amateur Plumber First Class, you know the most common cause of tank water leaking is the flapper valve, a rubber gasket that seals the tank after the flush and the doohickey (technical term) drops back into the tank. Apparently, these flapper valves have an engineered life of a few years before they fail to seal properly and allow the tank water to leak out. Now, why would a rubber gasket last only two years? You would think that buying the American Standard Super Toilet capable of flushing dozens of golf balls would also include higher quality components. However, similar to buying a high end luxury car, you may get a more comfortable ride, but repair costs and intervals are shorter.

As an aside, I haven't noticed an increased efficiency or flushing ability of the Super Toilet. It needs a the normal amount of "courtesy" flushes of any other toilet. I still haven't tested American Standard's golf ball claim, which I assume hasn't been tested by other home owners, for good reasons. Consumer Reports, are you listening? 

Anyway, the replacement of the flapper valve was not as easy as it would be in a normal toilet. After my first attempt, the toilet leaked even worse. At first I thought the leak was coming from someplace else, reenforced by my mistaken confidence in the Super Toilet that the flapper valve wouldn't fail so quickly. But after a time I realized that I hadn't reassembled the doohickey correctly allowing the water to continue to leak. The Super Toilet now stands ready to flush dozens of golf balls, should the need arise.  

A pretty morning in Saratoga

In other news, we had a pre-Christmas shopping trip to Saratoga Springs which was great, except that a block from our hotel, a guy lost control of his Jeep in the snowstorm and hit our Toyota head on. We were stationary at a traffic light and were unhurt. Luckily the car was drivable I wont bore you with the details but eventually his insurance found him to be 100% at fault and we can finally proceed with repairs. The estimate I got yesterday was $4100, less than I expected. They do not expect to begin repairs until March.

So now we enter what I consider the doldrums of winter. Short cloudy days, long cold nights without the benefit of Holiday lights to brighten the mood. Cindy and I are looking into possible winter escapes to sunny locales to help move the grey season along.