# Kohler callback



## Debo22 (Feb 15, 2015)

I replaced the canister tank seal a few months ago and the customer called me back saying the toilet is refilling every few minutes. Never seen this before.


----------



## Logtec (Jun 3, 2018)

I’ve seen that a few times, but not in a newer part, usually in something 5-10 years old.
Speaking of Kohler, I ordered a flapper in the beginning for June, it just came in today.


----------



## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

I haven’t seen that before! I assume that formed over time?


----------



## Debo22 (Feb 15, 2015)

OpenSights said:


> I haven’t seen that before! I assume that formed over time?


It definitely wasn’t there when I installed it


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Debo22 said:


> I replaced the canister tank seal a few months ago and the customer called me back saying the toilet is refilling every few minutes. Never seen this before.
> View attachment 130326
> View attachment 130327


Yuo. The half dozen times I've seen it the water was at least a little acidic. Seen it only twice on one that was pretty new. Probably just a manufacturing defect.


----------



## Sstratton6175 (Jan 10, 2021)

I’ve never seen that before. Thanks for sharing.


----------



## northplm (Jul 11, 2021)

We were seeing that on American Standard Cadet Pro toilets a few years ago like crazy, and the Fluidmaster 3" universal flappers. If I remember correctly, the soft ring/gasket they put around the flapper was made out of silicone, and it would react with the chlorine in city water. We never had a problem with flappers on well water, only city water. I believe they switched from silicone to rubber a few years back and the problem went away. I've never seen that on the Kohler toilets, and as far as I knew, those rings were always rubber. Is it possible they switched to silicone? You would think if the water was reacting with straight rubber then all kinds of flappers and other toilet parts would be getting the same issue.


----------



## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

I always replace the entire canister when I work on those toilets,never have any issues by doing this


----------



## asapmarty (Nov 19, 2012)

It may be worth contacting Kohler about this to see what they have to say, or they may have more questions that will lead you to an answer.


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

sparky said:


> I always replace the entire canister when I work on those toilets,never have any issues by doing this


You must not work on many of them. That's like changing the flush valve body when you change the flapper on a regular toilet.

Do you change the canister on a Mansfield when you do the seal?


----------



## Nathan109 (Aug 5, 2021)

The last three kohler toilets i put in came with the handle chain installed just tight enough that it made them all run every about 30 minutes. 
Just long enough for nobody to notice until that night when all the brand new toilets throughout the house sing their songs together. 

That guy and the guy who assembles moen wall faucets in the on position. I’d like to meet them both.


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Nathan109 said:


> The last three kohler toilets i put in came with the handle chain installed just tight enough that it made them all run every about 30 minutes.
> ..............


Yes, for years the assembly of Kohler toilet internals has been focked from the factory. 

I actually made a thread about this a while back.









Kohler Crap


I've posted some of these pictures scattered around but I am going through some pics and thought I would make a thread for all the kohler defects I see and snap pics of. Pictures of why some kohler stuff is crap. Kohler's tanks are almost as crooked as their management. Two different toilets...




www.plumbingzone.com





There are a number of things I have to check when I install a Kohler toilet. We are a Kohler dealer so I install a lot of them.

-Loose handle nuts
-Fill valve level is almost always too high
-The tanks are slightly spiral so you have to split the difference when aligning them
-The inlet on the top/back of the bowl often has excess porcelain flashing which needs to be chipped out
-Fill valve shank nut loose sometimes
-Roughly 1 out of 40 is missing the nuts/washers for the tank bolts
-Roughly 1 out of 100 seats is missing the hardware pack
-Roughly 1 out of 100 seats has an extra hardware pack, SAVE IT!!!!
-The wax seals that come with consumer packaged models wreaks of crude oil, just chuck it
-And as you said the flush valve chains are often the wrong length

Have you noticed that the Kohler name on many of their sinks is canted?


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Nathan109 said:


> ..................That guy and the guy who assembles moen wall faucets in the on position. I’d like to meet them both.


This is because they are tested in the factory and they leave them open so the water can drain/evaporate instead of becoming musty.


----------



## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

asapmarty said:


> It may be worth contacting Kohler about this to see what they have to say, or they may have more questions that will lead you to an answer.





skoronesa said:


> You must not work on many of them. That's like changing the flush valve body when you change the flapper on a regular toilet.
> 
> Do you change the canister on a Mansfield when you do the seal?


yes,everytime no call backs when I do it this way plus I make more money,if you just replace the gasket on kohler or Mansfield you will get a callback saying it's leaking eventually


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

sparky said:


> .........if you just replace the gasket on kohler or Mansfield you will get a callback saying it's leaking eventually


Well I don't get callbacks on them, and I don't sell the customer unnecessary parts.


----------



## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

skoronesa said:


> Well I don't get callbacks on them, and I don't sell the customer unnecessary parts.


Your u don't know how to make money,I'd rather the people see the work I do to earn my money vs charging them 100 bucks to install a flimsy gasket,they feel taken advantage of everytime when you are in and out and will claim you ripped them off,I stick to what works


----------



## Nathan109 (Aug 5, 2021)

If I installed it less than a year ago I would work a job like this into my day and not charge them anything if it isn’t out of the way. Only ask for a positive review of referral to a friend in return. Worth ten times more than 100 dollars and a disgruntled customer in my eyes. 

Workmanship warranty for a year, much past that product failures are all a service call like any other situation. I don’t make the stuff in my garage lol.


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

sparky said:


> .......... charging them 100 bucks to install a flimsy gasket,............


That's why we always ask if there are other things they'd like us to check. Almost all of the customers who "need" us to change that gasket have 5-1/2 other bathrooms and many more issues for us to check out or it's simply not worth their time to do it themselves. The ones who wouldn't want to pay us 100$ to change it would just do it themselves. And like @Nathan109 said, if I can just run in and out without charging a little old lady then I do.

It's not like changing the whole canister is rocket science, unless you're telling me you take the tank off and change the lower part too. Don't act like your way is so high and mighty. I don't need to change extra parts to make the customer feel my time is worth 95$/hr. 

Besides, often if the seal is gone from chlorinated/acidic water I will change the fill valve too. When the seal runs it overworks/wears out the fill valve.


----------



## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

skoronesa said:


> That's why we always ask if there are other things they'd like us to check. Almost all of the customers who "need" us to change that gasket have 5-1/2 other bathrooms and many more issues for us to check out or it's simply not worth their time to do it themselves. The ones who wouldn't want to pay us 100$ to change it would just do it themselves. And like @Nathan109 said, if I can just run in and out without charging a little old lady then I do.
> 
> It's not like changing the whole canister is rocket science, unless you're telling me you take the tank off and change the lower part too. Don't act like your way is so high and mighty. I don't need to change extra parts to make the customer feel my time is worth 95$/hr.
> 
> Besides, often if the seal is gone from chlorinated/acidic water I will change the fill valve too. When the seal runs it overworks/wears out the fill valve.


I take the tank off and change the whole thing,on Mansfield's I remove the junky tower completely and install a flushvalve with a flapper,the customer always says,"it never flushed that easy even when new,it was so hard to flush", sometimes they would have to remove the top and physically lift the handle/tower just to get it to flush,when I put the flushvalve with flapper on it they love it so much,they don't mind paying for the extra work


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

sparky said:


> I take the tank off and change the whole thing,on Mansfield's I remove the junky tower completely and install a flushvalve with a flapper.........


With the Kohlers I think that's unnecessary, but for the Mansfields I agree. I too prefer a 2" flapper mechanism instead of the standard tower.


----------



## northplm (Jul 11, 2021)

sparky said:


> yes,everytime no call backs when I do it this way plus I make more money,if you just replace the gasket on kohler or Mansfield you will get a callback saying it's leaking eventually


I can't say that's very common around here, what I do notice is the rubber ring as it ages gets mushy and sticks to the flush valve. If guys replace the ring and don't clean all the old rubber crud off the canister and valve base, then you get a recall. I'm not sure what else would cause all these recalls, are you finding the canisters are deformed or cracked when you replace them?


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

northplm said:


> ......... If guys replace the ring and don't clean all the old rubber crud off the canister and valve base, then you get a *recall*..............


Do you mean, a *callback*?


----------



## northplm (Jul 11, 2021)

skoronesa said:


> Do you mean, a *callback*?


Hmmm, I don’t recall


----------

