# sensored lavatory faucets



## smellslike$tome (Jun 16, 2008)

Don't do much commercial. Did a search could not find this topic. I need to know what is the most trouble free, not difficult to install, battery powered (preferably with common inexpensive size i.e. AA), mixing or not, sensored lavatory faucet. 

The last thing I want is to sell these things and have them be a pain in the butt 'cause they never work right, tear up easy, need battery replacement every 6 months, etc. After I install them I don't want to see them again for a year when I go back to change out the batteries

Also if anyone has a lot of experience with these, will they take any longer to install than an ordinary lav faucet, if I use non-mixing type will they operate ok if I use a separate mixing valve under the basin?

Thank you very much ladies, gentlemen and plumbing scholars


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## TheMaster (Jun 12, 2009)

smellslike$tome said:


> Don't do much commercial. Did a search could not find this topic. I need to know what is the most trouble free, not difficult to install, battery powered (preferably with common inexpensive size i.e. AA), mixing or not, sensored lavatory faucet.
> 
> The last thing I want is to sell these things and have them be a pain in the butt 'cause they never work right, tear up easy, need battery replacement every 6 months, etc. After I install them I don't want to see them again for a year when I go back to change out the batteries
> 
> ...


I installed some in a dentists office a few months back,cant remember the name. The faucet had a small battery pack and was single hole mount(easy). It had a small knob on the side to adjust between hot/cold or the knob can be removed and the temp set internally. The building does NOT have circulated hot water so the issue has been they must keep waving their hand in fron of the faucet to keep it running long enough to get the water hot and the way the plumbing was installed a circ system would be very expensive to install. It didn't take me onger to install them other than a brief glance over the directions because i'd never installed or heard of the brand.


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## M5Plumb (Oct 2, 2008)

I've installed the Sloan valves, (pricey), good reliable faucet but the batteries are always an issue. I also have had to service a couple that had been installed around three years prior...the electrical circuitry side was the problem and to get those parts was not an easy endeavor, also pricey...The restaurant decided to change out the electric eye for the standard ADA manual operated type. Just my .02.


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## Optimus Primer (May 20, 2009)

the sloan I've installed still needed a/c for the transformer. I just installed some zurn on this verizon job I did and they were pretty easy to install. Not sure the price though. The zurn were d/c.


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## PLUMB TIME (Feb 2, 2009)

Moen makes one, 8302 series I think, that is pretty good and runs on four AA batteries that are in a solenoid box underneath. Can also be converted to ac if desired. Five year warranty.:thumbsup:


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## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

the atlanta airport uses the toto ecopower faucet, no batts


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

GREENPLUM said:


> the atlanta airport uses the toto ecopower faucet, no batts


By far the most trouble free ones out there...
http://www.totousa.com/Default.aspx?tabid=179
You get what you pay for...:thumbup:

Here is an install manual... http://admin.totousa.com/Product Downloads/037511S T1, THERMAL MIXING VALVE FAUCET, IM , V.01.pdf


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## smellslike$tome (Jun 16, 2008)

Redwood said:


> By far the most trouble free ones out there...
> http://www.totousa.com/Default.aspx?tabid=179
> You get what you pay for...:thumbup:
> 
> Here is an install manual... http://admin.totousa.com/Product Downloads/037511S T1, THERMAL MIXING VALVE FAUCET, IM , V.01.pdf


This is intriguing, however, some of these faucets will not receive the minimum 5 uses per day to keep the cells charged. Some may not receive 5 uses in a month.


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## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

less than 5 times a month, why do you want sensor type faucets?


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## smellslike$tome (Jun 16, 2008)

19 faucets total. Medium to large church so sometimes fairly heavy use but mostly not. Some will have moderately heavy use every day. Of the 19, 9 are very old (original to the building) American Standard models that are beginning to show decay at the base of the faucets where the water is slowly eating into the castings. They do not necessarily need sensored faucets but I always offer options. So in this case the high end would be sensored. They have 24 toilets/urinals as well, of these 14 or so have sensored flushometers. I will be offering them the option of converting the remaining to sensored as well. If they have the money and the desire, I will convert everything to sensored, ... as long as I can satisfy myself that this would not be a huge mistake and that I won't be back every week fiddle fartin' around with one of those infernal sensored faucets.

This probably won't happen but I'm not going to limit myself. I've heard that these are a real pain and I see plenty of cover plates in various public rest rooms indicating they were once sensored and are now back to conventional. This is why I asked, I was hoping someone would respond saying "yes, I have installed 1000 brand X and have never had to go back on a single one". I don't really care what they cost, it's up to me to sell it. What I do care about is selling them something that won't work so that they regret the purchase. I'll sell it if I can, I just don't want it to be something that makes me look bad.


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## ranman (Jan 24, 2010)

http://www.chicagofaucetshoppe.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=1123

i have put in tons of tease with only 2 problems in all . 1-short a o ring , 1 short a base gasket 

i like the fact the balancer is built in and no external box.


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## Miguel (Aug 10, 2009)

I've put a few of these:
http://www.specselect.com/SpecSelectUS.aspx?Page=Products&ProductLineID=210015

Nice and rugged, simple to install. Only thing I don't like is they seem to change things every few years so instead of simply changing out a faucet, you have to sometimes replace the controller too. Happened to me once on a faucet I'd only put in 5 yrs before. Vandals smashed the faucet but the rest was still working just fine but wouldn't adapt.

These are nice:
http://admin.totousa.com/Product Downloads/PD-00404, TEL3GSC60, V.01.pdf

I know they've been mentioned and you don't think the charger will keep the battery up but you can replace the cell easy enough, and you'll still likely get 3 - 4 yrs (Toto claims) out of it.


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## Shuanvon (Aug 5, 2009)

The TOTO faucets are pretty good but you might want to keep parts on hand. Dont know about yall but to get the ecopower parts I have to wait like 3 weeks to get them. It does have a battery but it has a generator that keeps it charged. I have not seen any Zurn so I can't comment on that, my money is on Sloan for price and reliability


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## Airgap (Dec 18, 2008)

These are pretty reliable....


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## Optimus Primer (May 20, 2009)

^^^^ kinda looks like the ones I just put in.


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## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

a buddy of mine is a Plumber at the Atlanta Airport, he said they had to swap all the Zurn fixtures out with toto because the zurns were ****ty


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## gladerunner (Jan 24, 2009)

I've installed a ton of the sloan with no real problems. Not that you would need to worry about it but I installed four faucets recently and none of them worked. I opened the faucets to check the baterries and they worked fine. put them backtogether and they would'nt work. Took apart three times before i realize that taking


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## gladerunner (Jan 24, 2009)

opps, bottom line is i had them in my truck in the cold over night and the lenses had condensation on them. dried them off and they were fine


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## BCT (Feb 15, 2010)

I had a problem recently with the American Standard ones recently. I should have only needed to install 2 of them but I went through 5 of them before they decided to change them out for ADA handle faucets. They would either not shut off or not turn on, turned out to be something with the chip inside the faucet. I've never had a problem with the Sloan single hole but I can't tell you about the battery operated ones, I've always used the wired ones. If I remember correctly they were about $250 or so.


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## tooslow (Jul 17, 2009)

*metered faucets*

I have used both Sloan and Zurn AC and DC.

If this is a large Church they should have maintenance workers that you could orientate upon job completion.


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## grandpa (Jul 13, 2008)

In terms of expectations of the customer, if there is not recirc on the hot water, then you never really get warm water from a mixed faucet. Most of these lavs are coming with like a 1.5 or 1.0 gpm aerator. The short cycle on a sensor faucet is plenty of water for hand washing, but it never gets warm. If you are in a very cold climate, that can cause complaints


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## mtfallsmikey (Jan 11, 2010)

*Yeah, I searched..*

Hate to drag out old threads on forums, but wanted some more current input. I may be replacing my current Speakman widespread mounts in all of the bathrooms in one of my buildings with sensor faucets, is Toto still the most reliable?


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## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

yea, toto


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## SewerRatz (Apr 25, 2009)

I like the delta proximity sensing faucets. Never had any issues with them. Just replaced a mix of Sloan, and Toto with the Delta's.


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## knuckles (Dec 16, 2011)

I like the sloan optima's. But i recently found the moen sensor faucet and it is my personal choice.

I have a couple movie theaters with the toto eco power faucets and had nothing but trouble at first. I finally found that toto shipped .5 gpm faucets with 1.0 gpm aerators. Not a big deal right? They were eating batteries and had flow problems like they were shutting off.

Changed the aerators and they are working great.

I would check out the moen. They have one now that is totally self contained in the spout. Batteries and all.


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## Hillside (Jan 22, 2010)

I won a Mac faucet at the long beach trade show, recieved it yesterday, haven't installed it yet though, gonna put in my pad soon, anyone have Any positives or negatives about them? Went to Mac yesterday to pick it up, Ron showed me around the shop and I met the owner, looks like a quality product


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## DesertOkie (Jul 15, 2011)

mtfallsmikey said:


> Hate to drag out old threads on forums, but wanted some more current input. I may be replacing my current Speakman widespread mounts in all of the bathrooms in one of my buildings with sensor faucets, is Toto still the most reliable?


I have seen problems with the sloan 8" spread. The faucet had almost constant use though. Let us know what you find in the wide spread faucets. We have trouble finding anything good here.


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## Piper34 (Oct 10, 2011)

I put in 2- toto Eco faucets about $900 ripped em out within a year .nothing but problems for me replaced batteries and chargers 
Toto stood behind product 100% but unfortunately I don't have that kind of patience for that kind of money .installed manual faucets never heard again . Going green for them was costing them green .for that kind of money you'll never see any back .Come on how much can be saved on battery operated faucets ( self charging ) another good principle ruined by big government Put in Sloan with recently with ac adapter never heard from again so far 8mos.


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## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

Piper34 said:


> I put in 2- toto Eco faucets about $900 ripped em out within a year .nothing but problems for me replaced batteries and chargers
> Toto stood behind product 100% but unfortunately I don't have that kind of patience for that kind of money .installed manual faucets never heard again . Going green for them was costing them green .for that kind of money you'll never see any back .Come on how much can be saved on battery operated faucets ( self charging ) another good principle ruined by big government Put in Sloan with recently with ac adapter never heard from again so far 8mos.


 
what was wrong with them exactly? do tell


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

SewerRatz said:


> I like the delta proximity sensing faucets. Never had any issues with them. Just replaced a mix of Sloan, and Toto with the Delta's.


I recently had the opportunity to compare that new line from Delta with the infrared style.

Hands down the proximity technology from Delta is the way to go. :thumbup:


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## DesertOkie (Jul 15, 2011)

plbgbiz said:


> I recently had the opportunity to compare that new line from Delta with the infrared style.
> 
> Hands down the proximity technology from Delta is the way to go. :thumbup:



Does that style have ground wires running everywhere? I installed one(not Delta) that had a bunch of wire running around, both water pipes, drain pipe, I was like hooking up a car radio. I wouldn't care but they have wall hung sinks and it looks like poo even after a bag of small zip ties.


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

I only glanced under the sink and didn't notice anything. I'll have to look into that.


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

I just read over the installation instructions.

There is a wire that runs from the control box but it just connects to the bottom of the spout on a spade terminal. Maybe the wire you saw was just surplus and the installer was trying to keep it from hanging loose (like wrapping up extra trailer wiring on a piece of the frame).


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## DesertOkie (Jul 15, 2011)

plbgbiz said:


> I just read over the installation instructions.
> 
> There is a wire that runs from the control box but it just connects to the bottom of the spout on a spade terminal. Maybe the wire you saw was just surplus and the installer was trying to keep it from hanging loose (like wrapping up extra trailer wiring on a piece of the frame).



I Installed the faucet. It had wires with clamps for drain and water lines. I was thinking it was grounding stuff but I could be wrong. They all connected to the faucet by way of pig tail. The battery cable doesn't look bad, but the small wires look like poo. I tried the faucet without hooking the lines up no go.:laughing: 

I'll find the make of the faucet on monday. And maybe get some pics.


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## SewerRatz (Apr 25, 2009)

The ones I work with are both Delta and some off brand I never heard of before. They both do have the grounding wire that hooks up in a few places. The way I keep it looking clean is I use the chrome plated copper risers to the mixing valve, this way the ground wire are attached up high which conceals them. Also for the waste pipes they have a washer that mounts under the securing nut for the waste outlet which has a tab for the ground wire, again kept up high and out of sight.

With wiring aside the faucet is far more reliable than any inferred sensor faucet out there. You just get with in an inch of the faucet and you break the magnetic field and the faucet turns on.


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## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

I've had very good luck with the TOTO's over the years.

They're a bit pricy, so I may look into the Delta's for jobs with a leaner budget.


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## mtfallsmikey (Jan 11, 2010)

Should I go into the flush valve side of it, or save that for another thread? I kind of like the Deltas too.


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## SewerRatz (Apr 25, 2009)

mtfallsmikey said:


> Should I go into the flush valve side of it, or save that for another thread? I kind of like the Deltas too.


 
The Sloan over the handle Smooth Operator is by far the best one out there. What I really like about it is the ability to flush the unit even when the batteries are dead.


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## DesertOkie (Jul 15, 2011)

This is the auto faucet in the mills supply chain. I don't care for it, the old style of this brand lasted 3-4 yrs. The wires are new, maybe better. This one is being installed tomorrow, replacing a 2 handle job.


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## SewerRatz (Apr 25, 2009)

DesertOkie said:


> This is the auto faucet in the mills supply chain. I don't care for it, the old style of this brand lasted 3-4 yrs. The wires are new, maybe better. This one is being installed tomorrow, replacing a 2 handle job.
> 
> View attachment 15528
> View attachment 15529


One of the restaurants I work for has 12 of these installed for the last 6 years and only had one issue with one unit. The solenoid supply nut was loose and allowed water to leak into the electronics. Other than that they never had any issues.


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## DesertOkie (Jul 15, 2011)

Auto faucet install today. It was tight but it ended up hiding the wiring better than normal. Thank you mr. zip tie.


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