Fluidmaster 555C Flusher Fixer Kit

by Fluidmaster

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Fluid Master Flusher Fixer Kit renews leaking flush valve seat. Comes complete with plastic seat, frame, vinyl flapper, chain and No-Wait-Sealant.

Product Description

Fluidmaster, Flusher Fixer Kit, Consists Of Bulls Eye Flapper #500 With Timing Cup, Plastic Seat & Sealant Ring.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.1 x 6.1 x 6.9 inches ; 11.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B00002N6MI
• Item model number: 555CRP8
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,999 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely, positively, steer way clear of this product, June 15, 2000

By 

Doug Briggs - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fluidmaster 555C Flusher Fixer Kit (Misc.)

Fluidmaster makes some of the best valves for toilets on the market. In fact, Fluidmaster redefined the toilet tank water valve, did away with the old ball floats and gave us positive water shutoff, all in one compact upright unit that will work without failure till the cows come home.

Some major toilet manufacturers have adopted Fluidmaster valves for their toilets. They must feel that they can't beat Fluidmaster at the valve game, and so joined them.

This repair kit has some outstanding features. It will fit ANY toilet tank. It has a little bowl attached to the flapper. Full of water the bowl acts as a counterbalance and holds the flapper open to allow a longer flush. You can even adjust the little drain holes in the bowl to affect how long the flapper stays open. A very functional and worthy feature, one that illustrates the inventiveness up there at Fluidmaster.

Why, then, did this formidable hands-down expert on the insides of toilet tanks add two parts to this assembly that would guarantee the flapper would fail repeatedly and often? The parts are so incidental that they could not affect the cost of manufacture at all. They are:

1. The plastic chain that connects the flapper to the flush lever has coarse, open links, and it FLOATS. So when the toilet is flushed and begins to refill, the slack in the chain, busily floating around on the rising water, often snags on things it encounters. It will even occasionally throw a loop in itself. These events shorten the effective length of the chain and hold the flapper open.

2. The large clip that attaches the chain to the flush lever is much too large for the purpose. It is long enough to get flipped over during a flush and hang the flapper in the open position. Another defect in the clip is an end bent out to allow easy fastening of the chain. That bent-out end often snags a link in the floating chain.

There are many ways for this item to malfunciton, so it happens often -- once in 20 flushes at least! When it does, you have a wide-open water valve. Once I left a toilet in this state undiscovered overnight and my water bill jumped $40 that month. In all, I'd guess my excessive water costs laid to this product's malfunctions have been over $200, easy.

So, if you take my advice and avoid the Fluidmaster kit, what do you do? If your toilet is so outdated that you can't find for it a flapper assembly made by Chicago or someone else, it deserves to be retired. So do what I finally did and get a new toilet.

The new 1.5 gals-per-flush toilets can be bought starting at little over $100 (less than I've spent on water down the drain), and a new toilet will make you smile every time you walk into the bathroom. You don't notice how weary-looking something has become until it's replaced with a shiny new one. You'll no longer have to work in this thing (and malfunctions have a way of happening when you have company).

Most any do-it-yourselfer can install a toilet -- a water line connection, two hold-down bolts (replace with brass) and a wax ring. After installation, adjust the filler valve until it fills almost to the overfill tube, thereby allowing it to use another quart or two of water. These new designs throw the water into a positive swirl to flush much much more efficiently than the old kind, and do so with much less water. Another advantage to using less water is that they refill in no time.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Things to consider before buying this product, February 7, 2010

By 

B. Pang (IL, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fluidmaster 555C Flusher Fixer Kit (Misc.)

It is a kind of product designed for particular situation, and for other situations, it probably has to be thrown to trash can if it cannot be refunded.

First, this is not just snap-in type of flapper, but it uses sticky water sealant ring to stick into, so if you don't do it properly, it is a design that could allow leakage.

Let's say you can do that properly. The flapper has to be installed so that it moves different angle than original way as it has its own hinge mechanism. So you need to find space in you toilet water tank that would allow the movement in a direction it is not designed for.

On top of that, it has a bulky timing cup attached on top of the moving flapper, so your toilet water tank has to have even more room, and because of this cup, you cannot just use flapper without the hinge the usual way.

In my regular size toilet, I realize that there is just no room with floater in the tank after I opened the package to try out. I am not sure if I can even refund it after I applied the sticky sealant ring and it would not come off easily. If you are worried about the space, do not buy it.

I tried to replace the old one because the old flapper tries to save water and prematurely shut off water, asking for 2nd flush consuming more water. Does toilet flapper have to be imported from Germany or some foreign country too? Can't they make a really functional one here? I would pay double the price if it really works.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bad Experience with this Product, March 14, 2006

By 

Katie "Katie" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

I ordered this product and it arrived with missing pieces and (mispacked, I think?) with the incorrect pieces. I was unable to assemble it and, upon calling the manufacturer, I was either a) on hold or b) hung up on. It was almost like they had no one manning their phones (I called during business hours.) I would not recommend ordering this product and I would think twice before ordering from this vendor.