Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsand it seems wonderful. I love it
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2018
I have modified this review - see the end for the solution to the problem. The reason I give it 1 star is actually for the BENEFIT of Toto, because people tend to look at 1 star reviews. At the end, I tell you how to fix a problem that their tech support isn't even aware of - which is absurd, as this must occur all the time. Or maybe the guy I got was new. Whatever - if that's so, he should have transferred me to someone else. Tech support alone makes it 1 star (the installation instructions are pretty awful too)
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I have now used this product for 1 day, and it seems wonderful. I love it. So why does it get 1 star?
INSTALLATION, tech support, and FRAUD.
With one exception, this thing is very easy to install. The exception is part A-7, which is a TEE that allows you to connect the water line on the C200 to the water supply line for the toilet fill valve. Before installing this TEE, there is a water supply line that connects the house water to the existing toilet's fill valve. You put this TEE in so you can connect the water supply line for the TOTO to it. Sounds simple enough. You unscrew the water supply line from the toilet fill valve, which is threaded PLASTIC tubing. You screw one end of part A-7 to the water supply line, and the other end to the water supply line's plastic fitting. The water line for the TOTO connects to the third leg of the TEE. The problem is, part A-7 is metal, not plastic, and the part that screws into the toilet's fill valve tubing IS THE WRONG KIND OF CONNECTOR. Yes - the threads match. But they only supply a very hard plastic washer, and you can't tighten this connector enough to prevent it from leaking. Why? Because this end of the TEE is meant to connect to a METAL toilet fill valve, which presumably can take the extra tightening force, and probably has other differences (like a flat surface for the washer to seal against) that allow it to seal against a hard plastic washer. But it will never seal against a plastic toilet fill valve.
The solution is simple - buy part THU9090R, which is advertised as an extension to allow you to install the TEE if you don't have enough room to install the TEE, which takes more space than the water supply line alone. This part costs $36, and is essentially equivalent to a standard $5 toilet water supply line - but it is impossible to find anywhere but at TOTO. This works because the part that connects to the toilet fill valve tubing IS MEANT FOR CONNECTING TO THE STANDARD THREADED PLASTIC TUBING on my american toilet, in contrast to the TEE (part A-7), which is a different type of fitting altogether. And the other end is conveniently meant to attach to the metal end of the TEE. In other words, this part works as an ADAPTER to connect 2 dissimilar parts - the plastic toilet fill valve tubing and the metal end of the TEE.
Now, I'm sure part THU9090R works great as an extension. But nowhere is it advertised as a part necessary for my application, i.e., as an ADAPTER. That is why I claim this is FRAUD. It's not an extension - it's an adapter. If it was just an extension, the fitting that connects to the toilet fill valve threads would be identical to the fitting on part A-7 that connects to the toilet fill valve threads. But it isn't. So tell me - if the standard TEE only connects to METAL fill valves, why would they make the THU9090R such that it connects to PLASTIC fill valves, not metal? If it were just an extension, it too would have the metal fitting which doesn't work with plastic. But it's NOT just an extension, it's an adapter and extension both.
Tech support was useless, BTW. They had never heard of this problem, and furthermore, offered suggestions that were just plain stupid. I would submit photos, but I've already wasted enough time on this.
REVISION AND SOLUTION:
The solution to the problem is to go to your local hardware store and buy a flat, fairly hard rubber washer that fits the part of the TEE that attaches to the fill valve. Less than a dollar. Do I feel like an idiot because I didn't try to find such a washer before writing the review? NO NO NO NO NO. And here is why:
1) I specifically asked toto tech support if they had such a washer. Not only did they not, but the guy didn't think that would solve my problem.
2) The toto was installed by a licensed plumber after he replaced the toilet it went on. The plumber thought there MUST be some part supplied by TOTO to deal with this. He never suggested just going to the hardware store to find a washer, which was my initial inclination. Wish I could review the plumber here too.
You are probably thinking that a am a rank amateur and my opinion is useless - otherwise, why would I get a plumber to do this stuff. You would be wrong. I BUILT the bathroom 20 years ago, and it has never had a problem. But I have cancer, and am undergoing chemo, and though I could easily have installed the toto, installing the toilet was just too much for me, as chemo leaves me with barely enough energy to climb the stairs.
I have bought hundreds of items on amazon. This is my first really negative review.
