Better than Rubber and Wax Gaskets: New Elastomer Gaskets

Posted on June 21, 2018

Elastomer Gaskets for toilet and urinal installations are a revolutionary new sealing option for plumbers and facility managers. We are excited to provide our customers with this innovative new gasket that will most likely make wax and rubber gaskets obsolete. Watch our video and read our article below to learn more about Elastomer Gaskets by Tight Seal, and gain a full understanding of Elastomer Gaskets in comparison to Wax and Wax-Free Rubber Gaskets. Know your options when it comes to gaskets, and why more and more of our plumbing and facility maintenance customers are switching to new Elastomer Gaskets.

Tight Seal Elastomer Gaskets Video

The Best Gasket Material: Elastomer

Tight Seal Elastomer Gaskets are named after the material they are made of: Elastomer. Elastomer is a sticky, springy material that bounces back after being compressed. Elastomer Gaskets share the best qualities of wax and rubber gaskets, without the drawbacks. They provide an airtight seal like wax gaskets, while maintaining their shape under pressure. They also hold up under hot/cold temperatures like rubber gaskets. Read on for the full benefits of Elastomer Gaskets by Tight Seal.

The Benefits of Elastomer Gaskets

Won’t melt in hot weather or become hard
in cold weather
Reusable
Springs back into shape after being squeezed
Allows repositioning of fixture
Sticky Elastomer ensures a tight seal
No more scraping messy wax off of fixtures

Now that you know what makes Elastomer Gaskets so great, let’s take a look at other gasket types and compare their pros and cons for a full picture of toilet and urinal sealing options. (Or skip down to find out How to Purchase)

The Pros and Cons of Wax Gaskets

Wax Rings are used as a gasket for toilet and urinal installations for three reasons:

Wax Ring Pros

The wax material conforms to the fixture, creating a seal that is airtight.
They are cheap.
They can be stacked.

Wax Ring Cons

A wax gasket needs to be lined up completely accurately when installing, or else you may need to use an entirely new wax gasket when repositioning the fixture.
Wax gaskets can melt. Leave them in your truck in the Summer, or install them near a floor with radiant heat, and a wax seal will melt, losing its shape and its ability to properly seal.
Wax toilet and urinal gaskets can also freeze in the winter.
Wax rings can become misshapen. For example, when a heavier person sits on a toilet with a wax ring, the ring can flatten in an area, and then fixture will become tilted which in turn can break the seal of the gasket.
Wax rings leave a waxy residue that creates a mess.

Rubber Gaskets: The Pros and Cons

Rubber Gaskets are chosen as gaskets for toilet and urinal installations mainly for the following reasons:

Pros of Rubber Gaskets

Rubber gaskets can help direct flow with angled flanges, which helps deter potential leakage.
Rubber gaskets are wax-free, which means they are less messy.
Rubber gaskets will not flatten or become misshapen, which helps to keep the drain open and the fixture in the correct position.
When toilets or urinals need to be replaced, or when maintenance requires the fixture to be disconnected, then that rubber gasket can be easily removed

Rubber Gasket Cons

Rubber gaskets don’t have as tight of a seal as more sticky gaskets do
Rubber gaskets are more expensive than wax gaskets

Why Choose One Gasket Type Over Another?

Gasket choice really comes down to personal preference, which is why we carry wax gaskets, wax-free or rubber gaskets, as well as our latest offering, the newest innovation in gasket material, Elastomer Gaskets.

3/4” Elastomer Closet Gasket #67931
1-1/8” Jumbo Elastomer Closet Gasket #67933
1/2” Elastomer Tank To Bowl Gasket #67935
1/2” Elastomer Urinal Gasket #67938
3/4” Elastomer Closet Gasket With Flange #67932
1-1/8” Jumbo Elastomer Toilet Gasket With Flange #67934

We highly recommend trying out these new gaskets, especially now while we have them on sale for Summer.

How to Purchase Elastomer Gaskets from Equiparts

Call to place your order or submit a quote through our online quote system and we will get back to you.

Toll-Free: 800-442-6622
Pittsburgh: 412-781-9100
Mon-Fri 7:30am – 5pm EST

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Urinal Flange Repair Kit

Posted on October 25, 2016

This Urinal Flange Repair Kit is a quick and easy kit that repairs 2” flanges without having to remove the original flange. This repair kit repairs both plastic and metal flanges, and comes with all the parts needed to repair your broken flange. The adjustable metal flange opens up and slides around the edge of the flange, between the broken flange and the urinal gasket. Close the adjustable metal flange, and install your bolts and voila! Your flange is now repaired.

See how the Urinal Flange Repair Kit works in our video below, with Chris Pofi, Operations Manager at Equiparts.

Included in the Urinal Flange Repair Kit:

Adjustable Metal Flange Repair Part
Neoprene Gasket
2” Bolts (2)
Nuts (2)
Washers (2)

The Flange Repair Kit is now on sale at Equiparts! To place your order, give us a call on our toll free number: 800-442-6622 Monday through Friday, 8AM-5PM EST. Or view the Flange Repair Kit on our website to add it to your quote (EC Part #65784)

Want to share the Flange Repair Kit with a friend? Send them our 65784 Urinal Flange Kit PDF!

How to Permanently Eliminate the Smell of Urine from Public Restrooms

Posted on June 6, 2016

Have you ever walked into a restroom and smelled urine despite the fact that the restroom has been cleaned? Odor can be due to a multitude of factors, including people missing the toilet and other unsanitary conditions. Unfortunately, it can also happen in clean restrooms.

For restrooms that aren’t cleaned thoroughly or often enough, the problem may be a buildup of uric acid that is hard to remove. In this instance, we suggest using a cleaning product called ‘PB Gone’, the Uric Acid Eliminator. This specialty cleaning product utilizes engineered enzymes which attack Uric Acid build up and continue to break it down long after it’s sprayed. Another cleaning agent, ‘Urinal Scale Remover’ removes uric acid as well as limescale, calcium, and rust build-up.

What is the problem when a restroom is clean, but still smells like urine?

Restrooms that smell like urine even when they are clean and free of uric acid build-up are most common in men’s restrooms for one reason: Urinals. This problem can be more common in waterfree urinals. There is a Waterfree Urinal Cleanser that can be used to ‘flush’ the urinals of residue from urine.

Facilities choose waterfree urinals to save money and energy through bypassing the need to flush the urinal every time it’s used. Based on Gentworks survey data collected from hundred of sites, 80% of the monetary savings gained from the installation of water free urinals (view our waterfree urinal selection) will be due to the reduction in water use. However, the challenge of waterfree urinals is their maintenance requirements. Improper or infrequent maintenance leads to the buildup of solids in the urinal, which results in bathroom odor. This brings us to our final, permanent solution for ridding your restroom of urine smell while remaining water and energy conscious: introducing the Sloan Hybrid Urinal with Jetrinse technology. Find out how the new Hybrid Urinal by Sloan Valve can save your facility tens of thousands of gallons of water each year while needing little maintenance at the same time with a ‘service purge’ that keeps drain lines clean and free of urine. Learn more about the most innovative urinal on the market in our Sloan Hybrid Urinal blog post.

Sloan Hybrid Urinal with Jetrinse Technology

Posted on

The new Sloan Hybrid Urinal with Jetrinse technology is virtually a waterfree urinal that does an automatic ‘service purge’ which flushes up to one gallon of water once every 72 hours. This hybrid model allows you to still save thousands of gallons of water a year and also easily keep your drain lines clean, hygienic, and clog free, while also keeping your restrooms odor free!
We like to practice what we preach at Equiparts. So, we updated our facilities with the new Hybrid Urinal from Sloan! We promote sustainability at Equiparts and hope to become more energy and water efficient as our manufacturers continue to create innovative and environmentally friendly fixtures and products. (We also have a bottle filler station in our employee kitchen that has saved over 12,000 plastic bottles!) We are excited to now have a Sloan Hybrid Urinal which will help us save thousands of gallons of water each year.

Notes about Installing the Sloan Hybrid Urinal:

According to Chris Pofi, Operations Manager at Equiparts, the Sloan Hybrid Urinal with Jetrinse Technology was very easy to install at Equiparts. He says that it only took them about 30 minutes to install in the Equiparts’ restroom.

Prior to the Hybrid Urinal, Equiparts had an American Standard AllBrook Urinal installed. (The All Brook is very similar to the High-Efficiency Sloan Urinal, so these installation tips most likely apply to updating from that unit as well) The footprint of the AllBrook urinal was smaller than the footprint of the Sloan Hybrid urinal, which fortunately covered up any marks or indentations made by the AllBrook unit. The only item that needed adjusting was the height of the wall mounting bracket.

Urinal Specifications from Sloan Valve

Find out more about the Sloan Hybrid Urinal, including pricing, bulk order discounts, or get a quote by calling one of our Equiparts product specialists: 800-442-6622 Monday-Friday, 7:30 AM-5:00 PM EST. Or download and share the Sloan Retrofit Hybrid Urinal PDF with colleagues or friends.

Related Content:
Learn about the new water appliance regulations for 2016 and find out why you should know them before choosing which urinal models to update your facility within another Equiparts blog: ‘Installing New Urinals? Don’t Make the Mistake of Updating Outdated’

Installing New Urinals? Don’t Make the Mistake of Updating Outdated

Posted on March 1, 2016

Avoid updating your facility with a urinal that may have a gpf that is soon to be obsolete. Find out why another state’s new water appliance regulations for 2016 may affect you and your new urinal installation, even if you are in a different state.

California Water Appliance Regulation Information

Starting January 1st, 2016, California’s tighter water usage laws have come into effect. In April of 2015, California created new water efficiency standards, limiting water usage in new water fixtures. Now, all new toilets, urinals, and faucets are under new regulations that limit water flow. There are other initiatives as well, like a rebate program that encourages the replacement of old household appliances too.

According to the California Energy Commission, these restrictions are expected to save over 10 billion gallons of water within the first year. These tighter water usage laws are due in part to the growing acknowledgment that water and energy waste is an issue, and also in part to the new technology and water fixtures that are now available. Under these new water usage laws, urinals, a major offender of unnecessary water waste, will fall from allowing a half-gallon flush, to only an eighth (0.125) of a gallon per flush.

The state of California is at the forefront of change. We foresee these tighter water useage laws having a ripple effect of modernization across the United States, and welcome the green updates.

If your company is updating or installing bathroom fixtures now or in the near future, you may want to consider these new regulations set forth by the California Energy Commission. We encourage you to install units that encourage longevity while saving energy and water. Adhere to the new California Regulations for maximum long-term savings. By building or updating with Sloan Valve’s high-efficiency fixtures, your company will be prepared for the changes sure to come in the near future.

Current EPA WaterSense Labeling Requirements
Currently in Pennsylvania, a high-efficiency flushing urinal uses 0.5 gallons of water per flush. So only if your urinal uses 0.5 GPF or less, can your business display that your restroom urinals are high-efficiency appliances. Only then can you display EPA WaterSense labels, which informs consumers that you care about the environment and wasting water. So when will water usage laws change in Pennsylvania? Who knows. Will it change and likely mirror California’s restrictions? Yes. Will EPA WaterSense stipulations eventually rise to reflect the new water saving models now available? Yes.

Equiparts and Sloan Valve

Equiparts can help you make an informed decision when it comes to installing new urinals. Take a look at the many Sloan Valve Urinals we currently have in stock on our website. We have been in business for over 40 years and work with countless nationwide clients, both large and small. We create lasting relationships with our customers and genuinely care about taking care of your part and repair needs. Give us a call at 800-442-6622, or submit a quote request on our website at equiparts.net for all of your urinal unit, or repair part needs, and much more.

New Products from Sloan Valve: Reclaimed Flushometer and Hybrid Urinal

Posted on December 11, 2015

Sloan Valve is a premier partner of Equiparts. One of the reasons Sloan Valve is such a strong partner here is because we like supplying our customers with their innovative, premium performance products. Here we will take a look at Sloan Valve’s Reclaimed Water Flushometers, as well as the new Sloan Hybrid Urinal with Jetrinse Technology.

Reclaimed Water Flushometer

Sloan’s new Reclaimed Water Flushometer uses rainwater and gray water to conserve potable resources. “However, using reclaimed water is not without its challenges. With higher chemical concentrations than potable water, reclaimed water can damage plumbing components that use yellow brass (high zinc content) and organic rubber, potentially leading to increased maintenance requirements and premature failure,” as stated by Sloan on their website. That is why using solutions specifically designed for reclaimed water is important.
Casey Devlin, pictured above, spoke about this and other new Sloan products at the most recent Lunch-n-Learn we hosted at the Equiparts Main Office in Oakmont, Pittsburgh. Reclaimed water flush valves and parts can be recognized by their distinctive purple color. Although reclaimed water must be filtered and treated, Sloan has created a special diaphragm to prevent potential clogging by any sediment that may slip through. Other parts are also specifically designed to withstand the challenges of reclaimed water.

Equiparts carries both Manual and Sensor Flushometers and Flushometer Parts parts by Sloan Valve. So go green by going purple, and use the correct flushometers and parts for longer production and less maintenance.

Sloan Hybrid Urinal with Jetrinse Technology

Did you ever wish you could occasionally flush your waterfree urinal just to eliminate odor and wash down the old pipes? Now you can with the new Sloan Hybrid Urinal with Jetrinse technology.
This innovative new product is basically a waterfree urinal that automatically flushes up to one gallon of water once every 72 hours. You still save thousands of gallons of water a year, but now it’s easier to keep your lines clean, hygienic, odor free, and clog free! At the recent Equiparts Lunch-n-Learn, Casey used a demonstration model to show the inner workings of the Sloan Hybrid Urinal. There is a manual override button underneath that can be used to initiate a flush more often if necessary.

Give us a call at Equiparts to learn more from one of our team members who attended the Lunch-n-Learn. We can tell you more about Sloan Valve’s Reclaimed Water Flushometer, and/or Hybrid Urinals. Call 800-442-6622, or check out our online inventory to see all the categories of maintenance repair parts that we carry!