For many homeowners, when it comes to installing a new toilet or replacing an old one, the choices are very limited. This is because of the ‘toilet set-out’ that limits the type of toilets you can buy.
Set-out is a term used to refer to the ‘distance between the wall and the centre of the waste outlet pipe’. Most new bathrooms have standard set-outs (140mm – 165mm) so that many options are possible, but older bathrooms have different set-outs that vary according to when the house was built.
For bathrooms with longer or shorter set-outs, the number of choices for toilet suites are limited – sometimes, the choice is only between two models. Also, when it is actually time to install the toilet suite, the pre-decided set out might have changed from what was planned due to various reasons, including tile selection.
Caroma’s new Orbital Technology (patented) has now brought out a rather unique solution to these installation problems. The new technology promises to make toilet installation easier (both for new bathrooms and for retrofitting in existing bathrooms), and also allows you to choose from a wider range of toilet suites.
Caroma’s Orbital Technology
This technology permits more freedom in the positioning of a toilet suite in a new or existing bathroom. After undergoing rigorous testing for all Australian standards – with the technology testing above pressure testing requirements – it has now been made available with certain Caroma toilet suites.
The unique adjustability of the connectors allows them to be used for toilet set-outs up to a radius of 50mm. There have been a few connectors that allow backward and forward motion for some set-out adjustment, but the radial adjustment is unique to the Orbital Technology.
Orbital and Uni-Orbital Connectors
Two types of connectors are available from Caroma at present:
- The Caroma Orbital Connector, suitable for close-coupled toilet suites, and
- The Caroma Uni-Orbital Connector, suitable for wall-faced toilet suites.
Both the Orbital and Uni-Orbital connectors have been designed with large trap throughways, however they might be configured. This is to improve the flush efficiency and performance, and to minimise the possibility of siphonage.
For the Uni-Orbital connectors, the upper and lower bodies can be rotated to adapt to a wide range of set-outs – and plumbers can easily adjust it to align the toilet suite with drain lines, tile lines, cistern flush pipes or push buttons. For wall-faced toilet suites, this means that the suite can be installed away from obstacles like stop cocks. Another new feature is the fixing plate with multiple fixing holes.
Standard and Compact Variations
The Uni-orbital connectors come in two variations –the standard and the compact – both pushing straight into the drain line with a quick ‘T’ connection. However, the compact version requires no cutting, and there is no necessity for a separate pan collar.
The compact variation is available with Caroma’s new reduced projection pans suitable for smaller bathrooms. The advantage is that a standard ‘set-out’ may be chosen even for smaller pans, increasing the available space in the bathroom.
At JEDI Plumbing, we are excited by this new technology and look forward to installing these toilet suites in our clients’ bathrooms. We believe that this will be extremely useful for renovators, builders, and home owners, as they can choose the toilet suites that they actually like, instead of being restricted to a few basic choices.
JEDI Plumbing has always been in the forefront, when it comes to introducing new plumbing technologies to our clients in Sydney’s North Shore and Northern Beaches. For any plumbing jobs, be it toilet plumbing, blocked drains or even a simple dripping tap, call us on 0411 774 381, and let us take care of it.