The toilet falls into a crisis of explosion. Domestic lack of testing standards

In household products, we pay special attention to the safety of electrical appliances. There is a danger of explosion due to improper use of electrical appliances. As everyone knows, the toilets that look like hard can explode. This is by no means an alarmist. The recent incident of a toilet incident has caused the famous international brands Kohler and American Standard to fall into an "explosive crisis."

American Standard Kohler Says Chinese Market Has No Explosive Toilet

On August 18th, a news item in the Los Angeles Times of the United States brought famous bathroom brands such as Kohler and American Standard to the crisis vortex. The Consumer Product Safety Commission of the United States recently received a total of 304 complaints concerning toilet explosion complaints, 14 of which caused some harm to users.

What caused Kohler and American Standards to fall into the “explosion crisis” was a Flushmate III Series 503 model kit for assisted pressure flushing, produced by the Flushmate company, which could turn the toilet into a “time lag”. For this reason, Flushmate has recalled 2.3 million toiletfeeling devices goodfeel in the United States, and Canada has 9400 toilets implicated. Due to the use of this pressure flushing device, toilets manufactured by Kohler, American Standards and other brands between 1997 and 2008 also had potential explosions. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has even warned users that consumers who have installed the flushing device at home should immediately cut off the toilet's water inlet pipe and contact the company to obtain a repair kit.

A few days ago, American Standard (China) Co., Ltd. and Kohler (China) Investment Co., Ltd. have issued announcements in succession, claiming that all domestic toilet products have not adopted the pressure flushing accessory models that were urgently recalled by the US Flushmate company.

Kohler stated in the statement: "After thorough investigation, all toilet products manufactured and sold by Kohler on the Chinese market have not used the pressure flushing accessory models that were urgently recalled by the United States Flushmate. Consumers are welcome to use them." The American Standard’s statement reads: "After contacting the Sloan Flushmate company's Beijing office, we are now confirming that American Standard China has never used it in the Chinese market and has never sold any of the recalled pressure flushing devices related toilet products. ”

Kohler (China) Investment Co., Ltd. Kohler Marketing Communication Manager said: Kohler China has stopped importing Flushmate's flushing system since last year. “We have 13 factories in China, mainly in Foshan, Shanghai, and Zibo. At present, Kohler's products on the domestic market are all produced domestically."

The United States and Canada recalled more than 2.3 million "problem products"

According to U.S. media reports, several types of toilets, including American Standard, Kohler, Akai, and Garbo, which were manufactured between 1997 and 2008 by well-known bathroom brands, as well as Home Depot and Lowes Part of the toilets sold by the two home retailers do have the potential to explode because they use pressure flushing devices made by flushing system manufacturer Flushmate, which sometimes causes the toilet to explode.

It is estimated that about 2.3 million toilets are recalled throughout the United States, and 9,400 toilets in Canada. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warned that the third generation of the 503 series pressure boosting system produced by Flushmate will create dangers during use. Consumers who install the flushing device at home should immediately cut off the toilet's inlet pipe. Make repairs.

"China Flushmate related system toilet has not received a complaint"

Flushmate has opened a dedicated website for users to search for product serial numbers to distinguish whether the toilet flushing device used is within the scope of the recall. The website statement states: "When the flushing system of the 503 series of flushing presses used in the third generation of Flushmate, which was recalled, releases air pressure, the pipe welds will burst open, causing the water tank cover to be flushed or even bursting in the water tank. The object caused a certain degree of damage."

As for the principle of pressure-assisted flushing system, Flushmate described on the official website: The system can accumulate air when water is injected, and it uses the pressure in the water supply pipeline to compress the internal stored air. Compressed air forms the power to flow water into the bowl, and this powerful flushing effect cleans the bedpan more cleanly than gravity-type toilets.

“The pressure boosting technology was developed by our company. The system is used in the U.S. market with very few in China and the entire Chinese market is estimated at less than 10,000.” Mr. Zhang of Flushmate’s Beijing office stated, “The problem is the Three generations of the 503 series, one of which has a problem with the product in the specified time period.”

Mr. Zhang introduced that in the Chinese market, Flushmate's fourth-generation 504 series pressure-assisted flushing system is used. “The problematic 503 series is 6 liters of water ration, and the 504 series is 4 liters of water quantification. The technical indicators are different. We have entered with the bathroom brand companies and have been selling in China for at least 10 years. So far, the Chinese market has not received any relevant complaints. There are no recall issues."

Do not rule out overseas inflows possible

Whether the "problem toilet" affects China, Kohler and American Standards have all conducted active investigations.

On the afternoon of August 21st, the American Standard China issued an official statement stating that the company had never purchased in the Chinese market and had never used or sold the products related to the recalled pneumatic device.

At the same time, Kohler China also issued an official clarification statement on this matter. After thorough investigation, none of the toilet products manufactured and sold by Kohler in the Chinese market had adopted the pneumatic flushing accessory model chinaren that was urgently recalled by the US Flushmate company. The vast majority of consumers can rest assured that use.

Richard Zhang, head of Flushmate's Beijing office, also stated that the III series flushing devices used in “problem toilets” have never entered the Chinese market, and domestic brands such as Kohler and American Standards use the IV series and are very safe. However, it does not rule out the problem of products flowing into China through overseas. Because it is not a normal channel purchase, customers cannot be tracked, but if customers actively contact them, they will also be treated as recalls.

Lack of testing standards

A variety of toilets are printed on the brochure at the entrance to Kohler's store. The flushing system includes double-blown vortex, pneumatic booster, five-level whirlwind, straight flush, and jet siphon. Shanghai, Foshan, and the United States are the places of origin on the toilet's label on the store.

“Our main product is a five-level whirlwind flushing system. Pressure-assisted activities have been reduced. At present, some products of the 'St. Raphael' one-piece toilet and the 'Waiwei Fu' split toilet also use air pressure assistance. Moving system." The person in charge of Kohler said, "After the incident, it has suspended the sale of any toilets with a pneumatic booster system and has ceased cooperation with Flushmate."

In the sales shop of American Standard Sanitary Ware, the sales staff said that most of the toilet products in the store come from Shanghai, and only two types of flushing methods, the straight flush type or the jet siphon type, are used. The same answer was also given by the sales staff of another Spanish brand "ROCA".

However, people in the industry pointed out that at present, China does not have the relevant national standards for pneumatic flushing, so various indicators cannot be tested. It is hoped that consumers will be cautious when purchasing such toilet products.

Injured in toilet

The incident of toilet wounding is not the first time.

China: In March this year, the Guangzhou Daily reported that at 24 o'clock on the evening of February 24th, when a 24-year-old Mr. Zhou was toileting in a hotel toilet in Guangzhou, the toilet suddenly fell over and fell over, and the consumer fell down with inertia. The broken hips were broken and the wounds were up to 30 centimeters.

United States: According to statistics from the Consumer Product Safety Commission of the United States, 304 toilet explosions have been received since 2011, among which 14 consumers were injured. According to the “New York Daily News” report, some of the 14 wounded were injured by fingers, and others were wounded on the face and chest. The power generated by the explosion of the toilet was more than a small one.

Japan: In 2007, the world-famous sanitary ware manufacturer Japan Toyo Machine Co., Ltd. announced on April 16 that it recalled 180,000 sets of "Z" series toilets because it was in Japan from March 2006 to March 2007. A total of 3 complaints were received, claiming that the sanitary fittings caught fire, and another 26 complaints that the sanitary wares “smoked”. Although fire incidents occurred when nobody was using them, it still caused great concern and doubts from Japanese consumers.