Ok, bittoggers. So the wife wants a new soft-close toilet seat. The old one is worn out and her cousin Bertha sat on it with the lid down while blow drying her hair and now the lid is cracked. To make matters worse, it’s one of those fancy toilets where you can’t get in underneath to screw a nut on the toilet seat screw.
This is a 12 year old American Standard model 4000 with an elongated soft close toilet heat that starts with number 5218. This seat was pretty fancy with a single push button to release it so the hired help can easily clean it. It turns out it is discontinued probably because if someone as heavy as Bertha sits on the cover it will crack near the hinges.
Continuing on.The nice lady at the American Standard helpline said the new seat starts with 5020. Instead of one button it has two to release the seat.
In a nut shell, you press the button of the original seat and remove it. This leaves two stainless steel prongs with a white base at the bottom. You pry the white cap off with a screw driver or better yet a prying device. You unscrew the screw holding the prong in place, then you pry out the plastic insert and give it a mighty yank with pliers.
The 5220 seat has two black rubber inserts that you lube up with soapy water and push them into the existing holes of the mounting area where you just removed the white plastic inserts.
You then mount the plastic piece with two new stainless steel prongs. When you insert the new screws it compresses the rubber inserts and locks the prongs in place. Here are some shots.
This is a 12 year old American Standard model 4000 with an elongated soft close toilet heat that starts with number 5218. This seat was pretty fancy with a single push button to release it so the hired help can easily clean it. It turns out it is discontinued probably because if someone as heavy as Bertha sits on the cover it will crack near the hinges.
Continuing on.The nice lady at the American Standard helpline said the new seat starts with 5020. Instead of one button it has two to release the seat.
In a nut shell, you press the button of the original seat and remove it. This leaves two stainless steel prongs with a white base at the bottom. You pry the white cap off with a screw driver or better yet a prying device. You unscrew the screw holding the prong in place, then you pry out the plastic insert and give it a mighty yank with pliers.
The 5220 seat has two black rubber inserts that you lube up with soapy water and push them into the existing holes of the mounting area where you just removed the white plastic inserts.
You then mount the plastic piece with two new stainless steel prongs. When you insert the new screws it compresses the rubber inserts and locks the prongs in place. Here are some shots.
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