Pages

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303 (part 2 of 2)

This is a continuation of Part 1.

Insert Square headed bolt through bolt and slide catch into seat base assembly.

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- Bolt + catch on seat base (viewed inverted)

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- Bolt + catch on seat base slide in (viewed inverted)
 Repeat for other side.
Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- Bolt + catch on seat base 2 sides (viewed inverted)

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- Bowl without seat and cover
 Insert 2 x transparent rubber spacers.

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- Insert 2 transparent spacers into 2 anchor holes on toilet bowl.
 Align bolts and insert into bowl anchor holes
Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- align seat assembly's bolt to bowl's anchor holes
 The bolt needs to be secured with nuts from underneath. See below pics for a thousand words.
Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- bowl without seat and cover elevation
Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- nut and washer to secure inserted bolt from under the bowl.

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- nut and washer to secure inserted bolt from under the bowl.

Repeat for other bolt.


Also see:
Feedback of water cabinet baron w303

Other Maintenance Postings:
Changing chair fabric
DIY home repair cabinet knob
Does a refrigator need plinth
Wet floor toilet design

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303 (part 1 of 2)

After 4 years of use, we decided to replace the toilet seat in the master bedroom with a standard oval shaped cover-seat (aka non-original) which was commonly available costing SGD26.

It proved to be an unwise choice as
1. The seat and bowl shapes did not match. I guess it still works well, but we started questioning why the decision to get a designer toilet bowl in the first place.
2. Due to the incompatible dimensions between the bowl and our purchased seat, the sitting position became awkward, which required the user to lean forward. In short it did not work.

Without much options, we searched for original seats and had 3 quotes, ranging from SGD40 to SGD55 all before GST. Naturally the cheapest one was picked from Klisss.

HDB renovation DIY- change toilet seat cover Baron W303 invoice

It came in a rather plan box for a designer product.
HDB renovation DIY- change toilet seat cover Baron W303- simple box
 However, the box was clearly labelled as "SLOWLYFALL". See the video here to know what it means.
HDB renovation DIY- change toilet seat cover Baron W303- Labelling

Supplied components included (clockwise in picture below) assembled cover-seat, 2 rectangular catch, 2 sets of plastic bolt + nut + washer and 2 transparent spacers.
HDB renovation DIY- change toilet seat cover Baron W303- Supply components
 Plastic rectangular catch.
HDB renovation DIY- change toilet seat cover Baron W303- Catch
 Complete assembly of the Catch + washer + nut + Bolt  assembly
HDB renovation DIY- change toilet seat cover Baron W303- Catch+ washer+nut+bolt assembly
See Part 2 here



Feedback of Water Cabinet Baron W303- 4 years

Initially, we provided a feedback after several weeks of usage and are not sure if we should be providing a 4-year feedback as it seemed like a pretty "unhygienic" topic to dig into so much detail. Since we have done the dirty job, we might as well save the readers the trouble of the same journey.

After 4 years of use, we observed the following:

1. The Baron W303 was the most economical designer bowl we could find in 2009. It added to the hotel-like toilet look we were after.

2. As a designer toilet bowl, the seat came with a "Slow fall" or silent falling function, which started to show that it is wearing out after approximately 2 years. At 4 years the cover was behaving like any normal cover, ie when released, you can hear the contact sound. Ironically, this made life easier as the new cover took more than 20 seconds to "fall slowly".

2. In addition, the toilet seat was less child friendly when compared to a standard oval shaped bowl, specifically:
a. The built-in resistance for the "fall slowly" cover poses a slight challenge for our 3 year old boy learning to pass urine on his own.
b. Baron W303 had a non-standard seat shape and curvature that was not compatible to some child-potty seats.

3. The dual flushing power was decent so far. There was no significant loss of flushing power over the period of use.

4. Seat cover surface started to deteriorate after 4 years of use by 2 adults. However, we have to admit that it is still functioning well except with a slight loss of contact comfort. Baron's original seat replacement was not commonly available and the cheapest quote was SGD40 before GST. In contrast, a conventional oval shaped seat-cover is readily available island wide for SGD 10 to SGD 26. See posting replacing the Baron W303 seat cover.

In conclusion for the above feedback, while the Baron W303 provided high aesthetic value at a decent price, the maintenance cost expectation should be kept at that of a designer bowl. Recommended for the Master Bedrooms but not for common toilets with heavy wear/tear and toddler use.

Also see:
Feedback on Baron W303 after 2 weeks of use

Concerned about maintenance cost: also see:
Advantages of installing ceiling fan
Lighting concept cost savings
Compare LED vs energy saving lighting

Friday, June 14, 2013

Compare LED vs Energy saving lighting

What are the benefits of using LED lights at home?

There is much hype about LED lights claiming to save significant wattage over the compact Flourescent Lights (CFL) and replacement cost. Is it really worth considering this for HDB dwellers?

Before that, lets start by some definition.
LED = Light Emitting Diode
It is a solid-state lighting technology that has been around for decades. The technology has only picked sufficiently for LED to be increasing reliable.

To be continued...