The Kohler Wellworth K-11471 and K11473 Complete Solution Toilet with its Class Five Flushing System is a welcome upgrade in the Wellworth family of toilets. The Complete Solution Toilets come with everything you need for installation except a new supply line from the supply valve coming out of the wall to the toilet.
For many years Wellworth was a blemish on Kohler name which to many people stood for good products. Unfortunately the Kohler Wellworth with its original Ingenium Flushing System which is another wording for same old flushing system was widely recognized as a toilet that didn’t flush well at all. Numerous customers of mine were amazed when I told them their toilet stunk. They blindly thought that the Kohler name stood for great products. For the people that bought the original Wellworth they became very experienced with the use of the plunger.
Fortunately, with the Kohler Wellworth upgrade to the Class Five Flushing System, respect again returns to Kohler and they finally have a Wellworth that flushes again. The Class Five Flushing System is a design which follows the basic thought of getting the water from the tank to the bowl as fast as possible and from the bowl to the drain line as fast as possible. To accomplish this, the flush valve is enlarged, as are the internal water passages of the toilet and the trapway out of the bowl. This results in a phenomenally fast flush that carries large amounts of waste out of the bowl without clogging. This design characteristic was adopted by many companies including Kohler as they came out with the Super Toilets. Many of the other manufacturers discontinued production or upgraded the design of their original toilets except for a few of the inexpensive models to the improved flushing systems. Kohler has left the Wellworth alone and was concentrating on the newer Super Toilets. It is refreshing to see them go back and do this upgrade of the Wellworth to make it flush better.
The Class Five Upgrade utilizes a canister valve instead of a flapper which raises some concerns as far as proprietary parts go in my mind, but we’ll have to see what kind of service frequency is required, what parts are required for repair, and their availability is. They also make a big change as to how the tank mounts to the bowl with a new system that was first employed on the Kohler Cimarron toilets. This system eliminates the tank to bowl bolts from being inside the tank of the toilet and going through the tank to connect to the bowl. Instead a bracket is secured to the tank by the flush valve nut and the tank to bowl bolts slip into the bracket then through the base to secure the tank to the base. This method of attachment eliminates possibilities of the tank leaking caused by either deteriorating bolts or rubber sealing washers where the bolts went through the tank. I have installed many Kohler Cimarron toilets that used this same system and found it to be one of the easiest assembly projects I have ever done on a toilet.
The short story here is Kohler has done their engineering work and given the Kohler Wellworth a rebirth and a new chance to be recognized as one of the better toilets. It’s a shame they made us wait so long for this moment. I revise my recommendation to the Kohler Wellworth being a toilet worth of consideration for purchase.
The Kohler Complete Solution Round Front Toilet K-11471 MSRP is $198.25
The Kohler Complete Solution Elongated Front Toilet K-11473 MSRP is $293.65
These toilets can be found at Lowes, Home Depot, and many other locations.