Planned Obsolescence vs. Plumbing
The inside of a toilet tank showing the damage done by using a grinder to remove steel bolts submerged in water.
This article is aimed at DIYers. If you’re going to buy Plumbing parts, carry a magnet with you. An explanation will follow below.
“Planned Obsolescence” is when a product is designed purposefully with a limited lifespan, almost like an expiration date so that the consumer will need to buy the product again.
In our world, a common observation is that products are manufactured cheaper and cheaper than the yesteryears. You might expect there to be a common sense approach to manufacturing Plumbing parts. You might expect there to be a minimum standard. If you expect parts that will be submerged underwater to be waterproof then guess again. Without mentioning any manufacturer, take the example of tank-to-bowl AKA close-coupled bolts. These are the bolts that connect a 2 - piece toilet (the tank to the bowl). The standard material for these bolts for many years was 100% brass. In the last few years, some manufacturers have been making these bolts out of brass-plated ferrous steel. The parts look the same but here is where a magnet comes in handy. The steel bolts are magnetic and the full brass ones are not, of course. In a few rare cases, the bolts can be made from Stainless Steel but their silver color distinguishes them from the yellowish brass color.
It seems so deceptive to cover steel bolts with brass plating. Many DIYers would know not to use them if they weren’t plated. Using steel in a water filled tank is less than OK. It’s a terrible idea. What happens is that this hardware will rust and start corroding almost immediately.
Yes it will leak but it gets worse. How do you remove this hardware when you can’t grip it? At the risk of damaging the tank, you can try a Dremel or grinder. If you already know about this brass-plated garbage then consider yourself lucky. Many uninformed DIYers don’t find out until it’s too late.
For more on Planned Obsolescence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5v8D-alAKE
This 17 min. video by Veritasium titled ‘This is why we can’t have nice things’ is one of my favorites. It’s about a lot of things not including Plumbing. Regardless, Planned Obsolescence affects every industry and everybody.
