Locking Toilet Seat Bumper

thingiverse

**Updates:** *2023-11-01* I have added a new model that is adjustable and should make fitting the parts on the toilet much easier. I have not tested this out, other than to check the fit, so I am not sure how it will stand up to the pressures exerted on the part (being a two piece unit.) The idea is to print the two parts, slide the two pieces together and then, while the seat is on the toilet, adjust the slider to the proper position. I placed a side hole in the slider piece (top) so some kind of mechanical stop can be used to secure the pieces from movement. Some glue in the hole may be enough but if not, drilling a small hole and inserting a screw or small cylindrical piece should hold the parts from shifting laterally. Before assembly be sure the pieces slide easily enough. If they are too tight you may end up breaking the top piece due to the direction of the filament grain. For maximum strength I would recommend printing on the side (the same as before.) **Summary:** I hate it when the toilet seat begins to loosen due to repeated sideways movement. Eventually this causes extra strain on the hinges unless you continually tighten the fastening screws. Generally the movement is due to the seat bumpers sliding on the ceramic rim of the bowl. Compressed or damaged bumpers (pads under the seat) can contribute to this and may also contribute to a seat cracking. There are several bumper replacements that you can 3D print and some have an extra ridge that help stop the lateral movement. This is my design for replacement bumpers that help restrict the lateral movement. The design fits my Bemis toilet seat. The existing bumpers are press fit into holes drilled in the bottom of the seat and can be removed by carefully prying them off. I have included a schematic that shows the design measurements. These need to match pretty closely to the seat and the rim size of the actual toilet in order for these to work. Different toilets may have different rim widths so measuring what you have is important. The hinge design also affects the positioning of the bumpers and therefore also affects where the positioning clip has to sit. Because of the variations in toilets and rim sizes I opted to create the model so the user can decide how to size it for their particular setup. There are 3 parts that can be used to create the finished product. First decide if the main bumper with the protrusions will fit your particular toilet seat. if these fit properly then decide if the stop piece is better to be on the outside of the rim or the inside. Select the appropriate STL. This STL combined with the main bumper STL will then be sliced together to form a single print. The hardest part is to decide on the length of the overall bumper (main + outside. To do this you will need to measure the rim width, and combine the two parts so the extruding lock tab sits just slightly outside the rim edge when the seat is centred on the toilet. The STLs need to be aligned and then merged. I found that it was easiest to merge the STLs using 3D Builder but use whatever tool works best for you. It might also work in your slicer but I couldn't use Cura to get a good slice that way and Cura's merge tool does not do a merge in place. I have included a couple of merged STLs as examples but they will probably not fit your particular toilet. I have two different sizes on two different toilets. The protrusion on the top of the bumper has to fit nicely to the outside or inside of the rim and is what holds the seat in place and limits lateral movement. If the positioning is too far off, the protrusion will hit the rim and the seat will not sit down properly or they will be too far away from the rim and will not come in contact with the rim to stop the lateral movement. One way to get a close measurement is to use a pen and mark the existing bumper by drawing a line using the edge of the toilet rim as the guide. This will give you an approximate position for the clip on the main bumper. Keep in mind that if the seat is not centred you will end up with different sized bumpers, so ensure you centre the seat before marking. **Important Note:** When printing the model it is best to print it on its side using supports for the press fit fasteners. By doing this you will get a part that is much stronger at these points. If you print with these parts vertical, the pegs can easily break off inside the hole making it difficult to remove the broken part. Should this happen, you can remove the broken part by screwing a small metal screw into the broken plastic and then pulling out holding onto the screw. I also chose to print solid to avoid any crushing which has destroyed original pads in the past.