Grab - The wisdom of the past seems to fade away ....

Michael -

The main problem with accessing the initial gripping point depends mainly on the roll being perfectly dry. A too narrow side clearance between throne and wall, or a too low position of the dispenser may subject the dispensable material to the spray inevitable with flushing - especially with the seat down so that the spray is jetted to the sides thru the crack, with the result that the initial separation of a grippable fragment is much more difficult due to a soggy (and sticky) roll.

If the paper fails to separate easily it's likely because of "dampness," although inferior quality of the material used may be a contributing factor.

Once a suitable grip is obtained, pulling slightly upward on the paper helps to lift inner bore of the roll off the roller and makes it significantly easier to extract the appropriate length of useful material. This upward action is facilitated by having the paper exit the roll from the bottom.

If the paper comes off the top of the roll, the normal tendency is to pull downward on the exiting length, especially if the user is seated, thereby causing it to lock up on the roller and leaving the patron with an inadequate tiny patch insufficient for the intended purpose. The inevitable consequence of top-exiting installation is that numerous people get multiple tiny bits off the roll, some of which are invariably dropped on the surrounding floor and ultimately stick to one's shoes on exit.

Top-exiting installation of the roll is appropriate only for commercial installations where the "non-spinnable" damping devices are used to make it impossible for anyone to extract a usable piece of material. Since with these dispensers it's necessary to crank the roll directly to get an extended piece, the top-exit installation gives an additional couple of inches (depending on the remaining roll diameter) of pump-out before the extended strip is soiled by contact with the bits on the floor.

US Army Field Manual FM-269-46517A, Care, Maintenance, Preservation, Stocking and Shipping of Sanitary Facilities, Supplies and Equipment gives explicit instructions for the correct procedures, although it does note that deviations may be required for unusual installations and expecially where proper maintenance has been neglected by prior personnel. The Appendix on "Field Expedients When Normal Facilities Are Unavailable" should be consulted before approaching most commercial facilities where maintenance has been done by persons of suspect qualifications and skill¹ with the expectation of use.





¹ Or where someone may have meddled with the maintenance.

John