Drain sump box & a chlorine tablet ??

[The Bill Collector]

I have these large 2-3" chlorine tablets left over from an old above ground pool the kids had..... And I grow weary of cleaning the goop out out of the drain sump box.... What is the potential downside of leaving one of these chlorine tablets in the sump box to help keep it a little cleaner ???

Thank you in advance for any input.......:smt024

 

[RollerCoastr]

damage to the check valve. If you still have Attwood sumps, then it will destroy the check valve, and quickly.

 

[gerryb]

too much plastic down there and not enough circulating water. Not a good idea...

 

[Spot]

I poured some vanilla in my sump this past weekend, it sure helped. After pouring it in I filled the sump up with water and let it flush out. Now everyting smells like we are baking cookies.

 

[Spot]

I also added a small plastic cork to me float switch to get it to pump sooner and remove more of the water in that nasty thing.

 

[JVid]

As noted by others, be careful of the chlorine tablet as it could damage the plastic. Our shower drains into the sump box (aka, "nasty" box), so from time to time, I'll pour a little bleach into the shower and will let the water run for a while to flush out the box. So far, it seems to work fine.

 

[The Bill Collector]

OK, the general consensus seems to be damage to plastic stuff....

My only comment is, the tablets have been sitting in a plastic bucket for the last 8 years and it is still in one piece ?

Now the bucket has been dry inside and "nasty box" has of course some water in it always......

So that could be why the plastics would suffer ??

 

[Boulder GT3]

As noted by others, be careful of the chlorine tablet as it could damage the plastic. Our shower drains into the sump box (aka, "nasty" box), so from time to time, I'll pour a little bleach into the shower and will let the water run for a while to flush out the box. So far, it seems to work fine.

I do the same thing. No issues and the sump does seem to stay cleaner. No odor or issues to date.

 

[wish2fish]

I would be cautious of the chlorine gas produced. I placed few 1" tablets in the house sump pump well and the gas caused the carpet nearby to bleach out. Obviously enough chlorine to cause problems.

 

[fc3]

Chlorine embrittles some plastics. Your gamble if the plastics in the box will be affected.

 

[The Bill Collector]

I would be cautious of the chlorine gas produced. I placed few 1" tablets in the house sump pump well and the gas caused the carpet nearby to bleach out. Obviously enough chlorine to cause problems.

"the chlorine gas produced"

Yes, and a 2-3 inch tab would produce quite a bit I'd imagine.....

Thank you all, I think I'll put up with the goop cleaning.

 

[Lazy Daze]

On the plus side, be glad all we have to clean is that sump box - a nice, small, contained unit. A lot of manufacturers don't use something like that, so everything gets dumped into the bilge. Imagine trying to keep that clean! Your whole boat would smell like that box!

At least for the sport cruiser sizes - maybe all manufacturer's use a box once you get to the bigger stuff - not sure.

Isn't chlorine gas fatal?

 

[Skip]

I use a capful of bilge cleaner into the shower drain once or twice a month. Keeps the sump clean and makes end of season sump box service fairly simple.

 

[wish2fish]

I think the clorine bleach is reasonable amount. A capful is the recommendation for A/C condensate pumps on the home HVAC system.

On another chlorine tablet note. I put a 3" tablet in my water tank at the camp and it was difficult to take a shower there was so much chlorine in the water. Made my eyes hurt.

 

[tjbaze]

I found that dumping a 1/2 cup or so of simple green in the drains before I leave the boat for the weekend really keeps the sump cleaner and disolves some of the "goop" that accumulates.

 

[IronMan]

I use one 3" tablet per week in my 10,000 gallon swimming pool. The chlorine levels in the small amount of water would result in extremely high chlorine concentrations. A capful of chlorine poured into the shower drain for a while, followed by a thorough flush for several minutes might be ok. Simple Green or Bilge cleaner might be an even better idea.

 

[JimT]

I'm sure this question has been asked before but I'm fairly new to power boating and new to this board so I'll ask anyway. Why doesn't SR design to pump the water directly overboard from the shower drain? I have spent a lot of time on sailboats and they are designed this way.

 

[quality time]

Be careful not to put too much bilge cleaner in the sump box. I recently replaced my float switch and put (let's just say a little more than a capful...) in the sump box before leaving for the week. Sometime during the week, the plastic float switch cracked and triggered the pump to come on and run for a few days. The "big bully" bilge cleaner is the only variable that was different so I attributed the problem to too much cleaner attacking the plastic.

 

[K-9]

DO NOT !!! it will burn the hell out of rubber and plastic,,fiberglass gets brittle

 

[ShamuToo]

The gas that the chlorine gives off will attach any steel that's even remotely exposed in the engine room. Anybody who's stored pool chlorine in the tool shed will tell you that. I found out the hard way.