Sherrylynne
New Member
We just had a new water efficient toilet installed. Is it safe or OK to continue to use the deodorizer/cleaning pucks in these models? Thanks!
Toilet cleaning Pucks
- Thread starter Sherrylynne
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Which pucks are you talking about? A chlorine tablet that you drop into the tank? Chlorine will affect the life of rubber parts, but that would have also been true on your older toilet.
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Gary Swart
In the Trades
Every toilet manufacturer warns against using chemical tablets in their tanks.
WJcandee
Wise One
If you do it, you probably will need to replace the flapper or other seals on the flush valve once a year or so, which is much more often than usual. That's the major effect of using them. If you are DIY-handy, replacing them isn't a huge deal or expense, but paying a plumber $90 or more to come out and do it when the toilet starts "running" starts to make it price-prohibitive. Korky replacement parts, if available for your model, can be had in Chlorozone, which is a rubber material that resists (but does not prevent) chlorine breakdown of the parts.
Importantly, the puck just keeps "melting" between flushes, so the concentration of chlorine in the tank just keeps rising as time elapses. It can be low-ish if the toilet is flushed hourly, or very, very high, if the toilet isn't flushed for several days. That's why the instructions say not to use it on a toilet that you don't plan to flush at least daily. Leave it in a vacation house for a month or so without flushing, and you stand a good chance of returning to a toilet in which the flapper has degraded enough in the high chlorine concentration to cause the toilet to run incessantly.
Importantly, the puck just keeps "melting" between flushes, so the concentration of chlorine in the tank just keeps rising as time elapses. It can be low-ish if the toilet is flushed hourly, or very, very high, if the toilet isn't flushed for several days. That's why the instructions say not to use it on a toilet that you don't plan to flush at least daily. Leave it in a vacation house for a month or so without flushing, and you stand a good chance of returning to a toilet in which the flapper has degraded enough in the high chlorine concentration to cause the toilet to run incessantly.
I have a friend that uses a large slow chlorine tablet,maybe 3 inches diameter and made for pools, in his tank, knowing that is against recommendations. I think he said he gets a few years out of a flapper. I am thinking he said the tablet lasts a month or so.
Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Various rubber components are made with different synthetic rubbers, but none of them work great long-term in high chlorine concentrations. It's not only the rubber, but the plastics that can degrade. They tend to get brittle...may not fail unless something gets bumped, then could snap off.
What potentially works better, longer, is the one that is inserted in the hose to the overflow tube. That only adds chlorine during refill, and then, only into the bowl, not the tank.
What potentially works better, longer, is the one that is inserted in the hose to the overflow tube. That only adds chlorine during refill, and then, only into the bowl, not the tank.
Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Various rubber components are made with different synthetic rubbers, but none of them work great long-term in high chlorine concentrations. It's not only the rubber, but the plastics that can degrade. They tend to get brittle...may not fail unless something gets bumped, then could snap off.
What potentially works better, longer, is the one that is inserted in the hose to the overflow tube. That only adds chlorine during refill, and then, only into the bowl, not the tank.
What potentially works better, longer, is the one that is inserted in the hose to the overflow tube. That only adds chlorine during refill, and then, only into the bowl, not the tank.
WJcandee
Wise One
If you think about it, the pucks are actually much more effective keeping the tank clean than the bowl. You flush, the chlorinated water runs into the bowl and down the drain. Now the bowl refills with fresh, clean water, and what very small amount of the flush water that didn't go down the drain is now diluted with all of the bowl refill water. The system Jim describes does the reverse -- fill the bowl with chlorinated water.
If I had a pet or small children, I wouldn't use either product, lest a tragedy occur from drinking or falling into the chlorinated toilet water.
If I had a pet or small children, I wouldn't use either product, lest a tragedy occur from drinking or falling into the chlorinated toilet water.
Kaboom and Fluidmaster make the gadgets that go in series with the bowl refill hose. If you enter Fluidmaster Kaboom in the search box at the top, you will find some prior discussions. The chlorine bleach cartridges work better than the Biobalance and Cleaning versions. Water efficient toilets have the fill valve provide just enough water to fill the bowl, so adding a little back pressure could cause the refill to be insufficient. I wonder if a replacement fill valve with adjustable refill amount could compensate and still let the bowl fill to its proper level after a flush.
The refill ratio on my Toto toilet is such that when I replaced the fill valve with the Korky MP, the valve in the refill tube needed to be almost wide open to refill the bowl to its design level. So if the bleach cartridge offers much restriction, there is very little adjustment room, and the bowl refill would be short. Maybe someone could work out a cartridge design that would result in the exact same flow as the unrestricted tube.
Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Not having taken on of those cartridges apart, I have no way to know if the water just flows across the top without restriction, or it flows through granular material like a coarse filter. It may or ay not offer any restriction. Maybe a query to the manufacturer would help. Personally, I think they are more trouble than they are worth. Even with something like that, the toilet needs to be cleaned periodically.
Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Not having taken on of those cartridges apart, I have no way to know if the water just flows across the top without restriction, or it flows through granular material like a coarse filter. It may or ay not offer any restriction. Maybe a query to the manufacturer would help. Personally, I think they are more trouble than they are worth. Even with something like that, the toilet needs to be cleaned periodically.
I have taken Fluidmaster and Kaboom cartridges apart.
I have taken Fluidmaster and Kaboom cartridges apart (for Jim
)
If I remember correctly, there is a cylinder of material. The Fluidmaster is harder to open to reload with cheap pool pellets, but it can be done.
I don't know how much flow resistance there is. I never reinstalled the unit in the bathroom where I installed the lower flow toilet. I would bet that the drop is low. The systems seem like they should have low resistance, but the toilet makers may have left zero margin. So would the water fill 1/4 inch less? I don't know.
I have taken Fluidmaster and Kaboom cartridges apart (for Jim
)If I remember correctly, there is a cylinder of material. The Fluidmaster is harder to open to reload with cheap pool pellets, but it can be done.
I don't know how much flow resistance there is. I never reinstalled the unit in the bathroom where I installed the lower flow toilet. I would bet that the drop is low. The systems seem like they should have low resistance, but the toilet makers may have left zero margin. So would the water fill 1/4 inch less? I don't know.
Gary Swart
In the Trades
We don't use any of that stuff. We use a liquid bowl cleaner occasionally and let it set for awhile. A quick brushing and a flush and the bowl is clean and fresh. Both toilets are Toto without Sanigloss.
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