This is topic If you like soft drinks, you might not like to see this... in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Carl James Valentine (Member # 2071) on 10-24-2004, 10:48 PM:
 
Tonight, my projectionist helped the concessionist with the soft drink drain because it was slow draining. After pulling out the pipe that the drain empties into, he pulled out this...


No, its not fat of a piece of steak, or any other thing.
All I can figure is that it's Soft Drink residue...
pretty sick
 

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Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 10-24-2004, 11:02 PM:
 
When was the last time your soda machines were serviced?

The heavy content of sugar in soda as well as the carbonation is known to corrode items, I've seen similar. I still drink my coke.
 

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Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 10-24-2004, 11:07 PM:
 
It's carbonated sugar and mineral snot. A small one at that!

It doesn't take long to build one up, depending on your water. Most people don't notice they're even there unless they've got drain problems.
 

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 10-24-2004, 11:20 PM:
 
Not exactly. It's a slimy coating of bacteria and mold that grows on the inside of the drain pipe.

It ain't nothin', though!

When I was a kid, my parents used to own a bar. The "slop tray" under the beer taps had a similar kind of drain but it didn't go down the normal drain. (You'll understand why in a minute.) The drain went to a sump in the basement. The sump pump had a heavy metal screen around the intake. All the beer and slop water drained into the sump before it was pumped out to the sewer.

The yeast and sugar from the beer would start to grow into a slimy film inside the pipes. It would form a layer about 1/16 inch thick on the inside of the 1-1/2 inch dia. PVC pipe.

When the layer got any thicker than 1/16 inch it would start to get too heavy to cling to the walls of the plastic pipes. Gravity would start to pull it down. New slime would grow in its place. The process would repeat until a 20 - 30 foot long "slime snake" would creep its way down the pipe and end up coiled in the bottom of the sump. It was a whitish yellow color and smelled like stale beer!

If the drains went directly to the sewer they would quickly clog up the main drain line with this slimy, yeasty mess. The screen on the intake kept the slime snake from getting into the pump and gumming up the works.

After 2 - 3 months of building up, the slime snake would fill the bottom of the sump and clog the intake screen. Somebody would have to go down to the basement and clean out the sump with a shovel. Guess who got that job!?

We finally got sick of the clogged sump and plumbing so we decided to try to nip the problem in the bud. Every night, at closing, we would pour hot water and clorine bleach down the drains to kill whatever was growing down there. It didn't stop the problem all together but it certainly slowed it down enough to where the slime growth wasn't such a problem.

I suggest you do a similar thing every night at closing. Even if you don't stop the problem completely you should at least keep it down to a manageable level.
 

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Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 10-24-2004, 11:24 PM:
 
Most Pepsi reps will recommend warm water and bleach to manage it, too.

I've yet to find a Coke rep that will recommend it, except for one who said they heard about it from a Pepsi rep.
 

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Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 10-25-2004, 12:21 AM:
 
I've pulled similar residue out of the drain hoses coming out of my ice bins. One of the drains will back up and all the melted ice will stand in the ice bin. It happens maybe once a month. I pull the hoses out and clean them as much as possible. I recommend creating some type of tool for cleaning out the hoses. I created one out of an unfolded coathanger.
 

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Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 10-25-2004, 12:39 AM:
 
Blasting the stuff out by jaming the end of a hose in the tube is more fun (and faster), if you can remove the tube, and a hose will fit in it.

A hose fitting will fit into a tube used on a standard sized drain of an ice box.
 

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Posted by David Yauch (Member # 2754) on 10-25-2004, 04:10 AM:
 
The biggest slime snake I have ever seen was pulled out a drain for an ice bin. I was trying to unclog the drain so the water would drain from the bin and noticed a slimy gel coming out of the end of the pipe. I put it in a cup but couldn't get anyone to eat it. An air compressor works well for getting all sorts of drain clogs out.
 

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Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 10-25-2004, 11:59 AM:
 
Agggh, a slime snake..

I'd recommend warm water nightly to help keep down this occurence. I dont' know that you'll ever eliminate it completely.

If you have black felx hose under your ice bin (past the elbow at the bottom of the bin) you can always bend down on your knees, reach up under and 'massage' the hose from the elbow to the drain to help 'coax' out any of the nasty buildup. At the same time, I'd pull the drain tube off the elbow and take it to the mop sink and flush well with hot water.

I periodically use an enzyme based digester to combat this problem. This works well and it also smells decent.
 

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Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 10-25-2004, 12:02 PM:
 
I think it's a Canadian Condom.
 

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Posted by Shane Hoffmann (Member # 1620) on 10-25-2004, 06:23 PM:
 

quote: Daryl C. W. O'Shea

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I've yet to find a Coke rep that will recommend it, except for one who said they heard about it from a Pepsi rep.

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