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leaking water tank


jenevers

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Had a leak, applied epoxy putty, put tank under air pressure, applied soapy water where leak had been, no bubbles ?. Put some water in and ....damp patch next morning?. I assumed that air is thinner than water so how come water gets through where air doesn't?

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8 minutes ago, jenevers said:

Had a leak, applied epoxy putty, put tank under air pressure, applied soapy water where leak had been, no bubbles ?. Put some water in and ....damp patch next morning?. I assumed that air is thinner than water so how come water gets through where air doesn't?

 

Could there have been two leaks in close proximity, only one of which was repaired?

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25 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

Could there have been two leaks in close proximity, only one of which was repaired?

No the leak is where I patched and although there were no air bubbles under pressure there was a damp patch next morning. Weird.

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I assume you have repaired the leak from the inside.

 

I would remove the putty, clean the location really well, then apply some neat epoxy resin to act as a primer, and when it is touch dry apply some epoxy thickened with microfibres filler to 'peanut butter' viscosity, apply gentle heat until the filler is rock hard  ...........   job's a good'un.

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1 hour ago, Neil2 said:

I'm curious as to how you pressurised the tank?  How big is it and what is it made out of?

Sealed the inlet and breather, disconnected the pipe after the on/off tap and blew it up. 700 litres, stainless steel.

1 hour ago, Murflynn said:

I assume you have repaired the leak from the inside.

 

I would remove the putty, clean the location really well, then apply some neat epoxy resin to act as a primer, and when it is touch dry apply some epoxy thickened with microfibres filler to 'peanut butter' viscosity, apply gentle heat until the filler is rock hard  ...........   job's a good'un.

No, from the outside. Tank doesn’t have an access door.

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Strange that a steel water tank doesn't have an access hatch.   So you can never inspect it or scrub it clean.

 

 I wouldn't expect any external epoxy repair to be able to withstand water pressure.   Needs welding IMHO.

Edited by Murflynn
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We have a plastic tank, its a window cleaners tank with a big access lid and after more than 10 years there is just a tiny bit of sand in it, never needed cleaning. We had a steel tank on a previous boat and after 4 years it had horrible sludge and crud in it. I would bin the steel tank especially as it is corroded anyway.

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35 minutes ago, Bee said:

We have a plastic tank, its a window cleaners tank with a big access lid and after more than 10 years there is just a tiny bit of sand in it, never needed cleaning. We had a steel tank on a previous boat and after 4 years it had horrible sludge and crud in it. I would bin the steel tank especially as it is corroded anyway.

OP says it's stainless so more likely a weld seam defect.

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4 hours ago, Bee said:

We have a plastic tank, its a window cleaners tank with a big access lid and after more than 10 years there is just a tiny bit of sand in it, never needed cleaning. We had a steel tank on a previous boat and after 4 years it had horrible sludge and crud in it. I would bin the steel tank especially as it is corroded anyway.

Interesting. How big is it?

 

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5 hours ago, Murflynn said:

OP says it's stainless so more likely a weld seam defect.

Many years ago a fabricator told me that stainless steel needs to be pickled and passivated following welding. I have no idea if this is true or what it means. He did claim that welded stainless seams could give problems if not treated thus.

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I was surprised at the colour of the water that I drained from the tank when I totally emptied it. It was like tomato soup. Tank is about 15 years old. Looks like it's rusting which I've just confirmed on YouTube does happen even to stainless steel, if not passivated / pickled.

 

Edited by jenevers
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