Plastimo water tank - how does it work?!

[YSA]

Hi all

 

I've just bought myself a flexible water tank as the lovely guy who sold me the boat lied about my water tank capacity, and I'm running out very quickly after filling it up!

 

I'm confused about the inlet and outlet on the tank though - I'm going to be storing mine flat under my sofa but that means that the outlet pipe will be facing down and I'm confused as to how to get the water our when i want access to it (I threw the box away before putting everything together). Watching youtube videos hasnt helped...

 

Any help appreciated!

[rusty69]

IIRC, the output is beneath and the filler on top of these tanks.We had a couple on the sail boat for a while. Be aware the 'o' ring must be seated correctly or it will leak. They also go brittle after a few years, and tend to leak, and are very difficult to clean. 

 

How you get the water out usually involves 15mm flexible pipe and a jubilee clip onto the coupling you screw to the tank. It is then simply pumped out as you would any other tank. 

 

You should have two of these with 'o' rings :

 

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by rusty69

[MtB]

3 minutes ago, YSA said:

I've just bought myself a flexible water tank as the lovely guy who sold me the boat lied about my water tank capacity, and I'm running out very quickly after filling it up!

 

Blokes, eh? always lying about something or other.

 

Sadly I'm inclined to wonder if you needed a new tank at all. What is wrong with your existing, built in tank?

 

 

 

 

[magnetman]

The plastimo flexible tanks come in two parts. One assumes the OP has both parts but it is possible they only have the liner part.

 

https://www.marinescene.co.uk/en/product/plastimo-replacement-inner-bladder-for-flexible-water-tank-50l?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz4GEr7OB_AIVZ4BQBh0w0APtEAQYAyABEgKwI_D_BwE

 

I've never used one but I imagine the idea is to build a wooden frame on which the tank sits and allow a few inches of room underneath to attach pipes.

Edited December 17, 2022 by magnetman

[rusty69]

5 minutes ago, magnetman said:

The plastimo flexible tanks come in two parts. One assumes the OP has both parts but it is possible they only have the liner part.

 

https://www.marinescene.co.uk/en/product/plastimo-replacement-inner-bladder-for-flexible-water-tank-50l?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz4GEr7OB_AIVZ4BQBh0w0APtEAQYAyABEgKwI_D_BwE

 

I've never used one but I imagine the idea is to build a wooden frame on which the tank sits and allow a few inches of room underneath to attach pipes.

Yes. There is a tank and a tank jacket. The tank gets inserted into one of the open corners of the jacket by rolling it up, and then unrolling it inside the jacket and lining the holes up. 

 

We never bothered with any kind of frame, it sat straight on the hull. 

[rusty69]

You obviously attach the connectors when the tank is empty. Put the bottom one in when it is upside down if there is enough room. It makes it easier to align the 'o' ring. 

 

Oh, and be careful the jubilee clip can't puncture the bladder. 

 

FWIW, we ditched the flexi tanks after about three years due to leaks and bought something similar to this. Much easier to clean and more sturdy. 

 

How big is your existing tank though? 

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by rusty69

[YSA]

I've attached the connectors already! Didn't realise I'd need anything else to add on to it though...I'll add that to my list of things to do 😅

[rusty69]

44 minutes ago, YSA said:

I've attached the connectors already! Didn't realise I'd need anything else to add on to it though...I'll add that to my list of things to do 😅

Only the pipe work and jubilee clips. 

 

This is the kind of hose you want, depending on how you intend to connect into your existing pipework. I think it's 15mm for the bottom connection. It maybe bigger on the filler. Measure both. You ideally want drinking water (potable) hose. Loads on ebay, usually for caravans. 

Edited December 17, 2022 by rusty69

[LadyG]

Interesting, where is the current tank? How do you know how big it is?

Are you sure it's not leaking? Are you being reasonably economical?

Having recently run out myself , I put it down to doing a lot of hand washing 

btw, having only a five litre water container, I have found this is about half the absolute minimum volume required per day if one wants to wash dishes and oneself.

I'm guessing someone has better knowledge than me.

Edited December 17, 2022 by LadyG

[magnetman]

That is a very good point.

It is possible that people who are not used to taking water from a small tank (new to boating?) are unaware of their water consumption.

Obviously this might not be the case with the OP but I'm sure it is incredibly common for people just not to realise what a huge amount of water they use in day to day life.

Good argument for having portable containers as it helps you keep in touch with reality.

It is important not to think that a boat not connected to mains supplies is going to be in any way similar to living in a house or apartment.

It is a completely different ball game.

 

 

[rusty69]

It's only when you carry your daily requirement of water that you realise how damn heavy the stuff is too. 

[magnetman]

8 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

It's only when you carry your daily requirement of water that you realise how damn heavy the stuff is too. 

 

Black builders' buckets. I don't know why Wickes did the racial profiling and I am neither black not a builder but yes 15 litres of water is quite heavy and doesn't last long.

£8.10 for 8 buckets. I don't know how they calculated the 10p. This was before all the inflation issues.

[blackrose]

I'm skeptical about flexible tanks. About 15 years ago I was outside my boat when a neighbour threw open his side hatch and poked his head out of the boat. He had a look on his face which I can only describe as something between terror and shock. He had been filling up his massive flexible water tanks which were located in his bilges when he suddenly heard a big bang! 

Edited December 17, 2022 by blackrose

[rusty69]

14 minutes ago, magnetman said:

 

Black builders' buckets. I don't know why Wickes did the racial profiling and I am neither black not a builder but yes 15 litres of water is quite heavy and doesn't last long.

£8.10 for 8 buckets. I don't know how they calculated the 10p. This was before all the inflation issues.

15 litres of water generally weighs 15kg. That is, of course, unless it is heavy water. Heavy water is much heavier,and when it turns to ice is also rather slippery. 

9 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I'm skeptical about flexible tanks. About 15 years ago I was outside my boat when a neighbour threw open his side hatch and poked his head out of the boat. He had a look on his face which I can only describe as something between terror and shock. He had been filling up his massive flexible water tanks which were located in his bilges when he suddenly heard a big bang! 

Hovercraft tanks used to be good.

 

I don't know if water was produced in the big bang. 

Edited December 17, 2022 by rusty69

[magnetman]

I use fresh water.

1 minute ago, rusty69 said:

16 litres of water generally weighs 15kg. That is, of course, unless it is heavy water. Heavy water is much heavier,and when it turns to ice is also rather slippery. 

 

[ditchcrawler]

35 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I use fresh water.

 

 

35 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I use fresh water.

 

I always thought a litre of water weighed a 1Kg

[Alan de Enfield]

51 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

 

I always thought a litre of water weighed a 1Kg

 

For pure water it is aproximately 1kg at 21°C

[MtB]

8 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

 

I always thought a litre of water weighed a 1Kg

 

Depends where you are. On the moon it weighs a lot less. 

 

1 litre of water has a mass of 1kg. 

[Murflynn]

18 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Depends where you are. On the moon it weighs a lot less. 

 

1 litre of water has a mass of 1kg. 

 

at  STP of course.   nice to see someone using scientific dimensions properly.   pedants' delight.

[rusty69]

30 minutes ago, Murflynn said:

 

at  STP of course.   nice to see someone using scientific dimensions properly.   pedants' delight.

At..... 

51 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Depends where you are. On the moon it weighs a lot less. 

 

1 litre of water has a mass of 1kg. 

How much it weigh then? 

[MtB]

10 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

At..... 

How much it weigh then? 

 

Approx one sixth of a kg, IIRC.

 

 

 

42 minutes ago, Murflynn said:

 

at  STP of course.   nice to see someone using scientific dimensions properly.   pedants' delight.

 

Lol you missed the glaring error in my post that any self-respecting pedant should have picked me up on!! 

 

 

But yes, dimensional analysis is a discipline all of its own, innit! 

[rusty69]

2 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Approx one sixth of a kg, IIRC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's a very light moon. 

[MtB]

Just now, rusty69 said:

That's a very light moon. 

 

Is it? 

 

I've never tried to assess its brightness.

[magnetman]

10 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

 

I always thought a litre of water weighed a 1Kg

Salt water weighs more than 1kg per litre.

 

Rusty has a boat on the sea.

 

15 litres of sea water would be approximately 15.5kg. Maybe his has a bit of sediment in it.

Edited December 18, 2022 by magnetman

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Depends where you are. On the moon it weighs a lot less. 

 

1 litre of water has a mass of 1kg. 

Thank you for putting me straight, so how deep a mine would I need to be in for 15Lts of water to weigh 16 Kg 

44 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Salt water weighs more than 1kg per litre.

 

Rusty has a boat on the sea.

 

15 litres of sea water would be approximately 15.5kg. Maybe his has a bit of sediment in it.

Does he fill his pottable water tank with sea water