Water tank sealant

[Damo]

Hi,

 

I feel sure this must have been covered somewhere but after fighting with the Search function I've come up with nothing!

 

I've just wire brushed, vactan'd, and blacked our fresh water tank and need to renew the seal for the lid. What method do you recommend? It looks as if the previous occupant used a silicon-type bathroom sealant but I also noticed that our local chandlers have rolls of weed-hatch tape. The latter struck me as a tidier option for future lid removal but will it keep the rainwater out effectively?

 

Thanks

Damo

[bottle]

Well, lets think about it.

 

It keeps the water out of the boat when the prop is revolving so, my guess is it will keep the rain out if fitted well with no gaps.

[RLWP]

our local chandlers have rolls of weed-hatch tape.

 

Damo

 

That's what we use.

 

Richard

Edited August 12, 2009 by RLWP

[blackrose]

Hi,

 

I feel sure this must have been covered somewhere but after fighting with the Search function I've come up with nothing!

 

I've just wire brushed, vactan'd, and blacked our fresh water tank and need to renew the seal for the lid. What method do you recommend? It looks as if the previous occupant used a silicon-type bathroom sealant but I also noticed that our local chandlers have rolls of weed-hatch tape. The latter struck me as a tidier option for future lid removal but will it keep the rainwater out effectively?

 

Thanks

Damo

 

I'd rather use silicone or a PU sealant. The weedhatch stuff is too thick and would mean my water tank lid would be sticking up a few mm above the deck. Also any screw holes going through the tape wouldn't be sealed.

[RLWP]

I'd rather use silicone or a PU sealant. The weedhatch stuff is too thick and would mean my water tank lid would be sticking up a few mm above the deck. Also any screw holes going through the tape wouldn't be sealed.

 

Ours is recessed for the seal, and as you squash the seal it seals the threads as well

 

Richard

[Damo]

Well, lets think about it.

 

It keeps the water out of the boat when the prop is revolving so, my guess is it will keep the rain out if fitted well with no gaps.

 

Well, that did seem reasonable logic to me but I thought I'd put the question out there just in case a seasoned boater (unlike myself) responded with "Oh my god! You should never use weed hatch tape because..."

[alan_fincher]

Not sure......

 

A little ingress of water around a weedhatch is really neither here no there, but if your front deck gets covered in sh*t from the towpath, you really do not want a drop getting into your fresh water tank when it rains, do you ?

 

As well as the screw/bolt holes you will have 45 degree cut joints at each corner, so you will need to make those very carefully.

 

Personally I bedded on to one of the Sikaflex mastic products, rather than a "tape", reasoning that the bead is truly continuous, and that screw threads are then known to be sealed.

 

But the tape is probably OK if you are very careful to leave no possible gaps.

[RLWP]

As well as the screw/bolt holes you will have 45 degree cut joints at each corner, so you will need to make those very carefully.

 

That's a hard way of doing it. Butt joints work fine. Again, remeber that the seal squashes sideways as you tighten the bolts up, filling any gaps you have left. They won't be very big.

 

Richard

[bottle]

Well, that did seem reasonable logic to me but I thought I'd put the question out there just in case a seasoned boater (unlike myself) responded with "Oh my god! You should never use weed hatch tape because..."

 

Hi Damo

 

Yes it was tongue in cheek answer and as you have seen there are always at least two different answers.

[Damo]

Hi Damo

 

Yes it was tongue in cheek answer and as you have seen there are always at least two different answers.

 

 

LOL - your answer did make me laugh! And, yes, I can see that there are differing opinions on the method to use - I've gone with the weed hatch tape option but thanks all for the advice!

[blackrose]

Ours is recessed for the seal, and as you squash the seal it seals the threads as well

 

Richard

 

Or at least that's the theory - but how would one know? If you mastic the threads you know they're sealed.

[RLWP]

Or at least that's the theory - but how would one know? If you mastic the threads you know they're sealed.

You also know you have a lid that's glued down that will be a sod to remove and clean up next time. I'm happy with the tape.

 

Richard

[the grinch]

i've always used denso tape. sticky, smelly, need gloves to stop it getting on your hands but it is watertight when compressed between 2 bits of steel. and water doesn't even come out of the tank when over filled!