stainless steel water tank split ?? advice please

[Forest Gump]

Can anyone advise....

 

4 weeks with our new boat ( a 5 year old Amber boat) we have discovered a split in the water tank ?? I say a split it could be a pin hole or a break in the weld or absolutely any minute hole causing a small flow of water down the boat - the access to the tank is via an up and over letter box in the top step - so armed with torches and lights we have concluded the tank has failed....As we live aboard we feel the need to fix sooner rather than later - and whilst not diy enthusiasts we have to face the reality of doing much of the hard work ourselves... The case in point is - to get the tank out the way it went in - would involve talking away the cupboard the original owners paid extra for - removing the steps along with the pump / and lovely lights contained within said steps and worse of all the raised Amber style wood burner and the tiles which we now believe to be obsolete stock so any breaks and its a mosiac refit or all the tiles in that area have to come out.........I have thought of another option - taking out the front deck - either in a small piece and replacing or relining said tank with some form of durable plastic and that would then stop this happening again and if it did we could get in.... or removing more of the deck to either get the tank out to repair or repair in situ.....Having read many threads on these ss tanks - I wish we had the old boat and its integral tank whatever the hygiene of it all is??

I would be thrilled to hear thoughts of others on the cut....

 

the gumpmeister

[Guest]

Can anyone advise....

 

4 weeks with our new boat ( a 5 year old Amber boat) we have discovered a split in the water tank ?? I say a split it could be a pin hole or a break in the weld or absolutely any minute hole causing a small flow of water down the boat - the access to the tank is via an up and over letter box in the top step - so armed with torches and lights we have concluded the tank has failed....As we live aboard we feel the need to fix sooner rather than later - and whilst not diy enthusiasts we have to face the reality of doing much of the hard work ourselves... The case in point is - to get the tank out the way it went in - would involve talking away the cupboard the original owners paid extra for - removing the steps along with the pump / and lovely lights contained within said steps and worse of all the raised Amber style wood burner and the tiles which we now believe to be obsolete stock so any breaks and its a mosiac refit or all the tiles in that area have to come out.........I have thought of another option - taking out the front deck - either in a small piece and replacing or relining said tank with some form of durable plastic and that would then stop this happening again and if it did we could get in.... or removing more of the deck to either get the tank out to repair or repair in situ.....Having read many threads on these ss tanks - I wish we had the old boat and its integral tank whatever the hygiene of it all is??

I would be thrilled to hear thoughts of others on the cut....

 

the gumpmeister

 

Ange 'n' Dave on here is who need - these tanks can be 'lined' with plastic liners and I think they have done that with theirs.

[blackrose]

Why do you assume it's a failed tank rather than simply a failed plumbing joint?

 

Check the outlet from the tank first and then work your way down the freshwater pipes from the bow checking each joint until you're sure you've gone past the leak. What type and make of plumbing is it? If it's plastic pipe learn how it fits together and make sure each joint is properly attached.

 

Check the water tank breather. You may have overfilled the tank and the breather has leaked from the top of the tank back into the boat, rather than onto the deck outside.

 

Check the water pump for leaks if it's near the bow.

 

Lastly check for any areas where rain water may be leaking in from the deck area above the water tank.

 

Once you've done all this then you might have cause to suspect a faulty tank.

Edited August 10, 2012 by blackrose

[Ex- Member]

Exactly as blackrose has suggested, I would bet it's a pipe or joint and thoroughly check that out first.

 

Also you can find a leak sometimes by disconnecting the feed pipe from the SS tank at the pump end, drain water first then block any breather hole on the tank, then force air into the tank (not too high pressure) a small leak should hiss and it might be possible to locate it by sound or feel. If you can't find a breather pipe that would probably hiss too so you can locate it and seal it to find the main leak.

Edited August 10, 2012 by Julynian

[bridge100]

My stainless tank had a 2ins crack where the filler tube joined the tank.

I cleaned the area and applied JB Weld in two thinish layers then quite a wedge to give it strength.

It is still ok after 4 yrs

[The Bagdad Boatman (waits)]

Have you a cleaning/inspection hatch on the top? need to repair from the inside.

[PhilR]

Have you a cleaning/inspection hatch on the top? need to repair from the inside.

 

Milliput usually works well for most repairs and can be applied to the outside of the tank, even if the tank surface is wet. But it sounds like the OP's first problem will be finding where the leak is.

[Ange]

Ange 'n' Dave on here is who need - these tanks can be 'lined' with plastic liners and I think they have done that with theirs.

 

Very close Martin - but we didn't line the tank but replaced it with a plastic tank.

 

Dave couldn't locate the source of the leak so decided on the drastic option - he cut the stainless steel tank up with an angle grinder using a snorkle to breathe through the old water filler inlet. Then we commissioned a new plastic water tank to take it's place - Dave built the struts and we ended up with a massive usable space under our front deck because the new water tank fits very neatly into the bow whereas the old rectangular jobbie sat in the middle of the whole space and left no room for anything else.

 

It was a hard job cutting the thing out and I hated every minute sat in the boat while Dave was in that confined space with sparks shooting out and the occasional grinder melting down ... but it was worth it.

 

We understand that stainless steel tanks fill and flex so many times then give up. Trying to find where they've given up can be very hard.

 

ETA that this was work in progress when we moved aboard - we lived on the boat for several months with no water tank - just big water containers that we wheeled along the towpath every day!

Edited August 11, 2012 by Ange

[blackrose]

I think a stainless tank would have to be poorly made in the first place to crack due to flexing. Possibly some aren't made very well and that's what happens.

 

A friend of mine with a stainless tank had filled it up and then left the boat one winter just before a big freeze. When he came back to the boat he had a shower, did the washing up, etc, and then he heard a big bang from the tank. The water in the breather pipe had frozen and when he ran the taps he'd created a vacuum in the tank which eventually popped. The tank was ok and I think the vacuum just forced the ice into the tank, but it could have easily ruptured a plastic joint.

Edited August 11, 2012 by blackrose

[Forest Gump]

thanks to those who replied....

 

the tank is deffo leaking - as to exactly why - would indeed involve taking the tank out - we did think at first the water tank filler was top blame and we also suspected the breather - but these areas have been checked. The pump is accessible and the pipe works all visible but these tanks were an extra and are fitted in from the front bulk head and wedged in place with blocks of mastic'd wood and sprayfoam....When we topped up the tank yesterday after allowing the discovered wet areas to dry - the trickle came from the port side and once a 5 minute drain on the tank via the taps the flow seemed to stop, suggesting the break is in the top weld, although we are still absorbing water with the good old fashioned nappies.......We cannot see the split - we would not be able to see the split without taking the tank out - but there is one there and we feel we should remedy it........Of course we might be suspicious that when we bought the boat - the water tanks had been drained - weird for May_- the boat had condensation issues on the tumbledown side (which we have since had remedy with new boards and thicker insulation and there is an almighty lash up on the water outlet - in that a 5mm gas pipe has been used to feed the pump - this smells of a weird fix but its irrelevant as to the possible cause - the fact remains there is some kind of failure....I have just seen a mate of mine who also has an amber boat and he didn't have the SS extra tank - his water tank is the entire bow - so I wonder if thats an option - cos if it is - that's what I think we will do!!

Thanks for all the thoughts

the gumpmeister

[blackrose]

Presumably, to use the bow as an integral tank you'd need a bulkhead welded in to create a separate area for the tank. Personally I'd get the old tank out and get it repaired, or fit a new one.

[onionbargee]

what ever you do remember a S/S tank is one very expensive bit of chandlry. Always worth repairing, never worth binning.

[Guest]

Very close Martin - but we didn't line the tank but replaced it with a plastic tank.

 

False memory on my part - apols.

[Ange]

I think a stainless tank would have to be poorly made in the first place to crack due to flexing. Possibly some aren't made very well and that's what happens.

 

 

Our boat is over 20 years old. It was a very good build but even in the best of builds things like this fail after 20 odd years. Nothing on our boat was poorly made.

 

 

False memory on my part - apols.

 

No apols necessary