Water tank blues

[tjr818]

...the kind that they will only sell if you are over 18 and contains tolulene. I am not so sure about how food-safe it is, but....-Steve Bernd

So how are you feeling these days

When we were kids my Dad used to bring that home by the bucketful. He used it to degrease car parts. We used it for cleaning up old bicycle gears and chains. I can still remember how our hands would buzz with numbness after a long session of cleaning. Yikes Stuff we didn't know then.

[Jim Walsh]

West actually has four specific G/flex products. I emailed them for confirmation of which specific product is best for a potable water supply.
Thanks for the tip.

Here is the response I received today;

Hello James,

Usually G/flex would work for repairing HDPE, but it does not have any sort of approval rating (NSF or otherwise) for use in potable water tank applications. Sorry.

So it appears G/flex is out.

[Maine_Buzzard]

I have repaired the vent on the holding tank by removing the failed fitting and drilling a hole around any remaining material, leaving a flush surface. I then used a through hull fitting of an appropriate size and then an adapter to get back to the 1/2" hose diameter.

The water tank provides an opening large enough to get the fitting in from the outside.

If you tell me the hose size, tank wall thickness and hole ID, I can turn up a piece of acetal rod with a thread much like the bronze one here and send it your way. I think I have 1" and maybe 1.5" rod stock.



This became the vent for the antisiphon loop fitting, located near the exhaust port.

Grandpa's 1937 South Bend 9



I love turning bronze, but need a way to passivate it afterwards. The tooling leaves iron residue which rusts and stains.

[Jim Walsh]

I have repaired the vent on the holding tank by removing the failed fitting and drilling a hole around any remaining material, leaving a flush surface. I then used a through hull fitting of an appropriate size and then an adapter to get back to the 1/2" hose diameter.

The water tank provides an opening large enough to get the fitting in from the outside.

If you tell me the hose size, tank wall thickness and hole ID, I can turn up a piece of acetal rod with a thread much like the bronze one here and send it your way. I think I have 1" and maybe 1.5" rod stock.


This became the vent for the antisiphon loop fitting, located near the exhaust port.


I love turning bronze, but need a way to passivate it afterwards. The tooling leaves iron residue which rusts and stains.

Sounds like a neat permanent fix. In a few days I'll be pulling the tank and I can provide the dimensions. The access panel CD provided is just enough to reach in and tighten the hose clamps on the fill and vent hoses. The tank sits under an extension bearth so I've got a little dismantling to do.

[Jim Walsh]

My choice of repair method was dictated by a close inspection of the cracked vent fitting once I had removed the extension berth to fully expose the water tank. I decided not to take advantage of Maine Buzzard's generous offer to fabricate a fitting as the fitting on the tank was only cracked over 1/2 of its circumference. I used G/flex instead. The amount of epoxy in contact with the water is minute. I flexed the crack slightly to butter the crack and filleted the existing fitting to the surface of the tank. It may not be pretty but it should last forever.
The interesting part of this project was when I removed the extension berth to expose the tank. Somebody at Cape Dory realized that once it was all buttoned up the boss (or quality control) would never see that no attempt had been made to remove sawdust, wood scraps, or errant screws. You would have thought that after 31 years the sawdust would have eventually found its way into the bilge but a surprising amount just sat undisturbed in its original state.
I also found the manufacturers tank identification sticker which states 30 gallons, whereas the tank only holds 23 gallons.
It's nice to have the tank repaired and everything put back in order

[Steve Laume]

Vacuuming up all the saw dust in the nooks and crannies will help to keep your boat sweet. All of that stuff collects moisture and odors. I also painted the undersides of the plywood that goes over the tanks and anywhere else I found untreated wood. It is pretty easy to unscrew the plywood for the berths and give them a fresh coat of paint on all sides.

I don't think you will ever suffer from G-Flex poisoning.

Glad it was an easy fix, Steve.

[Keith]

I have a patch in my holding tank in the v-berth done by a PO that is not holding up very well and I need to fix it. Is the holding tank material the same as the the water tanks? Sounds like the G-Flex might be the ticket. Comment please

PS I said that I would not bother to check the actual capacity of the 30 gallon water tanks but I did check one of them and I was able to stuff in only 25 gallons. So when is 30 gallons not 30 gallons? It seems with all Cape Dory's. MOON DANCE is a 1979 30C

[Jim Walsh]

I have a patch in my holding tank in the v-berth done by a PO that is not holding up very well and I need to fix it. Is the holding tank material the same as the the water tanks? Sounds like the G-Flex might be the ticket. Comment please

PS I said that I would not bother to check the actual capacity of the 30 gallon water tanks but I did check one of them and I was able to stuff in only 25 gallons. So when is 30 gallons not 30 gallons? It seems with all Cape Dory's. MOON DANCE is a 1979 30C

I don't know what material the holding tank is made of in the CD30. My holding tank is fiberglass and is incorporated in the aft section of the keel in the bilge.
It's always good to know the actual capacity of your water tanks. Here's a photo of the identification sticker on my starboard water tank. CD took Kracor's word on the capacity which is off by 7 gallons. The actual capacity is 23 gallons. You would think a tank manufacturer would be a bit more accurate.

[Keith]

I have the same sticker on both port and starboard tanks

[John Stone]

Jim
I would have recommended you try G-Flex but I see you have already used it. Pretty good stuff I think. I have used it for a number of projects. West Systems has an interesting video where a couple of their employees bought a plastic kayak, sawed it in half, and used GFlex to glue the two halfs back together. They then tried to break it but were unsuccessful. As I recal they tobogganed down gravel pits with it and threw it off a highway overpass. Pretty convincing. I'd be interested to hear how your repair holds up.

[Jim Walsh]

As I recal they tobogganed down gravel pits with it and threw it off a highway overpass. Pretty convincing. I'd be interested to hear how your repair holds up.

Sorry John, I have no intention of using ORION to toboggan in gravel pits or throwing her off an overpass

[John Stone]

You did just sail to Bermuda and back, no? Need I say more?

[Jim Walsh]

I've been out sailing for the last several days, currently at Block Island. The repair seems to be a permanent fix. I'll declare victory when I haul out for the winter. By then it will have proven itself for at least 4 months of use.
I do appreciate everyone's advice and hope this example will help someone else solve a similar problem.