Our spring surprise this year was a leak in one of the fresh water tanks. Seems to be about a pint a day at this point in time. The leak is from somewhere under the tank, not the fittings. Removing the tank requires destruction of woodwork that I'd rather avoid.
I'm curious of the thoughts on repairing? It's an aluminum tank and as you can see in the pictures there are a few pitted spots but (to me) it doesn't look that bad. I did a fairly extensive web search and found several people who sanded/wire brushed and then brushed on a couple coats of West System or a product called "Beercoat" (for brewing tanks). Both products are supposedly safe for potable water although I have yet to see this claim on the West System site.
Anyway, these people claimed that 6 to 10 years later the tanks were still leak free.
Or the other alternative is to cut up the tank to remove it and fit a Plastimo bladder in the space. The bladder up here in "the land of price gouging" is under $150 for the 39 gal model.
Thoughts? Anyone on this forum repaired an aluminum water tank without removing it?
Chris
I'm curious of the thoughts on repairing? It's an aluminum tank and as you can see in the pictures there are a few pitted spots but (to me) it doesn't look that bad. I did a fairly extensive web search and found several people who sanded/wire brushed and then brushed on a couple coats of West System or a product called "Beercoat" (for brewing tanks). Both products are supposedly safe for potable water although I have yet to see this claim on the West System site.
Anyway, these people claimed that 6 to 10 years later the tanks were still leak free.
Or the other alternative is to cut up the tank to remove it and fit a Plastimo bladder in the space. The bladder up here in "the land of price gouging" is under $150 for the 39 gal model.
Thoughts? Anyone on this forum repaired an aluminum water tank without removing it?
Chris
