Best way to remove aluminum holding tank from a 1983 Hunter Cherubini 37C?

[JBurans]

Hi,
I have read all the old archived threads - have a nice Hunter 37 Cherubini cutter whose holding tank has developed a leak in the aluminum tanks outlet fitting - fortunately I have just bought the boat - toilet was not used other than to flush fresh water through it when the leak began - water has run out of the holding tank clear - no head smell in the boat at all - previous only owner of the boat died about 20 months ago and is sadly not around to ask if the head was ever really used much - appears not to have been.

My question: is it best to cut the top of the seat in the shower compartment and then try to remove the old tank through that hole? Can it be removed intact or does it still have to be cut and folded out? Others have used a 10 gal ronco plastic holding tank as a replacement since it will fit through the hole on top of the shower seat and will fit the space remaining after the old aluminum tank is removed. I will not be using the head a lot just me and occasionally my fiance' sail the boat for overnights then we can pump out if necessary - know this reduces my capacity but seems like a relatively easy - quick fix with a minimum of "tearing up" the boat and or loosing storage in the v berth area if a new holding tank in the 20 gal size is installed - another issue for me is my AC compressor is in the big central storage compartment of my v berth.

My macerator and pump out are on the port side of the boat.

I have read an alternate method is to leave the shower seat intact and open access to the old aluminum tank through the fiberglass where the outlet port leaves the tank - some folks have been able to pull the tank out into the starboard storage area and others have not been able to - it appears if the tank does come out it still has to be cut and folded to remove it from the starboard v berth storage area - then you are left with trying to "fit" a new tank through the starboard v berth storage area or put it somewhere else in a storage area under the v berth.

I would appreciate any recommendations from folks who have tried both paths through the shower seat or through the starboard v berth storage area - would appreciate seeing any pictures of what the old holding tank looks like in place after the shower seat top was opened up and how it looked when a Ronco B 278 ten gallon tank was inserted - and knowing how you repaired the hole cut in the top of the shower seat.
Thanks again for any help anyone who has done this can provide - my email is jamesburans1@hotmail.com

 

[Steve Dion]

James:

My friend has a H37C and they had the same issue. The PO had removed the old tank by removing a portion of the bulkhead and extracted the old tank out through the vberth.

He replaced the replacment tanks with a 22 gal Ronco under the v-berth (did not go back in under the shower seat). If fit in there without cutting any of the lids that access the vberth.

 

[Johnb]

I removed mine by "appetite for destruction" methods. I disconnected the hoses, pulled it into the front storage area and then drilled holes using a hole saw. The trick was to drill at an angle so the cut off piece never came loose, that way you don't have to retrieve it out of the hole saw, just make the cuts over lap.

From a previous post:

When we got our Hunter 37C 9 years ago one of the first problems we faced was that the holding tank was shot. We needed to deal with it but were short of time and money. Walking through a marine store we spotted a Sealand Traveler that had been returned and was in their bargain section. At the time it seemed like a good temporary solution. 9 years later it seems like a great permanent solution.

The advantages are:
1 It needs no power to operate – even if there was no pressurized house water you could still flush with a jug
2 Anything that will drop down through the hole can be harpooned and retrieved through the hole – with the flush valve open you can see the whole inside of the tank. The system is bomb proof.
3 Every now and again we do a gourmet clean out where we hit the walls and bottom of the tank with water jetted from a hose and keep pumping out until it is pristine.
4 With judicious use you have complete control over how much water is needed for a flush. I added a valve in the fresh water supply so it can be cut off with the flush valve open. When used by “experts” it is amazing how the tank capacity can be eked out.
5 With an integral tank you save on all kinds of piping, valves and space elsewhere in the boat.
6 The tanks is translucent so you can see the level.

The downside is that the tank does not have a very large capacity, either 6.5 or 9.5 gallons, but as mentioned above, it can be put to good use.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Twelve years of hanging about here on SBO and I have never seen pictures of the tank coming out through the shower seat. Mine was removed by a PO through the starboard v-berth locker. Others have just left it and installed another one elsewhere. My own installation can be seen in "Hunter Owner Modifications". It is in the center v-berth locker. When I bought the boat in '98 it had a bladder tank in that locker.

 

[sail_4_me]

The previous owner of my 1983 37c also put a 24 gallon plastic tank in the v-berth. He cut the old tank out by going through the v-berth bulkhead. Now all 3 fwd storage compartments under the berth are full of white toilet hose, macerator pump, and toilet stink. I hate it.
(see attached image)

I've been thinking for a while that a good modification would be to make the shower seat removable. I would put the tank back in its original place and I would move the discharge thru hull, pump out port and macerator over to the right side of the boat as well. If you want to get fancy you can have a custom tank that holds more than 10 gallons. It would be worth the money to do this, just to isolate that pungent odour behind the shower wall.
( I've attached a picture of the left-side of the shower seat. I think the teak is hiding the fibreglass edge of the shower seat ).

I don't understand why the toilet is on the right, but the macerator and pump out are on the left. That's about 22 feet of stinky hose to live with. And the pump out hose also routes through the closet on the left, so a 4th compartment. Thats a lot of storage to be gained by this modification.

I plan to rebuild the kitchen also, I'll likely employ a carpenter and do both jobs together (or at least for the hard parts)

 

[Ed Schenck]

The hardware on the port side was always a mystery to all us owners. Not sure what year that happened. My '79 had the pump and Y-valve in the starboard locker. The thru-hull is still there with a cap on it. So I just have two hoses going through the starboard locker and into the tank in the v-berth(picture). Really does not interfere with the starboard locker that much. And with good hose and a good tank you should not have any odor. I could have used a bigger tank(now 22 gal.) but my log and depth transducers are in there(picture).

 

[JBurans]

thanks for responses so far - would love to see pictures or hear about opening the shower seat

To all,
Thanks for the nice responses - I am leaning toward opening the top of the shower seat - removing old tank - replacing it with a ronco b 278 or something larger if possible. Would love to see pictures of anyone who opened the shower seat top or recommendations on how to put the opened top on hinges so it could be opened in the future but sealed against water from shower useage.
Thanks,
Jim

 

[Richard Shelby]

My holding tank was out of service before I became the current owner. He had put a polyethelene tanak under the V-berth on the starboard side. After years of fighting with stinky hoses and plugged macerators on the port side, I finally went with a composting head. The old aluminum tank is still in situ, but now a stowage locker with a hatch on the shower seat.

 

[Ed A]

I cut mine out from the v bunk. a pain in the butt but lots of careful cutting and out it came. I treated mine with KO before removing it and believe it or not. not much smell at all. lots of small pieces of metal.
used several sawzall blades and jig saw blades but finally got it.
i had a door in the front of the vbirth locker to work from. i took off the frame to get a bigger hole to work in. that helps im a big guy.

 

[Jim Legere]

Still have the tank in situ

My tank is still under the shower seat and still doesn't leak...because I almost never use it (there are very few zero discharge areas in Nova Scotia). I plan to install a 6" Beckson access hatch in the tank this summer on the side, in the v-berth locker, and put a coating of either polyurethane (like truck bed liner) or tar epoxy on the inside of the tank. Maybe I'll get another 27 years out of it ;-)

 

[Mark Price]

Re: Still have the tank in situ

I'm not at home right now but I'll try to post a few pics of when I cut the top of the shower seat off and pulled the old tank out. I used big fender washers and screws to line up the top and then glassed it back in and then painted it the same color (white as the rest of the shower). If I was better at sanding and fairing the joint you would not know it was ever removed.

Mark

 

[JBurans]

Thanks for all the helpful responses - Mark look forward to your pictures!

Thanks for the good information so far!
Jim

 

[sandpiper10471]

Why take the tank out? I cut out the shower seat and then the top of the tank. Cleaned out the tank and epoxied it. Now I have a great storage locker which doesn't stink. New holding tank under the V-berth. Will post a photo of the shower seat when I clean that area out for sailing.

 

[JBurans]

Anyone have pictures of what 37C shower seat looks like after holding tank removal?

HI,
Anyone have pictures of what this looks like - boatyard wants to remove the front panel of the shower seat - then remove tank and replace this flat panel vice the top of the shower seat which is contoured for legs when sitting on it>
Any help would be greatly appreciated before we start cutting.
Jim

 

[ybrad]

shower seat fully removed

Since my discharge t/h (stbd side) was located only a few inches in front of the holding tank, the cut/fold/pull removal method wasn't desirable due to the number of cycles that would be required. Also, I felt there may be value in having the odd-geometry tank intact for a pattern and I wanted real access for reconfig, cleaning etc. So, I removed the shower seat.
Notes:
I made an initial cut just above the tank in the fiberglass 'partition' between the v-berth and tank compartments. Then realized the whole 'partition' needed to come out since the tank was tabbed in as part of that piece.
Chose my cut geometry trying to incorporate keeping the bottom cut removed from direct sight (ie, low). This caused some cutting into the tank bottom (as well as the tank aft side) due to minimum clearances between the tank and compartment walls.
Although cut free, the seat would not simply lift out of place; it was confined by lack of clearance with the remaining structure. Bottle jack and crowbar gained the needed clearance (1"maybe) to remove the seat.
The tank condition speaks for itself. The built up 'residue' behind and under the tank (extending deep into the hull) validated the need to clean.
The seat cut was done with the idea of incorporating mounting flanges, reinstalling the seat, sealing, screwing and (probably) covering with teak strips. This would allow future access. Worst case scenario would be to faire and re-glass in as a 'permanant' install. (This part of the project is deferred due to more pressing items.)

Current status:
Installed an electra-Scan elsewhere and will eventually install another holding tank if I see a FL Keys (NDZ) trip on the horizion!

 

[Mark Price]

I just posted 6 pictures of when I cut the shower seat out and then used fender washers to hold old piece in place as I fiberglassed it back in.
See my album at : http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/album.php?albumid=1389
Mark