Fiberglass Water Tank Inspection and Cleaning Port

[Craig]

I just bought a 1975 Pearson 10M, that has large fiberglass potable water tanks under the port and starboard settees. The tops of the tanks are very accessible but there is no opening in them to allow me to look inside and/or physically clean them out.I have read the posts on shocking/treating the tanks, and while I'll do that I also want to physically scrub them out. (I will also replace all the pipes and hoses.)An suggestions on where I could buy a retro-fitted access cover? I'm thinking two for each tank, at least 8" in diameter so I can move my arm around in the tank and of course water tight seals Thanks for any help.

 

[patrick]

West Marine, Boaters World

have them. 6 inch ones might be more secure if you encounter rough weather. There are snap in and screw in models. I have wondered how easy it would be for one of these to pop out. My guess would be that the screw in model might be stronger than the snap in ones.If you physically clean the tanks out and replace hoses, you might not need to go through the entire treatment process. Maybe just run a little bleach solution through the pipes and flush it out. You also would want to wipe down the tanks first with the same stuff to disinfect them.

 

[Kenneth Seace]

6 inch port access

We wanted to do the same thing your thinking about and we're glad we did it. We used the 6 inch size and I could easily put my arm all the way in to scrube the tanks out. Not a hard job about 3 hours of work. We used the sealer that motorhomes use to seal aroud windows. Good luck and you'll be glad you did it.Kenneth Seace

 

[Craig]

re: 6 inch pot access

Kenneth, what make/model of port did you buy? And are you happy with it? Patrick said they have them at West Marine and Boaters World (thanks Patrick), is that where you got yours?

 

[BarryL]

West Marine

Hi,I bought this:http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&productId=51484&catalogId=10001&classNum=12946&subdeptNum=12945&storeNum=24and I'm in the process of installing it.