Holding Tank He*&

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Sep 16, 2007
9
- - Marina Del Rey, California
Greetings folks, this is my first post. Too bad its on this topic. I just bought a 2003 Beneteau 411 Special Edition. Little did I know the boat suffered a catastrophic failure of the forward holding tank causing the contents to empty into the forward hold under the shower floor. This all happened recently under the previous owner and the surveyor didn't find it! Needless to say I was not amused to find this situation when I took posession of the boat 3 weeks ago. The failure was caused when a pumpout was attempted with a clogged vent hose. The tank collapsed and the elbow fitting leading to the macerator hose failed. The previous owner clearly tried to repair the fitting with some kind of white goop, probably silicone caulk. I pulled the tank, turned the macerator into a makeshift wet vac using some clear 3/4" hose and some pvc pipe from Home Depot, and suctioned out the hold while flooding with vinegar and water. I was a nasty mess! I think I've gotten most of it out. My question is about the tank itself. At this point I don't trust it. Its the black tank supplied by Beneteau with the boat and it looks CHEAP! I've reinstalled it for now with new fittings dry fit with teflon tape, but I would like to replace the tank. I've looked at Ronco Plastics in So Cal. They have a lot of tanks, but no exact fit. The tank is 19.5" tall, 13"x14" on top with the 13" dimension tapering down to 11.5" along the starboard side. Does anyone know where I can get a replacement tank for this boat without buying the cheap OEM black tank? Photo is attached. the photo is sideways. Sorry. Thanks for any help you can provide. Dan Berkey S/V Corvette
 

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Dec 2, 1999
15,184
Hunter Vision-36 Rio Vista, CA.
Why does it need to be a perfect fit?

Dan: Why does it need to be a perfect fit. It looks like you have plenty of room to fit a new tank of a similar size!
 
K

Kerry

Holding tanks

Raritan has a pdf with a lot of diffirent odd shapes and sizes. BTY, where is the rear holding tank located in your 411? I have a 93 400 that came from BVI with no holding tanks. I installed the lectra san in the forward head, and am in the process of installing a holding tank for the aft head. I believe it goes in the stearn compartment, but I am dreading running the plumbing.
 
Dec 3, 2003
2,101
Hunter Legend 37 Portsmouth, RI
If Anybody can Answer...

...your question, it will be Peggy Hall in the Head Mistress forum. Good Luck. I feel for you. If it's any consolation, I once chartered a Beneteau with that type of tank and it held up pretty well.
 
Sep 16, 2007
9
- - Marina Del Rey, California
Rear Holding Tank Location

Kerry, The holding tank for the aft head is located behind a panel right next to the head itself. On my boat, the aft head is on the port side of the boat just aft of the nav table. I haven't removed the panel to see what shape and size that tank is, but that's next on my list. Dan
 
Sep 16, 2007
9
- - Marina Del Rey, California
Why a perfect fit?

Steve, It doesn't necessarily have to be a perfect fit, but I've calculated the volume of the existing tank at almost exactly 13 gallons. The best fit I can get from Ronco is 11.4 gallons. 13 gallons is small enough. I really don't want to lose another 1.6 gallons. Dan
 
Sep 16, 2007
9
- - Marina Del Rey, California
Have I tried Beneteau?

Yes. I'm waiting to hear back from them now. I'm hopeful they'll tell me they saw the error of their holding tank ways and have replaced that cheap black tank with a proper white tank with 1/4" walls. This one has 1/8" walls at best.
 
Sep 16, 2007
9
- - Marina Del Rey, California
Raritan <---> Ronco

Kerry, Thanks for suggesting Raritan. I just took a look at their PDF. Something looked a little fishy, so I compared it with Ronco's PDF catalog. Lo and behold, they are offering exactly the same tanks with different model numbers! I don't know if Raritan gets their tanks from Ronco or the other way around, but they're the same. For anyone out there looking at tanks, you may want to tuck that away for future reference vis-a-vis price comparisons. Ronco's website is ronco-plastics.com. Dan
 
Dec 2, 1997
8,958
- - LIttle Rock
Most of Raritan's tanks are made by Ronco...

I wouldn't trust a tank that's been through that either. And, after looking at your photo, I don't see any reason why you'd need an identical replacement, 'cuz you have a LOT of room for a larger tank if it's the right shape (and I'd bet real money that Ronco has one...you just need to know how to orient it to take advantage of it)...or even why it has to go back into that same space if there's another space within 6' of the toilet that larger tank will fit. If you'd like some help with this, send me an email...I'm in all the owner directories. And I wouldn't be too sure that surveyor missed it...'cuz from what you've described I have a STRONG feeling that it happened after the survey...when the PO tried to pump out the tank the last time before you took the boat. And the only way a surveyor would know that the vent was blocked would have been by trying to pump out during the survey.
 
Sep 16, 2007
9
- - Marina Del Rey, California
Re: Survey

Peggy, Thanks for the help. Actually the surveyor did miss the issue. The heads and tanks were serviced on 8/8. The guy who did the service pointed out the tank implosion to the PO and told him he needed to replace the tank. The survey was done on the 16th. I've had the surveyor back on the boat to look at the issue. He was very apologetic and said he was extremely embarassed, but of course didn't offer to refund any of the survey fee. I would appreciate some help on the tank selection. I'll send you an email. Dan
 
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