retire stainless steel tank?

[David]

Peggy,I'm replacing the original head to tank discharge hose on my newly purchased 16 year old 33 footer in an effort to eliminate a lingering but hard to locate odor. That hose was definitely part of the problem, but now I'm viewing the 16 year old stainless holding tank with suspicion, wondering whether there might be some slight leakage at the welds. I hate to pull out what looks like a very nicely made custom fitted tank, and Practical Sailor proclaimed stainless as a good holding tank material in a recent article on holding tanks. But that's not what I've heard about stainless from this forum--and besides the tank only holds 12 gallons. I might be able to fit a Ronco 16 gallon tank into the very odd space. But I'm wondering whether I should just go ahead and retire the stainless even if I can't increase capacity substantially with a poly replacement tank, based on susceptibility to corrosion.Thanks for any advice.David

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

I'd replace it

I don't know who you've been "listening" to on this forum who recommends stainless, but I have always advised against using ANY metal for sewage holding. Thick-walled polyethylene is the only material that should be used for sewage holding...and Ronco is an excellent choice.

 

[David]

Thanks (ps. It was PS that liked stainless)

Peggy--thanks for the very clear and unambiguous recommendation. Note that in my original posting I was saying that it was the Practical Sailor issue on heads and holding tanks sometime last year that (surprisingly) had a good word to say for stainless (they only complained about weight and the need for custom fabrication). That's what left me a bit uncertain and sent me to you, since you've been pretty firm about the unacceptable likelihood of corrosion, especially at the welds.Anyway, thanks again--the stainless will be retired. Sounds like there's an opportunity to send a letter to the editor of PS, should you be interested. The editors ought to be very interested in hearing from you since they reproduce elsewhere in the same article a number of your recommendations about eliminating head odor!