series 1 Passage 42 water tanks

Old Sailor 2 · May 18, 2012

JMatz said:
View attachment 51334

View attachment 51335
I'm going to attempt sending a couple of pictures. I may not be computer savvy enough though -- we'll see.
I did cut the hole in the lowermost, inboard quadrant. The tank itself is divided into four sections like the figure of a cross. The placement of the hole allows complete access to the end of the stand-pipe, unfortunately- you'd have to cut four holes to have complete access to all chambers. This chamber does provide access to the business end of the pipe which is what's important and flushing water down the main intake port pushes the sediment into this lowermost chamber.
The baffles allow some access near the floor and I was able to sweep under each once the tank was dry and vacuum as best I could.
From the rather "fuzzy" pic of the inside of the tank prior to cleaning, you might think "lost cause".. but it did clean up rather nicely. A little scotch-bright and a brush and flushing several times did wonders. And no I didn't change the pipe; it was definitely pitted but quite functional.
The fact is, I just wasn't prepared to cut another hole.
I bought a Beckson standard 6" access port and used some household silicone sealant - the kind for fishtanks "aquarium safe" and non-toxic. Filled the tank completely full to overflowing and no leaks.
As far as the floor; it's a pain lifting it out but actually not too bad. The floor panel just forward must be lifted up slightly to allow the one covering the tank to slide under and out.

JMatz, thank you for your info.
This will help me greatly too. But one question. Do you think there is enough vertical clearance between the top of the tank and the floor plank to use a SeaBuilt repair flange? If you check out the seaBuilt look at the 10" which provides for an 8" hole. My concern is the bolts that stick vertically through several holes onto which I would run nuts to tighten the repair flange in place. Your experience is invaluable. Thanks!! Sandy

Paul Cossman · May 26, 2012

Hi Eian,

Paul (Sabina) here. I can answer your question, since I dealt with those lines when I put my tank tender gauge system into place here, and also when I put in my watermaker intake line. The line that is on the far right (in your photo) is the pick-up line. It is the one with the grey 1/2 inch rigid PVC line. The middle line, with the flexible white line going upward, is the vent line. (That is the line into which I spliced my watermaker intake hose).

Good photos on both your posts, and good info on what you found there. As always, thanks for your help on this one!

Cheers,
Paul

Paul Cossman · Jun 11, 2012

Eian, job well done!

Eian,

THANKS THANKS THANKS. I totally appreciate you taking the time to photograph and explain the job just for the benefit of those of us who still have to undertake it. We're about ready to shove off from NZ (Whangarei) for Vanuatu in a week or so, so the job will await our return next year. Can't say I'm looking forward to it. But I can say I'm looking forward to not having to clear the intake water hose every few days or so!

Cheers,

Paul

Old Sailor 2 · Sep 17, 2012

eianm said:
Finally finshed the job!
1) Fitted 2 x 6" inspection ports and a Ferriello tank gauge sender.
2) Cleaned and scoured the tanks
3) Replaced the badly corroded pick up pipe.
The timber sole/floor touches on the top of the beckson inspection ports- so little room- really should have routered out some of the underside of the floor to accomodate, but I was SO OVER this job!!!!!!!!!
Pics show where I cut off the badly corroded original pick up pipe ( it ended up having at least 8 holes in iot- no wonder it wouldnt pick up!)and attahced replacement high pressure plastic hose- other picks show pick up end of new pick up pipe and the 2 x Beckson 6" inspection plates mounted and closed.
This job is a real pain, BUT - it is do-able! The actual condition of the tanks walls was pretty good- you will notice I did use non toxic Sika flex to seal a few spots of weld that had corroded a bit deeper - so just wanted to be sure I had no leaks!

quick question. I am planning on attempting this project on this coming week. Tell me a little about the pickup pipe. Did you have to cut off the pipe and if so what were the challenges? do you remember the size of the hose you used and I assume the hose was left open at the far end so the pick up was from the bottom of the tank. Thanks for your pictures. Great help!!

Old Sailor 2 · Sep 18, 2012

thanks tons eianm! I will let you know how it goes. Did you or have you tackled anything with the forward tank? I am curious what the general arrangement of that one might be. Again, THANKS!! Sandy

Old Sailor 2 · Sep 18, 2012

eianm said:
OOOOPPS! Just realised - looking at my pics agian, i had to make up a reducer arrangment as the alu pick up pipe OD would have given me a much bigger ID in the plastic tube- was worried the pump wouldnt suck hard enough to pick up so made a up a reducer to get ID of plastic tube down to close to original ID- see my picks!

Oh yea, one more thing. Did you use screws or nuts and bolts to secure your inspection plates? and what material? I am concerned about mixed metal galvanic reaction if I use the wrong materials. I have read that 18-8 stainless won't rreact with aluminum. I wonder about zinc screws and aluminum???

Old Sailor 2 · Oct 1, 2012

Well folks, thanks to eianm I was able to tackle the midships water tank dibacle. I ended up cutting 3 holes leaving one quardant to the calcium monster and cleaned as best I could the other three. Eianm was invaluable in his directions and guidance and it was amazing what similarities I found compared to his write up. My tanks had about an inch of calcium "mud" in the bottom which had sucked up into the suction pipe that feeds the water pump. I scraped and scrubbed and still did not get it all but it is certainly better. One concern I had is on the sides and top everywhere there was a stalagtight of calcium attached to the tankwas a pitted area beneath it. But 20 years and only a small fraction of deterioration is ok. And the suction pipe which is aluminum was cloggged closed with calcium precipitate. Following eianm's lead I cut that pipe and installed a 7/8" I.D. pipe and tied it to the abandoned aluminum pipe so it maintained the same function. Worked like a champ. In fact, and unfortunately, prior to replacing the pipe I thought I had a water pump problem picking up the suction life from the tank. Yep, I replaced my water pump unnecessarily. I could have returned it to West Marine but after the struggle in installing it I wasn't about to undo and redo. Now I have a spare. The only thing I wish I had done differently is not to use the beckson ports. I used 5200 to secure the flange of teh Beckson and that was fine. BUT the darned port itself leaked...all three. So I laid the silicone to them and that stopped the leaking. I do wish however that I had cut maybe 7" holes and covered them with 9" aluminum plates using 5200 and sheet metal screws to seccure them. If I ever go back into that tank (I will sell the boat before doping that) I would simply cut around the Beckson plate and then repair with an aluminum plate. Live and learn.

My forward water tank doesn't seem to be providing the same challenges as the midships tank. BUT, I did look at the access. From my brief checking I could see no way of accessing the forward tank. Anyone with ideas on that challenge would be helpful to let me know.

Final thought. I sure don't know how anyone would replace the aluminum tanks with plastic from Ronco. That is without removing the entire hot water heater and settee. I think the only way of doing that would be to uncover the existing tank, cut out what was reasonably accessible and measure for a replacement tank of some lesser volume to install in the available space.

Dennis Ferriello · Nov 24, 2012

Tank Monitor

Eianm:
Sorry I haven't been in this forum for awhile, I will try to get here more often.
Glad everything went well on the install of the Monitor.
Thanks for your business.

Take care for now.

Dennis Ferriello
www.ferriellosales.com
dennis@ferriellosales.com
Phone number on contact page of my site

eianm said:
Finally finshed the job!
1) Fitted 2 x 6" inspection ports and a Ferriello tank gauge sender.
2) Cleaned and scoured the tanks
3) Replaced the badly corroded pick up pipe.
The timber sole/floor touches on the top of the beckson inspection ports- so little room- really should have routered out some of the underside of the floor to accomodate, but I was SO OVER this job!!!!!!!!!
Pics show where I cut off the badly corroded original pick up pipe ( it ended up having at least 8 holes in iot- no wonder it wouldnt pick up!)and attahced replacement high pressure plastic hose- other picks show pick up end of new pick up pipe and the 2 x Beckson 6" inspection plates mounted and closed.
This job is a real pain, BUT - it is do-able! The actual condition of the tanks walls was pretty good- you will notice I did use non toxic Sika flex to seal a few spots of weld that had corroded a bit deeper - so just wanted to be sure I had no leaks!

Dennis Ferriello · Nov 26, 2012

Eianm:
Thanks for the update.

Dennis Ferriello
Ferriello Sales LLC
www.ferriellosales.com
dennis@ferriellosales.com

series 1 Passage 42 water tanks

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