Water tank and winterizing

[BobM]

Got the the boat this afternoon. I was amazed that it only took me about an hour to flush the fresh water lines, head lines and the engine with antifreeze. It is amazing how much easier it is to do things the second time.

I looked at what it will take to remove the fresh water tank. There is a wooden lid for a shallow storage area over the tank. The bottom seems to sit right on top of the water tank. The bottom is attached to the sides of the shallow box with heavy woven roving. So the game plan will be to fire up the Dremel vibrating saw, cut the roving and then lift out the bottom to see what I am in for. I am guessing that I will have to cut the tank in half, at a minimum, to remove it. Hopefully just removing the bottom of the compartment provides sufficient access to cut it up.

I'd like to order the tank asap and be in a position to replace it quickly in the spring. Lots to do next spring, but I think I will try to get in the water early and then do the work at the dock in a temporary slip. The only thing that might hold me back is the following. I took my surveyors advice. I passed on painting the bottom last year. I just painted a four inch strip at the water line and called it a day. Boy it was nice to take a year off. The Pettit Hydrocoat I use is supposed to be multi-season anyway, but I have never tried it. Looking at it today, I saw quite a few patches that were down to the barrier coat. So perhaps I should strip the hull, consider another layer of barrier and then paint it.

 

[woodster]

bob ...are you going to go to a larger gallon tank when you put it back or stay the same ....i am goint to remove mine this coming week and see if there is any ting under there that i need to know about while i am refiting my boat ....i have the original raritan on demand water pump with expancion tank all in one unit and have cked it out and it seems to work just fine so i am planning to use it ........if this is a bad idea please voice your thoughts

regards

woody

 

[BobM]

If you are doing the work to get at the fw tank I'd replace it if it is the original aluminum one. They just don't last forever and thirty years is about the max. Of course I was a dumb ass and used bleach to chlorinate the water of an aluminum tank. I actually put too much in and left it in for a long period of time. BAD idea. Replacement tanks are probably $250. There are some epoxies you can coat the tank with, but the more I looked into it the more I concluded that a new plastic tank was worth it. In your case, where you have more time and less money you may decide otherwise if you get a leak. I would have had to cut a large access port, which is readiliy available in kit form, and then either spray or roll on the coating (Brewcoat is a good option http://www.sscoatings.net/brewcoat-info.htm ). Even then, I figured I'd be lucky to get five years out of it and I plan to keep my boat longer than that.

Regarding the pump...if it works, don't fix it. Regarding the water tank...you can take the same approach, but my aluminum fuel tank is leaking too. Epoxied for now, but gotta go soon. Now there has never been any bleach in the fuel tank and the tank went anyway. Both tanks were likely made by the same vendor. Hence my conclusion that your FW tank is probably on the cusp too.