Last summer I bought my first sailboat, a 1981 Hunter 30, it is in good shape but needs some TLC. I'm giving it a mid-life upgrade, and replacing marine head system, fresh water system, most electrical, running rigging, soon it will be a lot better...!
Anyways, I want to clean my water tank, it's very dirty from neglect for a few years, mostly covered with a black scale that you can scrape off with your fingernail. I am sure many know but it's under the stbd settee, and is a fiberglass tank built into the sette, with a fiberglass cover.
I removed the back panel behind the settee to gain access to the entire tank cover, took the screws out, cleaned out the perimeter groove that had at least a couple applications of rtv, and tried lifting the cover grabbing from the access cover hole.
It didn't budge!
Problem is I can see under the cover that there is the original bead of sealant that the cover was set into, and is holding it in place, it is much tougher than the old rtv, looks like some kind of latex and it dried/hardened somewhat.
Does anyone have any suggestions to get this cover off and give the tank a good cleaning? I was thinking of using a halogen work light to warm it up and see if it loosened the sealant. Maybe there is a solvent that will loosen it? Or a great tank wash solution?
My buddy (who owns a Catalina 30 and took me sailing a few times over the past couple of years, convincing me to buy a boat!) has cleaned his tank reaching from the access hole with a brush, but he has a plastic drop in, not built in, and he doesn't have baffles, so he can reach inside. He suggested I contact the owners forum which he has found great for model specific help. (I hope he's right about the forums being useful...but let me tell you, I like my Hunter 30 waayyy more than his Cat 30, especially after I give it an overhaul...!
Thanks I'd appreciate any insight into getting this cover off, or other cleaning methods, so I can feel good about the tank being thoroughly cleaned...
Anyways, I want to clean my water tank, it's very dirty from neglect for a few years, mostly covered with a black scale that you can scrape off with your fingernail. I am sure many know but it's under the stbd settee, and is a fiberglass tank built into the sette, with a fiberglass cover.
I removed the back panel behind the settee to gain access to the entire tank cover, took the screws out, cleaned out the perimeter groove that had at least a couple applications of rtv, and tried lifting the cover grabbing from the access cover hole.
It didn't budge!
Problem is I can see under the cover that there is the original bead of sealant that the cover was set into, and is holding it in place, it is much tougher than the old rtv, looks like some kind of latex and it dried/hardened somewhat.
Does anyone have any suggestions to get this cover off and give the tank a good cleaning? I was thinking of using a halogen work light to warm it up and see if it loosened the sealant. Maybe there is a solvent that will loosen it? Or a great tank wash solution?
My buddy (who owns a Catalina 30 and took me sailing a few times over the past couple of years, convincing me to buy a boat!) has cleaned his tank reaching from the access hole with a brush, but he has a plastic drop in, not built in, and he doesn't have baffles, so he can reach inside. He suggested I contact the owners forum which he has found great for model specific help. (I hope he's right about the forums being useful...but let me tell you, I like my Hunter 30 waayyy more than his Cat 30, especially after I give it an overhaul...!
Thanks I'd appreciate any insight into getting this cover off, or other cleaning methods, so I can feel good about the tank being thoroughly cleaned...
