During a spring clean-up of the V berth the floor (sole) over the water tank had been ripped from its morrings. All screws had been pulled through the plywood and the floor was resting on the water tank which had expanded to two to three inches above its normal position. We have been living aboard our 1989 37.5 Hunter Legend for three years and typically re-fill the tank every four to five days. The process was the same each time ...fill till the vent flows. We have checked the vent and it is clear. The floor was re-attached and the tank filled and as it reached full the floor buckeled and the srews were ripped out again as the tank expanded upward. The process is gravity fed...??? Has anyone any idea what is taking place here...? Bill and Sheila on the Lauren Belle in Richmond BC
Water Tank
- Thread starter Lauren Belle
- Start date
- Status
Check the vent again...
Both ends of it...and check the line for a kink too. 'Cuz the tank has be overfilling to cause it to bulge like that. It would only overfill if the excess water can't escape out the vent. If the vent really is clear, it may just be too small to allow water to escape as fast as it's coming in...or there may be a screen on the thru-hull, or the thru-hull is one that only has a small slit in it...any of which would prevent water from getting out the vent fast enough. If the tank is an inexpensive thin-walled plastic tank, it would take very little to make it bulge. In fact, just the weight of the water against the walls would do it. But the fact that it's the top that's bulging, not the sides (or are the sides bulging too?) means there's more water in the tank than it can hold...that it's not escaping out the vent fast enough.
Both ends of it...and check the line for a kink too. 'Cuz the tank has be overfilling to cause it to bulge like that. It would only overfill if the excess water can't escape out the vent. If the vent really is clear, it may just be too small to allow water to escape as fast as it's coming in...or there may be a screen on the thru-hull, or the thru-hull is one that only has a small slit in it...any of which would prevent water from getting out the vent fast enough. If the tank is an inexpensive thin-walled plastic tank, it would take very little to make it bulge. In fact, just the weight of the water against the walls would do it. But the fact that it's the top that's bulging, not the sides (or are the sides bulging too?) means there's more water in the tank than it can hold...that it's not escaping out the vent fast enough.
37.5 Water Tank
We had a few days this winter when the temperature went blow freezing, so there is a possibility that the line froze at some point causing the initial expansion lifting the floor and as we do not use the V berth except for temorary storage it would have gone un-noticed.Will remove the vent to inspect it further. Must replace it anyway as a neighbour in helping to remove the floor cut a hole in the vent line...Thanks to everyone who responed to our delema, it's good to know you are out there. Will let you all know the outcome... Bill and Sheila
We had a few days this winter when the temperature went blow freezing, so there is a possibility that the line froze at some point causing the initial expansion lifting the floor and as we do not use the V berth except for temorary storage it would have gone un-noticed.Will remove the vent to inspect it further. Must replace it anyway as a neighbour in helping to remove the floor cut a hole in the vent line...Thanks to everyone who responed to our delema, it's good to know you are out there. Will let you all know the outcome... Bill and Sheila
- Status