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Water Tank leaks

wissner

Al & Carol Wissner
We were out cruising this summer and noticed that the port side water tank was almost dry. Has anyone had any experience removing and repairing the tank(s)? Any help is greatly appreciated Thanks
 
I have not had a problem with the port tank, but rather the starbord one. The hose that led out of the tank to the pressure system was in the bottom corner of the tank. Obviously this is not a wise place to drill a hole in a molded plastic tank. It cracked accross the corner and constantly leaked. In adition, rather than installing fittings spun into the tank the manufacturer simply drilled and tapped into the polyethlene. These fill spout and vent were also cracked and leaking. I removed the tank and had a rotational molder spin seal the areas and install proper fittings. I then installed a pick up in the top 2" of the tank with a tube led down to the bottom of the tank. Now if the tank leaks at the fitting...at most i will loose the top 2" not the entire contents.
 
Dan Thanks for the up-date, you're getting into some unfamilar ground, what is a rotational molder and how do you spin seal the areas and install proper fittings. Great idea to put the pickup at the top of the tank. What was the cost of the fix for sealing the tank and installing the additional fittings?
 
Rotational molding is the process that these tanks are manufactured with, but that is not important. You could look up a rotational molder in the yellow pages for your area and call to see if they do repairs. Have them patch up the old holes and install actual threaded fittings instead of using a drilled tapped hole. Less stress on the plastic.
All this is very simple for a plastics house to do if you can find one who is up for doing a small repair like that. This will undoubedly be much less expensive than replacing the tank even if you could find one the same shape which i doubt ya can. (my actual cost was free as i do other business with the molder but the cost would have been under 100 dollars for sure) Stainless steel tanks are very nice but not within my means.. and i personally do not trust collapsable tanks. Hope that helped... the tank by the way is rather easy to remove so dont worry about that. Good luck
 
A few years ago, both port and stbd tanks were leaking from cracks around the suction fittings. My solution which was to be only a temporary fix was to find someone with a skinny hand to fit through the inspection port and to have them smear a dollop of 5200 into the cracks. So far, no more leaks! There's nothing so permanent as something labeled "Temporary".

 
The 382's water tanks are not properly supported. Our boats floor was supported by wedges that were driven under the floor boards. They have long since loosened and moved allowing the water tanks to settle. This may place some stress on the polpropylene tanks. During the last great freeze in California, our starbord tank cracked. Get a chain saw or a Japanese draw saw and cut out the plywood to gain acces to your tanks. Remove the tank and have them hot air welded. This is a common procedure, just call around.
 
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