Anyone made their owm WELDED PLASTIC tank please?

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zambant

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I have been doing small plastic welded jobs and am looking at the feasibility of a DIY job for my replacement water tanks.
A major manufacturer wants nearly £2000 for both tanks in plastic but it looks like I can buy the materials for under £250.
1350mm x 450mm x280mm
Anyone been there, done that and got the t shirt please?
Thanks
John
 
zambant said:
I have been doing small plastic welded jobs and am looking at the feasibility of a DIY job for my replacement water tanks.
A major manufacturer wants nearly £2000 for both tanks in plastic but it looks like I can buy the materials for under £250.
1350mm x 450mm x280mm
Anyone been there, done that and got the t shirt please?
Thanks
John
Click to expand...

They "cost" because welding Polyethelene is not a DIY job. If you are going to make your own tanks then foam cored GRP with inside coating of a food grade epoxy is the way to go. low material costs but relatively labour intensive so typical DIY project.

As suggested you may find Stansa cheaper than Tek Tanks, but the letter dominate the UK market which suggests they know their market. You could also look at standard size rotationally molded tanks from Vetus, Stansa or Tek Tanks as these are inevitably cheaper, but usually result in a compromise on capacity to fit in your space.
 
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one can buy food-grade polyethylene and other plastics in sheetform quite easily. A Leister heat gun (very precise temperature control) is about £200 with the proper welding flow nozzles, and PE welding rod is relatively cheap.


I invested in the kit to mend farm spray tanks, but it also fixes bumpers, ABS quad bike mouldings, plastic moulded air filters, and a multitude of other plastic items. I have even used the PE from plastic milk bottles as a welding agent :)

One can achieve a certain, satisfactory, proficiency in a short while, but a thermal gun is much slower than the diathermy radio stuff used by the commercial operations. The other technical knowledge required is that of placement of baffles, inspections plates, etc, for which a bench drill is really required.


It can be done, but it will be slow and fussy work. Producing a watertight, pressure resistant seam is relatively easy, but it may not be very tidy .
 
+ 1.
The only way to go, strong, easy to build, easy to repair, long lasting and cost less.
What more could you want.

My tanks are all made of closed cell foam and epoxy, water, fuel, Toilets, as well as the shower wall floor and even the hull.

Good luck and fair winds. :)
 
sarabande said:
one can buy food-grade polyethylene and other plastics in sheetform quite easily. A Leister heat gun (very precise temperature control) is about £200 with the proper welding flow nozzles, and PE welding rod is relatively cheap.


I invested in the kit to mend farm spray tanks, but it also fixes bumpers, ABS quad bike mouldings, plastic moulded air filters, and a multitude of other plastic items. I have even used the PE from plastic milk bottles as a welding agent :)

One can achieve a certain, satisfactory, proficiency in a short while, but a thermal gun is much slower than the diathermy radio stuff used by the commercial operations. The other technical knowledge required is that of placement of baffles, inspections plates, etc, for which a bench drill is really required.


It can be done, but it will be slow and fussy work. Producing a watertight, pressure resistant seam is relatively easy, but it may not be very tidy .
Click to expand...

I have been using a Chinese knock off gun and no problem with it so far BUT not sure how its going to cope with 9mm stuff unless I run multiple beads along the joint :-)
epoxy or grp is a complete no no for me - too messy and slow :-)
 
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