Holding tank installation - price/who with?

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mixmaster

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We're heading to the med this summer (France and Spain only) and may get to The States the following summer so I think a holding tank is in order.
I think we'll need a custom tank and believe TekTanks are the place to get them done. Now I just need someone to do the installation.
Boat is in the Hamble. Any recommendations?

Do I really need one?

Thanks.
 
I've also heard good reports about Tektanks, but, after a fair bit of research, I bought one last month from CAK Tanks (they were cheaper for what seems like the same product).

They were very helpful, incredibly prompt on delivery, and generally good to deal with.

I installed my own.
 
Suggest you talk to Tek Tanks. There are different types of tanks and installations. They have useful information on their website. If you are not going to do it yourself, you need to discuss with them whether you want a gravity system or a pumped system, how big you want it and where it can be installed. First point of call is the boat builder to find out what they install as OE and use that as a base for your design.
 
I had a chat with TekTanks and their recommended man. Still trembling from being told the quote will be £2-3k!!
 
Ask around..Tektanks are not the only supplier.

As well as Caktanks, I also found Lee Sanitation to be very knowledgeable and helpful.

Speak to them to all.
 
I've just fitted my own custom Tek Tank.
Was very straight forward but as always took twice the time that I had expected.

Just noticed in this months YM (P88) that Jabsco do a tank with level guage and integrated macerator pump. Might be worth a look.
 
Tek-tanks were incredibly helpful. We used a standard tank (65 l), but with pipe fitting, vent, pumpout, diverter valve etc installed by them. All the piping, vents, fittings etc were from them, and it came out at approx £550 inc VAT as far as I remember (last December). A custom-made tank would have been another £2-300, I think.

We installed it ourselves. Two weekends of pain, swearing, and skinned knuckles but it all works, and if we knew then what we know now, it would have been much quicker! The things we were dreading (eg holes in the hull) were easy, the straightforward things (fitting the pipes onto the fittings) were very hard.

Work out precisely where you want it to go, bearing in mind the size of the pipe fittings. Make up a cardboard dummy to make sure you can get it into where you want it to go. Check and recheck everything, before ordering. Then you can see if it's going to be worth getting in someone to install it.
 
As others have done, I got a Tek-Tank made and fitted it myself. Slow and fiddly (took several weeks once the tank arrived) but in principle it is not that difficult to do as long as you have the time to hand and know where you need to put all the bits. Only visible evidence of the new tank is where the handle goes to manually pump out the tank and a couple of new deck fittings.

I would certainly DIY if money is a concern (when isn't it a concern?).

Regards,
Jeff.
 
Thanks for the leads guys. Made calls this morning. I'm in a situation where we're trying to get the boat ready for a trip departing end of May and at the same time don't have all the time in the world. So, naturally trying to have my cake and eat it too! Need help installing and don't want to spend £2.5k!
We're doing some things in a bit of a rush because the boat was up in N Wales getting new teak decks (photos on the way).
 
Almost completed the same task after several days work. Just got the level guage to fit now.

Certainly cheaper if you can use a standard tank, which you can get from TEK Leesan CAK and Vetus (I used ASAP for my Vetus tank) There is no substitute for making cardboard models to see what size of tank you can get in and whether you need a custom or can survive with standard. If you are going down the custom tank route it may be worth transfering to hardboard or ply for the final model, and geting your tank fittings and hose first to confirm layouts. The likes of Raritan in the US have a much bigger range of stadard sizes and will ship to the UK at a cost, though it will be cheaper than a custom job.

Also remeber that TEK or Leesan may have already made up a custom tank for your boat/position

Do remeber to leave space for bending pipes wher needed or you can find life very difficult.

Depending on your boats layout an off the wall alternative may be fitting a caravan cassette toilet. You then have a suitcase like removable tank which can either be tipped overboard at sea or carried to the toilet/waste disposal point ashore. It does however mean you will not have either a sea toilet or a pump out facility.

Good luck
 
I have fitted a holding tank in the current and previous boats. The previous boat was a Fulmar and I used a standard tank from Tek-Tanks. I had two outlets, one going to a macerator and the other to a deck pump out. The present boat is a Dehler 36 CWS and I fitted a bespoke tank from Tek-Tanks. Made a model from lath and cardboard stapled up. It was essential to ensure it could be slid in! It also has two outlets. In both cases tha job was not too bad. I found the large diameter piping could be warmed gently in the tumble drier to soften it a bit but I was wary of getting it too hot and changing its characteristics.
 
Using off the shelf stuff my tank was about £80, al fittings and pipwork about £200 and about 30-30 hours. Some half of the time was planning, and if I had spent some more time on that not only would the installation have been faster but there would have been fewer 4-5 day gaps between 2 hours of work. Tanks with all the fittings in place will save time, if the pipe work will fit. I found the Vetus tank and fitting fine to work with but I did end up buying 4 holesaws to make all the holes needed, the in and out fittings for the tank ahd different size hols, then there was the inspection hatch, the deck suction and vent. I am hoping the hole for the tank guage is the same as at least one of my holesaws, but...........
I would reccomend using holesaws, much neater with much less opportunity for cock ups and even an off the shelf tank is dear enough not to chuck away because you saved a few quid on the holesaw.
 
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