Plastimo flexible water tanks

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webcraft

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We have a 100l flexible water tank under the port side of the forepeak bunk. It says 100l on it, no maker's mark visible. The inner tank is in an outer thick orange bladder which is hung on two hooks at the top rather than just letting it fall into place.

A couple of months ago it burst a seam when filling.

I can get a 100l Plastime flexible tank here, but it is 10cm too long in both directions for the space. How critical are these measurements, will it matter if the tank can't expand to full size?

- W
 
webcraft said:
We have a 100l flexible water tank under the port side of the forepeak bunk. It says 100l on it, no maker's mark visible. The inner tank is in an outer thick orange bladder which is hung on two hooks at the top rather than just letting it fall into place.

A couple of months ago it burst a seam when filling.

I can get a 100l Plastime flexible tank here, but it is 10cm too long in both directions for the space. How critical are these measurements, will it matter if the tank can't expand to full size?

- W
Click to expand...
Not knowing much about your new tank or the space it fits in as long as it is well supported on all sides and cannot expand fully all you would lose is full capacity.
 
jim.howes said:
Not knowing much about your new tank or the space it fits in as long as it is well supported on all sides and cannot expand fully all you would lose is full capacity.
Click to expand...

I don't think it will be 'well supported' because of the shape of the space. I think maybe it needs to sit on a lot of cushioning, maybe bubble wrap...

- W

- W
 
If the tank cannot fill properly then i suspect it will be more inclined to fail at the creases over time
 
I was thinking on the lines of If you put an uninflated balloon in a box and then inflate the balloon, the balloon would assume the shape of the box when inflated.
 
The look pretty cheap @ £50-60 online and I'm sure will do you for a season or two whilst off on your offshore wanderings.

I'm interested in if you'll be adding them in replacement of existing tanks or whether to provide additional storage. We could do with a little more water storage on our boat (currently <200l) and these could be a nice solution. Let us know how you get on
 
Are the Plastimo dimensions given for a flat empty tank? When filled it is 25cm high so will shrink in the length and width dimensions. Have you measured your existing one empty or just measured the space?
A carpet offcut underneath is probably a good idea.
 
I think you worry too much. I have a flexible 120 L tank in the bow of my Leisure 23sl. I didn't make a 'bed ' for it, just made sure there was nothing sharp on the bare hull. It fills to capacity and just flexes into its space. No worries.
I installed this 10 years ago and its condition is as good as new. I think its Plastimo, bought and collected from Seamark Nunn, Suffolk.
Hardest part of the installation was replacing the inlet pipe (2inch?), certainly doesn't like to bend.
 
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hi, I had a similar sort of problem when my existing flexible tanks eventually started to give trouble. These were tailor made to sit under the saloon floor and were tapered fore and aft as well as wedge shaped to fit the hull shape. I couldn't get anything made for less than £1200 (3 tanks). I therefore opted for the Plastimo tanks as a temporary measure, the ones I used are a bit oversized for the space and not really the right shape. When filled there are creases in the material so I expected to have issues with them, however, they have been installed for three seasons now and I have had no problems. When I installed them I spread out some pond liner underlay where they sat on bare GRP, but did not fix them in any other way. Because of where they were installed it was very hard to get them properly spread into the space, I found that the best way was to put them in and then inflate them with my workshop vacuum cleaner. However, if you do this make sure the hose is clean first! (don't ask). I'm happy with what I've done and could, if necessary, buy an awful lot of these tanks for £1200.
 
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