Sadler 32 water tanks

[emearg]

Sirs,

I have a Sadler 32 which has got two bag water tanks in the starboard lockers. They are constantly leaking or bursting, there’s always something going wrong with them……..so I fancy fitting a 146 litre shaped plastic tank into those lockers,, however the tank is 1200mm long and the locker is only 1000mm long, so can I remove the fibreglass bulkhead that separates them to fit this in or should this bulkhead not be touched, I will also need to butcher the tops of the lockers to get it to go in.
I could cut away the bulkhead then recreate it further along the locker, couldn’t I.

Thank you for your replies, please not I might be delayed in answering back as I am on holiday at the moment.

What do you think?

 

[matthewriches]

Can you not have a custom shaped tank made up by Tek Tanks or similar?

Usually OK to cut the top of the lockers out and then fair it back in with some chopped strand and resin. Although you will create a hellish amount of dust!!

 

[eddystone]

I have the flexible bag tanks and not had leaks except from the underside of the deck filler so a cheaper and less radical option would be new bags

 

[Champagne Murphy]

We have a Plastimo bag (on the port side) with no leaks at all. Are you sure it’s not the pipe work? I think I’d be reluctant to remove that GRP bulkhead, I think it adds stiffness to the hull. Better to do as Matthew suggests although I probably wouldn’t use tek tanks, a bit pricey I think. Here in East Anglia we have these guys who were recommended by another forumite; http://stansa.co.uk/contact-us/
Cheaper apparently.

 

[matthewriches]

We recently did some work on a forumites boat which involved fitting one of Stansa’s tanks. As good as TekTanks in construction apart from the plastic welds hadn’t been ground down and sanded in but as you don’t see it... it doesn’t really matter.

We have a Plastimo bag (on the port side) with no leaks at all. Are you sure it’s not the pipe work? I think I’d be reluctant to remove that GRP bulkhead, I think it adds stiffness to the hull. Better to do as Matthew suggests although I probably wouldn’t use tek tanks, a bit pricey I think. Here in East Anglia we have these guys who were recommended by another forumite; http://stansa.co.uk/contact-us/
Cheaper apparently.

 

[Hydrozoan]

I have a bespoke stainless tank of about 110 litres on the starboard side, occupying only the after part of the under-bunk locker. It has been an excellent replacement for a bag in the forepeak which became unreliable. Like CM, I would be disinclined to remove the bulkhead and would add a similar tank in the equivalent position to port if I wanted more capacity.

 

[niccapotamus]

i've fixed our leaks - using sealant/patches plus some gunk made for sealing the various fittings - we inherited quite a few leaks. I've got a camping carrymat and cut out some bits to act as padding where the worst chafe was occurring - this has solved it and we are now dry but am interested if you do find a solid solution - not for now but to add to the "one day" to do list

 

[Champagne Murphy]

The camping mats are useful to stop condensation forming on the underside of the tank where it touches the cooler GRP of the hull. I’m quite keen to fit a Stansa tank although there is an argument for just replacing the flexible bags from time to time.

 

[emearg]

Thanks for your help, think I will take your advice and not remove the bulkhead. I will try to get a off the shelf plastic tank that I can try to fit though the opening

Graeme.

 

[niccapotamus]

The camping mats are useful to stop condensation forming on the underside of the tank where it touches the cooler GRP of the hull. I’m quite keen to fit a Stansa tank although there is an argument for just replacing the flexible bags from time to time.

good point! I've got some damp stained flooring at the corners where condensation has been an issue for years I guess (and on my list to renovate) - i'll put a big pad in there - thanks!

 

[langstonelayabout]

Is there any particular reason that the bags are unreliable?

I used to own a 1988 Jeanneau that had a bag for fresh water and it was entirely watertight after 25 years (although did need some Milton at the start of every year).

Is there an expected life for flexible water tanks or are they just a 'use until they break' asset?

 

[Champagne Murphy]

Is there any particular reason that the bags are unreliable?

I used to own a 1988 Jeanneau that had a bag for fresh water and it was entirely watertight after 25 years (although did need some Milton at the start of every year).

Is there an expected life for flexible water tanks or are they just a 'use until they break' asset?

Not sure, although you can buy spare bladders for them.
https://www.plastimo.com/en/water-on-board/fresh-water-tanks.html

 

[Tranona]

Is there any particular reason that the bags are unreliable?

I used to own a 1988 Jeanneau that had a bag for fresh water and it was entirely watertight after 25 years (although did need some Milton at the start of every year).

Is there an expected life for flexible water tanks or are they just a 'use until they break' asset?

There are different types of flexible tanks so difficult to generalise. Those originally fitted to Sadlers (and other boats at the time) are heavy duty and made by the company that makes skirts for hovercraft. These should last a long time, but their enemy is abrasion so need to be located on a smooth surface.

The other common type is the Plastimo bladder type with a PVC bladder and outer protective bag. These can also suffer from abrasion but also from welds failing and leakage from fittings Relatively cheap though and many give good service - and the bladder is usually replaceable if it leaks.

 

[Hydrozoan]

There are different types of flexible tanks so difficult to generalise. Those originally fitted to Sadlers (and other boats at the time) are heavy duty and made by the company that makes skirts for hovercraft. These should last a long time, but their enemy is abrasion so need to be located on a smooth surface.

The other common type is the Plastimo bladder type with a PVC bladder and outer protective bag. These can also suffer from abrasion but also from welds failing and leakage from fittings Relatively cheap though and many give good service - and the bladder is usually replaceable if it leaks.

Our S32 was not built by Sadlers and had the latter type, or similar, and IIRC leakage from a fitting after removal for cleaning was indeed the problem – after about 12 years of good service I believe. Perhaps persistence with the fitting would have succeeded, or we would have happily replaced the bladder, but an opportunity to buy an unfitted bespoke SS tank arose and we took it.