Water tank split. Again

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Alcyone

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Our plastimo flexible water tank spilt again at the weekend, giving us water in the bilges and quite an uneasy feeling on a longish passage. This one (110l, triangular) lasted about 15 months. The previous one about the same.

So I won't be buying another.

Any recommendations for rigid tanks and or tank suppliers? I reckon 60-70l would be fine, we only filled the 110l one infrequently.

Cheers.
 
Alcyone said:
Any recommendations for rigid tanks and or tank suppliers? I reckon 60-70l would be fine, we only filled the 110l one infrequently.
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The obvious options for purpose-built tanks are Lee Sanitation and Tek Tanks. LeeSan built a holding tank for us last year and they did a very good job.

Alternatively, if you can use an off-the-shelf tank from Vetus or wherever that would of course be cheaper. After buying a magnificent new engine the budget may be a bit tight!
 
Alcyone said:
Our plastimo flexible water tank spilt again at the weekend, giving us water in the bilges and quite an uneasy feeling on a longish passage. This one (110l, triangular) lasted about 15 months. The previous one about the same.

So I won't be buying another
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Blast. I was just about to buy one of these.

Actually, thinking about it ....

Hooray. I was just about to buy one of these.
 
I'm considering the last rites for a Crewsaver flexible tank which has been in operation for between 15 and 17 years ! I suspect the inner lining is delaminating and may be the source of Little Black Bits in the sink.

Crewsaver at SIBS were quite adamant that it was out of warranty, especially as their last models were produced in about 1995. :eek: ;)

There must be flexible water bladders in the commercial world with a better performance than your P******* one of 15 months. I'll ferret around and see what I can find. Otherwise it's out with the tape measure and an enquiry to Tek-Tanks.

Oh yus. Our P******* flexible tank did not like being left in the bilge with a covering of dieselly water when the boat was sojourning for a long while on her won in France. The plastic became heavily discoloured and hard, and lost all inclination to live up to the word 'flexible".

I believe there was a batch of flexible water tanks which were not quite up to spec about 2 - 3 years ago. There may be some still in stock rooms, or recently sold. Matt Burt at Plastimo is very knowledgeable about the latest versions supplied by them which are to a much higher functional standard apparently. "Matt.Burt@navimo.co.uk"
 
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Alcyone said:
Our plastimo flexible water tank spilt again at the weekend, giving us water in the bilges and quite an uneasy feeling on a longish passage. This one (110l, triangular) lasted about 15 months. The previous one about the same.

So I won't be buying another.

Any recommendations for rigid tanks and or tank suppliers? I reckon 60-70l would be fine, we only filled the 110l one infrequently.

Cheers.
Click to expand...
I had a Plastimo one that lasted about 18 months then I saw the light and went to Duratank for a custom made flexible tank.
 
Thanks for the answers.

I'm not into slagging gear off for the sake of it, so I'll just tell it as it is. After our first Plastimo flexible tank split, I made sure that the locker it was in was free from splinters and so on. I lined it with plenty of material, and then laid the old tank, in its sheath on top of that. I assumed that would be fine, so I was very annoyed to find the 'new' one leaking again this weekend after just over a year.

Yes, new engine, so money is tight. It never rains, but it pours. Poured out of that tank, anyhow.

I'll look up some of your recommendations. Thanks, as always.
 
Vetus do a similar tank, but more expensive and supposedly better. Hoped to have a look at one today at SIBS but did not have it on display. I have had reasonable service out of Plastimo tanks - and they are cheap to replace. Not fun when they leak though.

Tek Tanks are the custom tanks of choice if you have the space to fit a custom tank (ie access) but pricey. Few boats can use standard size tanks which are inevitably cheaper, but great if you can.
 
I had a custom diesel tank from Tek Tanks. Very good service, and a beautifully made tank exactly to my model, but a price to match!

Pete
 
dmmbruce said:
My two Plasti tanks are finally looking old after more than 18 years (since before I had the boat). The problems seem to be at the hose fixings top and bottom, not the tank itself.

Could this be the same in your case?.
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Nope.

The first one had a tiny split on a seam. I checked the hose fittings on the sceond one yesterday, and they are dry - the underside of the tank is wet. I sus[pect the seam again, but tbh, will probably not spend long on it.

I've decided to fit a standard rectangular one, about 80l. The triangular base in the forecabin locker can be cut, allowing me to construct a new base lower down on which to mount the new tank. I'll sikaflex battens to the hull, screw in a new floor and drop the tank on that. I'll use the cut out hole in the original floor to secure the tank, with plenty of padding to prevent abrasion. The bonus is, I will get most of the triangular space taken up by the old tank as storage.
 
It amazes me they still sell them.Both of mine failed ten years ago.That means this has been a problem for at least that long.I'll never buy one from them again.
 
If its any help !

Bought my replacement freshwater water tank from a company on ebay,sent them the dimensions,where and what size the connnections had to be,what it was going to be used for (gauge of plastic?) and it turned up 3 days later about £90.00 delivered.Been in about two years,oddball dimesions because it had to go in via a blimming impossible gap between hull and fule tank.It was just that little to squeeze it in. bit deformable.
Think they are well priced simply because they do all sorts of tanks not just marine.
 
oldgit said:
Bought my replacement freshwater water tank from a company on ebay,sent them the dimensions,where and what size the connnections had to be,what it was going to be used for (gauge of plastic?) and it turned up 3 days later about £90.00 delivered.Been in about two years,oddball dimesions because it had to go in via a blimming impossible gap between hull and fule tank.It was just that little to squeeze it in. bit deformable.
Think they are well priced simply because they do all sorts of tanks not just marine.
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Hi
I know this was a while ago but did OG ever post the name of the company?

Nick
 
Alcyone said:
Any recommendations for rigid tanks and or tank suppliers? I reckon 60-70l would be fine, we only filled the 110l one infrequently.
Click to expand...

I have 2 x 220 ltr water tanks and 2 x 140 ltr fuel tanks, all in rigid plastic made by Vetus. They have been in for 11 years and subjected to a lot of bouncing about while part full, the worst situation for a tank. They are all in excellent condition. The only criticism I would level against them is that the filler necks have a 90° bend with no straight option so particularly the fuel tanks are very slow to fill.
 
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