[papa1534]

i have a leak in my fresh water tank and can not see where it is leaking from. new to this forum. has anyone experienced this problem? does anyone have any ideas how to fix? Naturaly the tanks are not acessable without cutting open the cabin floor. there are two tanks any idea how i might seperate the tanks?

rick Grauer
rickgrauer@keenecribs.com

[hiccup]

I have heard of people trying to patch holes or even using bladders inside the tanks, but never successfully. I think your best bet is to cut up the floor. Others have done that and posted pictures. Otherwise you could find an alternative location to fit a new tank (likely a lot smaller).

[nhcorwin]

i have a leak in my fresh water tank and can not see where it is leaking from. new to this forum. has anyone experienced this problem? does anyone have any ideas how to fix? Naturaly the tanks are not acessable without cutting open the cabin floor. there are two tanks any idea how i might seperate the tanks?

rick Grauer
rickgrauer@keenecribs.com

Rick,
Are you sure its the tank and not a hose or fitting. I had the hose which feeds the head leak  on my 35 open because it had rubbed against a partition hole as it ran out from under the sink to the head. You could also run the water out and pour in pink non toxic winterizer and see where it ends up.
We can also talk privately. I think you have my number.
Nick

[Jack Aperio]

I have the same problem with my centerline tank in my 4000 Express. It was leaking about one cup of water per day. I’m still researching my options, but currently believe tearing up the floor is most likely going to be necessary. The one tank repair company I spoke with specializes in fuel tanks where pitting from contaminants is typically only along the bottom. With water tanks, the pitting can be throughout. I’m guessing the tank also has baffles across it so installing a bladder would require tearing up the floor anyway to get access for their removal.

In the interim, I decided to just isolate the leaking tank from the tank on the outside of the starboard stringer. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to install a shut off valve in the hose connecting the two tanks. This still leaves me 72 gallons of water and I can always open the valve for longer trips if I don’t mind dealing with the one cup of water loss per day.

[Jack Aperio]

Here is my current repair plan. Open up the floor in front of the freezer to gain access to the top of the centerline water tank. I would use my very expensive yard (but worth it) to replicate the other two panels adjacent to it and hopefully leave a factory look. Step two would be to hire a tank cleaning and repair company to make an opening in the top of the tank and prep for and apply a food safe epoxy coating to seal the tank. (I did confirm that the tank does not have baffles).

This is the best plan that I’ve come up with thus far where I can keep the factory capacity and weight distribution of the vessel. Of course this plan isn’t cheap so I thought I would throw it out there and see if anyone has tackled this issue before or if there are any better suggestions.

[hiccup]

Just offering my two cents to help you think through the pros/cons of different approaches. That does not look like an easy job. I agree gaining as much access to the top of the tank makes sense. I would want to hear the yard's plan for creating the cutout and hatch in the floor. I would expect the best way would be to create a template and cut it out with a router. If that isn't done correctly it will never look right.

But before that I would want a complete inspection of the inside of the tank using cameras. If the tank has a few small pits, and they will be accessible with the access you will create, your plan might be a good one. However, if the entire bottom and/or sides are pitting then I would not expect that idea to work well. In that case I would look into having a bladder made. I would try reaching out to fuel bladder manufacturers to see if they have any options. Best of luck and keep us posted.