water tank question

J

Jake B

New member
so on the plus three on the starboard side i have kicker, dual battery set up and myself. and usually just my wife on the port. over the last year i have used trim tabs to level boat as well as cheat myself more toward the middle to "even" us out.
I have read a lot of people suggest using the water tank as a ballast. and we are going to be (weather pending) doing three back to back 40 mile or so trips out and back. and I am planning on trying the water counter weight.
my question is that due to boat sitting for 14 years i am just now getting to fixing sink as it currently does not work right. and I am planning on putting 10 gallons of water at 8pounds and change per gallon should counter us well. but with no way to get water out of tank for a few months is there any concern or damage that can happen due to it being winter time? it doesn't get too cold here down into the 20's though. and I just don't want to mess anything up.
Also should i add bleach or anything to the water as the tank has sat empty for 14 years.
thanks for any advice.
 
If you want to put water in the tank during potentially freezing weather, here are a couple of options:

1) You can use the usually-pink (propylene glycol) RV type antifreeze. Only issue is that it takes a bit of rinsing to get it all back out.

2) In milder climates you can use cheap vodka as an antifreeze. It won't work in a very cold climate, but where you are is relatively mild I think. Easier to rinse out in spring (or less problematic if it doesn't :wink)

Either one of the above sit in many winterized boats over an entire winter season.

I suppose another option would be to siphon the tank overboard and empty it after each trip (if you are on a trailer). If you're in the water I still think you could probably drain the tank to the cockpit and then get it overboard from there? At least on the tank in my boat, the pickup was just a fitting in the lowest corner - not a pickup tube on top like I'm used to.

Sunbeam
 
Easy way to empty the water tank on the older boats is to undo the line to the pump and let it drain out--one of our boats actually had a T plug in the line and it was easy to drain.

I would not leave water in the tank for a long time. Definitely put a small amount of bleach into the tank before using it . There can even be some algae glowing in the tubing, so you want to check that out, and be sure and keep it clean. A Tea spoon of bleach in the tank is good. You can also use an aquarium type of pump to pull out the water. Lots of options.
 
Does the water tank have a clear plastic sight tube running up the side of the settee by the door? If so unfasten the tube and laying it in the cockpit will empty most of the tank. The other way to empty the tank without a working pump is to put clear vinyl hose over the spigot and drape it over the side to siphon the water out. Plug the water tank vent and blow into the filler to start the siphon.
Bleach works much better in an acidic environment when used to kill micro organisms. When it comes time to disinfect the tank a 50/50 bleach/vinegar mix works.
 
The early boats did not have the clean site tubes. I would not recommend mixing bleach and vinegar. It will produce chlorine gas....The bleach water solution will work fine.
 
I just connect a siphon line to the sink faucet pump a few strokes and the tank siphons out, I pump a few times and what little water is left does not seem to be a problem.
 
thanks for all the tips. I like the vodka idea. and will add a teaspoon of bleach as well.

Also agree on the no mixing of bleach and vinager, had a pt come in that had done that for cleaning house and it wreaked havoc on her lungs.

as far as how it is currently set up. it is plumbed from tank to sink and the breathers are hooked up as well. it has sat for a long time with no use so I "assumed" the rubber pieces in the sink to create suction were ruined. I was looking at putting a little foot pump in to replace that, but now am looking at a little electric water pump instead.we will see what I actually end up with.
 
One other thought/word of warning.

If your tank is like mine, the "pick-up" is at the lowest point in the tank (not a pick-up tube but just an external fitting in that low corner). Now I know my tank didn't leak when I got my boat and up until now, because it was over half full of water and nary a drop leaked. I then had the tank out to improve the mounting and to replace the hoses. Even though I was very careful with the fittings, I ended up with a leak where the pick-up boss is spin-welded to the tank. Stuff I'm finding online is all over the map about the feasibility and method of repair, so I may be getting a new tank (if so, it will have a dip tube!). I don't like the idea of an "iffy" repair because if there is a leak, because of the "direct" pick-up style, I could have 18 gallons of water inside the boat... ugh.

Luckily I tested my tank outside the boat before reinstalling it, so I found the leak with little consequence (except to my wallet).

Sunbeam
 
thanks for the heads up sumbeam. If i get time this week after work I will try and test tank before filling and going this weekend.
 
There are several methods of repair of the tanks--one is "welding" J P Whitney has both the heat guns and welding sticks for the various materials (such as poly propylene and polyethylene pas tics) As Sunbeam notes these outlets are put in by spinning them fast in a drill, and the heat welds them--heat will repair. Usually you can just heat with a heat gun/soldering iron and flow in new material--especially when spun welded.

The other is by ruffing up the surface, and then using an epoxy--such as G flex--and wrapping cloth saturated with epoxy around the leaking area. Both methods are far cheaper than a new tank and should last indefinitely.
 
Thanks for that info. I believe the tank is polyethylene (17-18 gallons in case anyone is interested). I had read there were repair sticks, but then there seemed to be mixed reviews on how effective they might be. I didn't feel great about gambling since the fitting is on the very bottom of the tank. In other words, if the repair fails, up to 18 gallons of water pours out into my cabin.

Where it is leaking is... hmm, how to describe it. Well let's say the "weld" is like a pancake of melted plastic spreading out around the boss. The leak is coming from under one of the outer edges of the "pancake." So welding seems like it would be better than G/flex, because I would have to destroy the whole weld (it seems like) to apply epoxy (although I do have some).

So have you had pretty consistently good results from these "welding" repairs? I'm not against a slight gamble, but less keen if it's something like 50/50, considering the potential consequences.

Sunbeam

PS: Although a new tank would hurt my pocketbook (and I had my hold down system all set up and sweet for the old tank, natch), I would feel better having a tank with all the fittings on top, so there would at least be that consolation (also I could either have the same amount of water and more stowage space; or more water and the same amount of stowage). Still if I knew I could fix the existing tank for sure, I would.
 
2) In milder climates you can use cheap vodka as an antifreeze. It won't work in a very cold climate, but where you are is relatively mild I think. Easier to rinse out in spring (or less problematic if it doesn't :wink)

That is an excellent tip!

Thank you for sharing!

Yak
 
thataway":1oao604h said:
Easy way to empty the water tank on the older boats is to undo the line to the pump and let it drain out--one of our boats actually had a T plug in the line and it was easy to drain.

I would not leave water in the tank for a long time. Definitely put a small amount of bleach into the tank before using it . There can even be some algae glowing in the tubing, so you want to check that out, and be sure and keep it clean. A Tea spoon of bleach in the tank is good. You can also use an aquarium type of pump to pull out the water. Lots of options.
Click to expand...

Actually, Bob, I'm glad you reminded us about that. In the spring, I will do that following CDC guidelines for water purification: "...To use bleach, add 1/8 teaspoon (or 8 drops; about 0.625 milliliters) of unscented liquid household chlorine (5-6%) bleach for each gallon of clear water (or 2 drops of bleach for each liter or each quart of water)..." (http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergen ... sonal.html)

On a related subject, I have to get into the top of my water tank next spring to remove numerous, large, black flecks in the tank that were so numerous that they clogged my faucet filter. So next year when I fill my tank, I plan to run the water through a filter as it goes into the tank. It will be slow, but it will eliminate this problem in the future. I wonder if other people have experienced similar issues with large black particles in their water? Does anyone have any idea what those particles could be? It is not rust or lime -- it's pitch black, and with an average size of .5mm to 1 mm.

Rich
 
C-Nile":iv0pga4o said:
[ I wonder if other people have experienced similar issues with large black particles in their water? Does anyone have any idea what those particles could be? It is not rust or lime -- it's pitch black, and with an average size of .5mm to 1 mm.
Click to expand...

That's one I haven't experienced myself, and I've picked up water in some questionable looking places. Sure would be interesting to know what it is though.
 
Sunbeam":t8tcm2gl said:
C-Nile":t8tcm2gl said:
[ I wonder if other people have experienced similar issues with large black particles in their water? Does anyone have any idea what those particles could be? It is not rust or lime -- it's pitch black, and with an average size of .5mm to 1 mm.
Click to expand...

That's one I haven't experienced myself, and I've picked up water in some questionable looking places. Sure would be interesting to know what it is though.
Click to expand...

I don't know where I picked it up, but you got me thinking to save some samples after they are removed from the tank.
 
We had trouble with algae last summer in all of the tank tubing that was exposed to light. I replaced all of the tubing including the larger diameter fill line. I did away with the sight level tubing because it was the biggest culprit. I used new heater hose for the exposed lines which prevents photosynthesis from occurring.
 
well did not have time to take tank out and do an inspection on it, but did put 10 gallons in it and it seems to be dry this am. I also went ahead and "attempted" to use sink as this is the first time with water in it and after 5 mins of moving the hand lever nothing came out. so I will be replacing that in the next moth or so.
 
Jake B":3i59z0fq said:
...after 5 mins of moving the hand lever nothing came out. so I will be replacing that in the next moth or so.
Click to expand...

I imagine you may have (or install) a pump for a washdown, since you fish a lot, so that could also supply your galley sink, but I'll just put in a "prop" for the Baby Whale "manual" (pedual?) foot pump. I like it because it doesn't make any motor/pump type noise and because it's easy to conserve water with it. The foot operation leaves both hands free for sink-chore use. (That said my water tank also has the washdown pump hooked to it, with a hose in the cockpit, and that's handy to have for emptying the tank, etc. But I still like the Baby Whale for daily galley sink use (had them in the head on other boats.)

Sunbeam
 
kennharriet":5sw76cf8 said:
We had trouble with algae last summer in all of the tank tubing that was exposed to light. I replaced all of the tubing including the larger diameter fill line. I did away with the sight level tubing because it was the biggest culprit. I used new heater hose for the exposed lines which prevents photosynthesis from occurring.
Click to expand...

I would be reluctant to use "heater hose" unless it is certified food grade or safe for drinking water. I would wonder about the taste--most heater hose I have "sipped thru" had an objectionable taste. Perhaps a filter would help this. But we have not had any significant algae problem in our boats in over 60 years of boating--drain, shock when necessary, and keep the water clean.
 
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