Repairing steel tanks?
 

Hello, all.

I have a steel hulled cruising boat, presently in NL. The ship is
eight years old. The fresh water filters are filling with flakes of
rust, suggesting that the epoxy coating of the tanks has failed, and
needs to be cleaned out.

This raises a number of questions:

+ Has anyone else experienced this?

+ What was the solution?

The tanks were made of ordinary steel, painted with an epoxy paint,
according to the manufacturer. In retrospect, perhaps they should
have been made of stainless steel.

The shipyard says they will have to remove the flooring of the head
and most of the cabinetry to access the tanks. I'm thinking that it
may be easier to haul the boat and cut a hole in the bottom of the
hull to access the tanks properly.

What are your thoughts? Obviously this needs to be solved or the
ship will die.

I have asked, but not yet received an answer from the manufacturer
on whether the tanks are mounted separately in the interior of the
hull or if they are "waist" tanks, that is, using the hull for part
of their boundary. In the former case it would be a matter of
cutting out the existing tanks and replacing them with stainless
steel replacements. In the latter it is a matter of cutting out the
rusting parts, installing new separate stainless tanks, and then
accessing the replaced hull portion to prepare and paint it.

Not a pretty picture in any regard.

I would deeply appreciate your insights on this matter.

Best regards, Andy

The idea of cutting open the hull, repairing/replacing the tanks and welding
the skin and frames back is quite feasible IMHO. I watched a similar
operation carried out on a US Coast Guard cutter in San Francisco when a
large generator had to be rebuilt. (She was in the dock next to ours when I
was installing some equipment on Range Tracker.)

Roger

http://home.earthlink.net/~derbyrm

"C. Andrews La Varre" wrote in message
...
Hello, all.

I have a steel hulled cruising boat, presently in NL. The ship is
eight years old. The fresh water filters are filling with flakes of
rust, suggesting that the epoxy coating of the tanks has failed, and
needs to be cleaned out.

snip

The shipyard says they will have to remove the flooring of the head
and most of the cabinetry to access the tanks. I'm thinking that it
may be easier to haul the boat and cut a hole in the bottom of the
hull to access the tanks properly.
snip

I have a steel hulled cruising boat, presently in NL. The ship is
eight years old. The fresh water filters are filling with flakes of
rust, suggesting that the epoxy coating of the tanks has failed, and
needs to be cleaned out.

This raises a number of questions:

+ Has anyone else experienced this?

+ What was the solution?

The tanks were made of ordinary steel, painted with an epoxy paint,
according to the manufacturer. In retrospect, perhaps they should
have been made of stainless steel.

Hi
Is there not an inspection hatch above the water tank as is normal with
most boats ?
If there is, then there is a simple answer which is to fit a flexible
"pillow" water tank inside your existing tank. I did this with my boat
after cursing the fact that I did not fit a stainless tank, when
fitting out, but then we all have PhD's in Hindsight.
My "tank" is a triangular configuration, 150 gal capacity and fitted
inside my existing tank. Five years on and so far no problems.
It's not a cheap option, but compared to ripping out a lot of fixtures
and fittings was cost effective.

Bryan

Oooh. Great idea. Thanks!

wrote:
I have a steel hulled cruising boat, presently in NL. The ship is
eight years old. The fresh water filters are filling with flakes of
rust, suggesting that the epoxy coating of the tanks has failed, and
needs to be cleaned out.

This raises a number of questions:

+ Has anyone else experienced this?

+ What was the solution?

The tanks were made of ordinary steel, painted with an epoxy paint,
according to the manufacturer. In retrospect, perhaps they should
have been made of stainless steel.


Hi
Is there not an inspection hatch above the water tank as is normal with
most boats ?
If there is, then there is a simple answer which is to fit a flexible
"pillow" water tank inside your existing tank. I did this with my boat
after cursing the fact that I did not fit a stainless tank, when
fitting out, but then we all have PhD's in Hindsight.
My "tank" is a triangular configuration, 150 gal capacity and fitted
inside my existing tank. Five years on and so far no problems.
It's not a cheap option, but compared to ripping out a lot of fixtures
and fittings was cost effective.

Bryan

Thanks for the confirmation. Steel is very functional it turns
out...I've been impressed with the work I've seen in the NL. Easily
as smooth and attractive as plastic when done right, and they do it
right. And a lot stronger...

Cheers, Andy

Roger Derby wrote:
The idea of cutting open the hull, repairing/replacing the tanks and welding
the skin and frames back is quite feasible IMHO.