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.
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.)
"C. Andrews La Varre" <alavarre@nospam.ids.net> wrote in message news:429A36E0.4030504@nospam.ids.net...> 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.
C. Andrews La Varre 1 June 2005 15:56:22 [ permanent link ]
Oooh. Great idea. Thanks!
bryanheathfield@gmail.com 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.>
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.>
C. Andrews La Varre 1 June 2005 15:59:27 [ permanent link ]
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.
