Repair Aluminum Holding Tank

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fizerocks

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Feb 16, 2005
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16319
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I noticed as I was replacing my waste lines a couple of small spots in the bottom of the holding tank. I opened up the holes and cleaned the bottom of the tank.

Instead of replacing the entire tank which appears to be in overall good condition I was thinking about coating the bottom with 3M 5200 followed by coat of West System. Or should I just JB weld the holes and then used the West System along with some fiberglass fabric and build up the bottom.

If I have to replace the tank I know I will need to cut it out. The real problem would be finding a tank that will slip in between the deck and the engine.

Would like to hear some thoughts on the matter.

Thanks - James
 
The only way to repair this tank is with a poly tank!!!! Think about what you are putting in that tank, do you want it all over your bilge? The usefull life of a aluminum waste tank is 5-8 years.

If you are able to patch it how long before the next leak?

You can get custom tanks made to fit what ever space or size that you need, or you can get stock tanks in many sizes. I used dura-weld. They were very quick to ship and reasonable priced. You can do a google search and find thier web site.

Good Luck
 
Better to replace it when it's empty then to replace it after it empties itself.
 
Well, we got the old tank cut out this week. It was so thin after 15 years that it cut like butter although I wish there was just butter in the tank and not the other stuff. For the most part it was pretty easy. I lined my bilge with a bunch of old towels expecting the worse but I had not liquids in the tank just some solid matter which I think was just balled up TP that wasn't get sucked out during the pumpout process.

We ordered a new poly tank this week and are picking up all the new hoses tonight. Since have the project wrapped up sometime next week. I'll post photo's of everything, including my wife in the bilge pulling off the old lines. Quite funny to look at.
 
How the hell do you get your wife in the bilge to do any work, I can't even get my wife to sitck around when I am doing that kind of work!!!! But maybe it is better that she does not, I do not think she would like to see some of the repair bills.
 
My wife is the bomb. She loves just being out on the water. What she loves just as much though it a nice smelling boat so hence the reason she helped out with pulling off the lines. I have some great picutes of the whole process I'll be posting when I'm done. At only 4'11" she can squeeze into some pretty tight places.
 
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