Topic: Water Tank
Christopher ...
The water tank on my 1973 Contessa (#61) was pumping out tiny chips of white stuff, like old flaking paint or perhaps chipping fibreglass. I could've re-epoxied the inside but I hate working inside with all those chemicals, not to mention working upside down trying to insure that everthing was coated.
So I installed A FLEXIBLE WATER TANK -- Plastimo, 6 gallons purchased on the web for about $48 I think (www.plastimo, etc), their smallest. They also have a 10 gallon but I don't really need that. These water tanks are built of very heavy material and have a heavy duty outer cover that keeps the chafe away from the rubberized tank. The fittings are also impressive -- good quality, nicely fitted heavy plastic. I was persuaded when I learned that Alaskan fishermen routinely use Plastimo flexible tanks for their fresh water supply ... and sometimes for spare diesel supply. (hmmm)
The six gallon fit fine inside the old tank. I cut the existing 6" diameter inspection hole to 10" (ooops, was it 12"?) and installed a new plastic inspection port, readily available from any marine store/supplier, the kind that screws into a base that, itself, is screwd into the top of the water tank. I rolled the flex tank tightly so it could get into the tank, unrolled it once inside and flattened it out. I then attached the intake and output hose fittings (should've done that before I inserted the tank, sigh). Then I attached the input and outflow hoses (using stainless hose clamps), filled the tank and watched for leaks. I used the existing deck mounted fill hose since it was handy to fill the tank via a deck plate from a gas dock hose. The Plastimo fill-fittings accomodate only a 3/4" hose, I believe, while the old deck fill hose was about 1 1/2" so I pushed a new 3/4" hose thru the old hose.
The flexible tank has worked fine, sans leaks.
Don Chambers (captnemoATku.edu)