Water Tanks

F

Flatsflyer

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Feb 23, 2005
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Just returned from 7 week trip to the Keys. Developed a leak in one of my poly water tanks. The tanks where plumbed to each other, by time I found leak, the good tank had drained into the leaking tank. I seperated the tanks and we continued the trip. What is the best source for new tanks. IOld tanks where 100 gallons each, no need to carry that much water, thinking about going smaller and replacing the water heater at the same time. Has anyone used a tankless water heater. Seems a 10 gallon per minute tankless system would be fine as my water pump is only 4..5 gallons per minute.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
Do you really need that second tank? I'd consider just eliminating it. At 8 pounds per gallon, that is a lot of extra weight. I have a friend who installed a tankless water heater for his home. He loves it. Maybe someone has experience with one on their boat? I'd love to hear pros/cons.
 
Need to keep two tanks simply for "balance". Don't have room to put one on the center line, both tanks are now outboard in front of fuel tanks. To control list during trip, I keep tranfering fuel from one tank to the other. Cutting water in half, by my calculations will reduce overall weight but on a true displacement hull that doesn't really matter that much.
 
Tankless heaters for boats have one major problem... AMPS. a 20 amp heater will only raise water temp 17 depgres. A thirty amp unit 24 degrees. Home units will have like 120 amps. I tried one and it didnt even make the water uke warm.
 
dmunneke, that is very useful information! Thanks for enlightening us.
 
The propane-fired "instant" water heaters work very well (if you're adveturous, and are willing to have propane on your boat), but the electric ones don't work very well at all on a boat.

As far as tanks go, there are several companies who supply molded linear polyethylene tanks, including Raritan. Here's the Raritan tank catalog:

http://www.raritaneng.com/pdf_files/holding_tank/L165htw.pdf

Look for 100 gallon sizes on page 7. Note that they are all made in molds, and if the tank you need isn't listed there, then Raritan can't supply it, as there's no way to change the size and shape of the tank; the tanks' dimensions are dictated by the mold, they can't be changed.

For strictly custom-built tanks, to your supplied specifications, try Sea-Fab in Rhode Island (401) 921-4577 or (401) 499-4910.

BoatFix also carries tanks, but they're all much smaller - nothing in the size you're looking for (that I'm aware of).
 
Depending on the hot water heater that you get, you can get a kit (or make one yourself) to connect to your engine and use your engine water to heat the water inside the hot water heater.
 
i had an instant water heater at home a few years back, worked real well. i forgot how much it pulled, must have been quite a bit, but it shouldn't be a problem on a boat with a generator.

i really woudlnt reduce water capacity... there is never enough water on a boat !!! sometimes 250 USG isn't enough on my boat, it all depends on the male/female ratio :-) Last Columbus Day regatta 250 gallons last 2 1/2 days !

you don't have to fill the tanks if you don't need to, but if you have anough room to get a 100gal tank down there, i woudn't change capacity.
 
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