Inspection Plate in Fiberglass Holding Tank. Necessary?

[pressuredrop]

getting ready to glass a holding tank into the hull, i have glassed the panels (top and front - back his hull, sides are bulkheads), glassed on the plumbing fittings, with pvc valves on all the fittings so they can all be closed if the hoses need to be removed...

i have not yet made any kind of inspection plate in the top panel...

will i regret it if i dont?

i know the pie plates cant be trusted to be water tight, making my own with threaded rod, wing nuts, wood, glass and a gasket is do-able, but very labor intensive.

its not like a water tank that has to be cleaned every so often, once poo is in there i will be perfectly happy never going in there...

so will regret it if i dont add an inspection plate of some kind to the holding tank?

[Pete7]

Now you know the answer to this one already. Pound to a pinch of salt something nasty will block the inside if you don't fit a hatch.

These things are very popular this side of the pond. I have used them for years keeping water out and they will tolerate an internal pressure of something like 1.3 bar before they leak.

Whale Henderson Watertight Inspection Hatch TCL4

Pete

[delmarrey]

If you don't do it now, you'll be doing it later. Which would you like?

It's nice to be able to rinse down the sides with a garden hose nozzle.

[Patrick_DeepPlaya]

I am using stainless steel plates form SeaBuilt and they are easy to work with.

Seabuilt - Access Plate Systems

-p

[geoffr]

We have the Whale Henderson Watertight Inspection Hatch TCL4 on our water tanks.. work quite well (our water tanks are fiberglass (integrated into the hull). I would recommend using them... I have had to clean our our holding tank in the past...

Geoff.

[James S]

As others have said...its a real good idea to have one.

[Hudson Force]

I installed a new holding tank with an inspection port ten years ago. I've made a couple of "inspections" since that time, but not with a real need or any function resulting from my actions. Last year I did add a second vent to my holding tank on an existing hose barb port. This was to improve aerobic bacterial activity which dimenishes odors. I'll suggest that it would be worthwile to skip the access port and add it in the unlikely future event that there is a need. Sure, it's a nicer job on the new tank, but I'll propse that you may not find a need. I do use a tank monitoring system that does not require any sensors within the tank.