Fresh water tank refurbish

[jmupstate]

I just opened the freshwater tanks on my Irwin 30 Competition. There are 2 25 gal tanks. They were in surprisingly decent shape. I was thinking to re-plumb and re-coat them versus replace them. Any thoughts on re-coating them? FDA food grade epoxy? Other products? Please let me know if anyone has redone fresh water tanks versus replacing. Thank you!!

[Sailor647]

From the photo, your tank looks great. As long as it's not leaking, clean it and put the lid back on?

You can buy a water potable tank coating, but the tank has to be at least 50 gallons in order to pass the safety requirements of proper ppm.

[mark0978]

If it ain't broke, don't break it. Go sailing.

[jmupstate]

Hi guys, thanks for the feedback and I am certainly pleased they look quite good. There is some spider cracking as well as a few chips that will need repair. The lid is made of plywood with a coating on the tank side and it needs to be fully sanded and redone. I was hoping someone could recommend a paint, sealer, epoxy coating etc that would be good for a fresh water tank. I have seen some blogs posts using food grade epoxy, others using jotun tank guard from Europe (can only find it in 15L amounts). Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Best-

[Sailathon]

I would use new Plastimo flexible water tank
50 Liter is $89 at Defender. 75x75 cm
drill holes in old tank allowing fill line and water feed lines (to sink in direction of sink) so you can never worry about leakage. They also have 100 L which is 110x75 cm

Use top for cover only with just 2 screws to hold in place.

Note the next size up is 150 L 150x75 cm

You will need to see size of your area prior to buying.

Also install hooks into old tank ( epoxy them onto gelcoat)to hold corners in place since there are fabric loops at each corner.

[Scrimshaw4]

I'm in the process of resurfacing the inside of the lids to my water tanks. After a lot of searching it appeared that the only product that met both the potable water requirement and tank size criteria is MAX CLR. Even though they refer to it as a clear wood coating it can also be used on fiberglass. Their are a number of sites that show you how to apply it. The manufacturer is also very supportive in answering questions about the product and what your coverage requirements will be. This is a 2 part epoxy specifically made for prolonged potable water and food contact. You can get it on eBay and Amazon.

[Hoodsail]

I am also re-coating my bow fresh water tank as it was weeping small pieces of glass. It is about 87 gallons, 2 walls are the port/starbrd bow, top of tank is 1/3 inch fiberglass. I looked into installing a flexible tank but after speaking with (I think plastimo) i was concerned about chafe even when anchored in place, given my triangular shape. Found two water-quality coatings, Devoe's Bar-rust 233H that was recommended by Atomvoyages.com, who used to coat his fresh water fiber glass tank. But double check your volume or reach out to James at Atom, very responsive. Given the size of my tank (> 50 gal) i settled on liqua tile 1172 from Progressive Epoxy Polymers (Paul Oman). I have sawed off the top of my tank, but had to shift to prop issues before launch. Plan on inserting new inspection port, sand alittle, coat the interior, re-glass in the top - just havent settled on baffles, given when 1/2 full, about 44 gal weighs about 350 lbs, sloshing back/forth. thnks
ps i have no affiliation with either coating

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by mark0978

If it ain't broke, don't break it. Go sailing.

My thoughts too. What ever maintenance regime the boat has had treating those tanks, it works so just continue.

You might put an inspection hatch in whilst the top is off and possibly and tank gauge?

What do you plan to seal the lid down with?

Pete

[Hoodsail]

Fresh water tank refurbish wont stop me from sailing...new inspection port is 6" plate so planning on wetting out fiberglass over cut seam on the exterior of the top once back in place. And reach in thru the port to paint on coating across inside surface of seam. water gauge will be a translucent vertical line that will be fed off the fresh water line from the tank. since water seeks its own level I will be able to read water level off this line for estimate.

[MarlaK]

Hi! How did the liqui-tile work out? Does it have an odor?

[Hoodsail]

The liqui-tile has worked out so-so. Last season was the first in using my newly coated fiberglass bow tank and some small pieces of hardened liqui-tile were floating in my tank...there were a couple of small areas where the liqui-tile is pealing up...not certain why.
In prepping the inside, I removed a good sized portion of the tank top.....dried out the interior, then rough sanded the fiberglass interior...vacuumed out and used a tack cloth to see if any fine dust remained. Once I was satisfied the interior was prepped I painted on the liqui-tile. let the first coat dry and then applied a second...
At the end of last season I took a sample of my water and had it tested....no evidence of any toxins or VOC (volatile organic compounds). Water was fit to drink.
So going to see how the tank fares this season...I still have 1 gallon of bar-rust 233H that Atomvoyages.com recommended as he used it to line his fiberglass fresh water tank and it was good for many yrs...hope this helps. Dave

[Hoodsail]

ooops...never answered your question....No, no order from the liqui-tile. thnks

[MarlaK]

Thank you for your quick reply! I would be using this to paint the interior of our refrigerator. It is made up of FRP panels with vacuum insulation inside. Once we assembled the fridge and put the lid on it, it was gassing off really badly. Not sure what exactly is causing it. We have had it airing out for almost a year and still the problem. I want to paint it to create a barrier to block the odor. So mainly need a food safe epoxy paint that is durable with no odor when cured. Most products I came across work for much bigger applications. Our fridge is about 7 ft.³ so the liqua-tile looks like it might work. I will also check out the other product you mentioned.