Waste Tank Leaking at Bottom

BirdieNumNum

Member
Mar 16, 2019
38
Boat Info
310 Sundancer 2000
Engines
Twin 5.7 Mercruisers w/Bravo III Drives
2000 319 w/5.7/B3s. The bottom of my waste holding tank is leaking. The waste mechanic and I looked at it yesterday. It is definitely coming from the bottom, not the top. The next step is to remove the waste tank, which I don't think will be too difficult. I called Sealand/Dometic and they said there have been issues with the bottom cracking at the fasteners. I called Environmental Marine Services in FL and they said I need to send pictures of the holding tank and Sealand/Dometic will have to make a new one because that model is not in production anymore. The leak is getting worse. Am I on the right track?
 
Sounds spendy if you are considering a custom tank?? Can you find a closest equivalent that is stocked someplace? I've also heard mentioned on this site some kind of insert that can be used instead of replacing the tank. I'm not an expert but perhaps a little more internet searching could save you some boat bucks.
 
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2000 319 w/5.7/B3s. The bottom of my waste holding tank is leaking. The waste mechanic and I looked at it yesterday. It is definitely coming from the bottom, not the top. The next step is to remove the waste tank, which I don't think will be too difficult. I called Sealand/Dometic and they said there have been issues with the bottom cracking at the fasteners. I called Environmental Marine Services in FL and they said I need to send pictures of the holding tank and Sealand/Dometic will have to make a new one because that model is not in production anymore. The leak is getting worse. Am I on the right track?

I'ld start calling local surplus boat dealers. There are lots of boats out there. Seems only reasonable one would have a tank fitting your application with just a bit of modifications. Find some boat repair guy that's good at making things work. See what he comes up with.
As Stee6043 pointed out; custom anything is pricey. And usually takes a lot of time.
Good luck
 
Yes, that was a somewhat common failure back then. It was a problem that arose during the making of the tank. However, all of the ones I've replaced (including my own), it was a simple swap. There's nothing special to your tank - it's the same 28g tank that is used in lot's and lot's of boats. The newer 28g tank from Dometic should plop right in. If you want, upgrade to the tank that has the vac tank built into (onto) the holding tank and regain some real estate in the engine room. Take a look at Dometic's site. I can't comment on the retailer you're talking about, but Northeast Sanitation is good to deal with - they really know their s--- ;)
 
Don't know what your engine room looks like but if you could take it out Defender has Dometic tanks for under $400. Have a 29 gallon tank in mine and I could remove it if necessary. I'd even go down to 25 gallon to make a new one fit. Depends on your setup and usage though.
 
Don't know what your engine room looks like but if you could take it out Defender has Dometic tanks for under $400. Have a 29 gallon tank in mine and I could remove it if necessary. I'd even go down to 25 gallon to make a new one fit. Depends on your setup and usage though.
Just to avoid confusion for anyone reading through this thread... yours is a 28g tank. Probably just hit the wrong key on the keyboard.
 
Thank you all for the responses. I just received a quote from Environmental Marine for just the tank, all of the grommets and drop shipping for a total of $516.32. I'm going to look around for something lesser expensive but I'll probably end up going this route.
 
Thank you all for the responses. I just received a quote from Environmental Marine for just the tank, all of the grommets and drop shipping for a total of $516.32. I'm going to look around for something lesser expensive but I'll probably end up going this route.

That's not nearly as bad as I expected. If that's a true drop-in you'd potentially be hours of labor ahead by not having to fab/relocate existing plumbing.
 
So, an update. I ordered the tank and grommets. It will be here early next week. I had a 'waste system engineer' lined up to do the work and I was going to help but he crapped out on me. Looks like I'm doing it myself. I'm not worried though, it looks fairly easy. Since the waste tank will be out, what else do I need to replace while it's out?
 
So, an update. I ordered the tank and grommets. It will be here early next week. I had a 'waste system engineer' lined up to do the work and I was going to help but he crapped out on me. Looks like I'm doing it myself. I'm not worried though, it looks fairly easy. Since the waste tank will be out, what else do I need to replace while it's out?

Your fart-filter (although thats relatively easy to replace with the tank in place)
 

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