yogi
New Member
we are replacing a leaking water tank and pumped out and dried the water tank compartment and water keeps oozing from the floor below. where can we cut a hole to drain the water below the tank floor
yogi
- Thread starter yogi
- Start date
- Oct 6, 2006
- 12,153
- Boat Info
- 1996 450DA
- Engines
- 3116 Caterpillars
Is there a question ?
The tank sits on a false bottom in the storage compartment. It isn't structural; it is just there to finish off the hull and give you a useable surface. The area under the floor is filled with expandable foam that gets saturated when a water tank leaks. YOu will need to open up the compartment by cutting a hole in the floor. Find a suitable deck plate like this:
http://www.beckson.com/dckplt.html
A 4" deck plate works nicely and requires a 4-1/2" cut out. Next get a 4-1/2" hole saw and cut the hole for the deck plate to fit into. Position the deck plate on the centerline of the boat a few inches in front of the water tank since the hull is deepest at that point. Then begin drying out the area under the floor. You will have to chip/gouge out the soaked foam you can reach then use a shop-vac to evacuate the water. This will take a matter of weeks, not minutes, because as you lower the water level under the floor, more water drains out of the remaining foam that you cannot reach thru the inspection hole. For this reason, I really like the clear cover deck plates because you can see thru them. You don't even have to remove the cover to see if you need to vacuum more water out....just remove the hatch and glance at thru the deckplate.
The foam is just a sound deadener, not floatation so you don't need to worry about replacing it when you are done.
The tank sits on a false bottom in the storage compartment. It isn't structural; it is just there to finish off the hull and give you a useable surface. The area under the floor is filled with expandable foam that gets saturated when a water tank leaks. YOu will need to open up the compartment by cutting a hole in the floor. Find a suitable deck plate like this:
http://www.beckson.com/dckplt.html
A 4" deck plate works nicely and requires a 4-1/2" cut out. Next get a 4-1/2" hole saw and cut the hole for the deck plate to fit into. Position the deck plate on the centerline of the boat a few inches in front of the water tank since the hull is deepest at that point. Then begin drying out the area under the floor. You will have to chip/gouge out the soaked foam you can reach then use a shop-vac to evacuate the water. This will take a matter of weeks, not minutes, because as you lower the water level under the floor, more water drains out of the remaining foam that you cannot reach thru the inspection hole. For this reason, I really like the clear cover deck plates because you can see thru them. You don't even have to remove the cover to see if you need to vacuum more water out....just remove the hatch and glance at thru the deckplate.
The foam is just a sound deadener, not floatation so you don't need to worry about replacing it when you are done.
Chris Nowell
Active Member
- Nov 28, 2011
- 1,520
- Boat Info
- '05 622 Hardtop w Alaska Bulkhead, 270 Mercury Marine sport inflatable, pulled by a 6.0L Silverado
- Engines
- 4.3 MPI Merc w Alpha I drive, 5 hp 4 stroke Merc aux.
And, welcome to CSR. Pics???????????:grin:
