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  1. #1

    Watertank baffle repair

    Went to install Maretron focus tube for NMEA2k tank sensor and found all 3 water tank baffles laying on the bottom of the tank. my guess is they've been there for a long time, fortunately no leaks.
    So we cut the floor out in the V berth, cut the top of the tank off, and into a unexpected project. From what we can tell they only were attached to the top of the tank with some bonding putty and screws from the top. Hatteras puttied and glassed over the screws on the tank top which is why it isn't leaking.
    Probably going to end up making a new tank top out of some G10 fiberglass board and add some holes to the baffles to lower the pressure when the water is passing thru, besides tabbing the sides as far down as we can reach.
    The good news is the tank was super clean, no algae at all.



    Water_tank_cutout.jpgWater_tank_close.jpgWater_tank_baffles.jpg
    CRICKET
    1966 HAT50C101
    Purchased 1985 12v71Ns
    Repowered 1989 with 8v92TI
    Repowered 2001 with 3406E

  2. #2

    Re: Watertank baffle repair

    Project got bigger.....
    Hard to believe the tank wasn't leaking.
    We must have found at least 25 screws screwed into the tank, all had to be original as they were from the outside in on the sides and top.
    Cut them all off and glassed them over with 1700 and epoxy.
    The entire inside of the tank will be coated with West epoxy before we seal it up.

    The last photo is the forward fuel tank with the Maretron sender we installed fall 2018.

    And to think I was going to just have fun adding a N2k gauge to the tank last weekend.......
    Attached Images
    Last edited by Cricket; 10-21-2019 at 03:44 PM.
    CRICKET
    1966 HAT50C101
    Purchased 1985 12v71Ns
    Repowered 1989 with 8v92TI
    Repowered 2001 with 3406E

  3. #3

    Re: Watertank baffle repair

    More pix
    Attached Images
    CRICKET
    1966 HAT50C101
    Purchased 1985 12v71Ns
    Repowered 1989 with 8v92TI
    Repowered 2001 with 3406E

  4. #4

    Re: Watertank baffle repair

    Thanks for posting up the in process.... always find these type projects interesting... hard to remember why you drained the swamp when you suddenly find yourself up to your a**hole in alligators....
    JD
    1976 58' LRC Hull #311
    "Miss Maggie"
    Riviera Dunes, FL

  5. #5

    Re: Watertank baffle repair

    Thanks for posting this and especially with the great pictures. It'll be a great help for others. I discovered my water tank (380 gal.) ruptured at the top aft corner after purchasing Aslan. I felt like Hatteras should have supported it more completely. Fortunately, the area was accessible w/o pulling anything more than inspection deck plates. As a result of your post, I ran my DEPSTECH inside the tank and confirmed everything is in place.

    Getting a look down in hard to reach bilges, as you have done, is invaluable. Is there any unsealed wood down there that could be a moisture or termite magnet?
    Semper Siesta
    Robert Clarkson
    ASLAN, 1983 55C #343
    Charleston, SC

  6. #6

    Re: Watertank baffle repair

    How dirty was the tank when you first cut it open? It looks like it was pretty clean!
    FTFD... i drive a slow 1968 41c381

  7. #7

    Re: Watertank baffle repair

    We always epoxy coat any uncoated wood we run into.

    I was surprised how clean the tank was, actually spotless. One of the guys that fishes with us has taken the water tank on as his chore for the last 10 years, he's also the one who crawled into it to do the grinding and glassing for the repair..
    CRICKET
    1966 HAT50C101
    Purchased 1985 12v71Ns
    Repowered 1989 with 8v92TI
    Repowered 2001 with 3406E

  8. #8

    Re: Watertank baffle repair

    In all of the years I've been involved with this site, I have never seen pics of a Hatteras tank opened up. This has to be the most interesting thing on this site in a long time. Much better than which varnish is best or what toilet do you like.
    Sky Cheney
    1985 53EDMY, Hull #CN759, "Rebecca"
    ELYC on White Lake--Montague, MI

  9. #9

    Re: Watertank baffle repair

    Are the tanks built somewhere else and then dropped (and glassed) into the hull?

    Or, are they part of the hull of the boat and built in?

    Jon
    Jonathan Brein
    1982 43' DCFB #550
    "Paragon"
    Chesapeake, Virginia

  10. #10

    Re: Watertank baffle repair

    The tanks are separate parts that are foamed into place, all of ours are centerline between the stringers, only the aft fuel tank, under the cockpit, is taller than the stringers. tank bottom must have been made in male molds since the insides are smooth, the lid is added and then glassed together. Have a pix that I will post a Hatt with all of the tanks ripped out sitting under the hall.

    Think the baffles broke off for a couple or reasons, the attachment to the top was using a very small flange with bonding putty and screws from the top and also a very small tab on the sides also with only bonding putty, and mainly because there was only a very small area for the water to move because of the very small cut out on each side and the bottom. Just not enough surface are was used for the tabbing.

    Interesting thing about the photo that has the fuel sender (yellow wire) is the 2 plates on the top of the tanks. For at least 15 years we've been chasing an intermittent small fuel leak that we just assumed must have been from a crack we couldn't find. last year while fixing a plumbing leak we noticed a damp spot on the tank top. so we cut a hole and found those 2 plates, the gaskets had rotted out just like on all the other tanks. My guess is they used the same tank on other boats, our front tank pulls and returns only from the aft side of the front tank.
    CRICKET
    1966 HAT50C101
    Purchased 1985 12v71Ns
    Repowered 1989 with 8v92TI
    Repowered 2001 with 3406E

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