Tank insides painted....Finally

Sorry for not posting on the sanding and filling and sanding and... well you get the picture. Well actually you didn't get any pictures because the tanks "looked" the same at the end of each day of sanding and filling and sanding so I did not bother to take any pictures. It was kind discouraging actually. But it's all done now.

                                                                               



Here is an overall shot of the 4 tanks all nice and brilliant white inside. The blue at the edges is blue painters tape to keep the epoxy paint off the fiberglass where I want to attach the tops with polyester resin and fiberglass. The epoxy adheres really well to the cured polyester resin, but the polyester resin will not adhere to the cured epoxy.
They look a lot bigger in white.  I calculate the forward center-line tank to hold about 115 gallons, it is almost 36"  deep at the forward end. Each side tank is about 135 gallons, and the upper center-line tank should hold about 100 gallons. Total tankage is 485 gallons, enough for a few days....depends who's showering.

Port side tank looking forward. You can see all the baffles with the newly cut holes to relieve the pressure on the baffles from the water sloshing forward and aft. The idea of the baffles is to slow the water down so it does not build up momentum like a wave does. This is only a problem when the tanks are not completely full.

Forward center tank looking aft. The finish really came out very smooth with no little recesses or crevices to trap dirt.
I found this Sherwin-Williams Macro-Poxy 646PW which is specially formulated for potable water tank linings. It is a 1 to 1 ratio 2-part mixture which uses Zylene as a thinner. Definitely a full respirator  and fans operation. Went on really well with a 6" x 1/4" nap slim roller and a brush for the corners. I put 2 coats on just to be sure. A small hand mirror worked well to see all the undersides of the baffle tops as well as down into the "pit" at the forward end of the lower center tank.

Upper center tank. This is the one that rises up through the cabin sole to just under the center-line bunk. There will be banks of drawers under the bunk on 3 sides. The rudder post and steering ram reside under the head of the bunk which is at the aft end of the cabin. You can see the "weep" holes at the bottom center and at each lower corner of the baffle. There is only 1 lift tube  per tank located at the lowest point in the tank. The weep holes allow all the water to drain from the other compartments of the tank to the lift tube.

OK last shot of the tanks. This is the starboard tank looking forward. This really is a big mile stone for me. I was beginning to think I would never get out of sander hell. But all the work seems to have paid off in a really smooth finish. Hopefully one that will last a long time. It will not be easy to remove the tops to redo this paint work.
My plan is to fill the tanks with water before putting the tops on permanently just to make sure there are no leaks.....

Now on to the access openings in the tops.

Fairing tank Interiors

Decided to fair ( smooth out) the interior tank surfaces. I believe it will make it much easier to keep the tanks clean . I could envision any dirt that got into the tank settling in to all those little depressions left by the cloth pattern.  At least the is what I keep telling myself while I am grinding pasting and sanding for....

Notice the lovely grey color. It makes a wonder fine dust when you grind it. Luckily it does not itch, so long as you do not grind or sand through to the fiberglass underneath. 

Close up of the forward end of the Starboard tank.
I am really only trying to fill in the cloth texture and small dips.

Not much else to say except grind on....

Hope to get the 2 side tanks done on Thursday. Tomorrow I go to mom's.

Continueing with the tank tops

Work proceeding on the center line tank tops. Only got a half day in today. I had to go buy more materials...

The first picture shows the 3 lower tops in place. Getting there.

I added an layer of biax material over the ledge at the front end of the port and starboard tanks. I also started the fairing work on the inside tank walls. All that grinding dust makes a very good filler for fairing. I just sift it through a 14 x14 window screen to remove all the big stuff. I want the insides of the tanks to be very smooth which will make it much easiner to keep them clean.

Here a shot of the upper and lower tank tops. The upper top is new plywood with the bottom side glassed.  The lower one is the lower center top with the glass work done on the top side.
Next step will be to cut and finish the access port holes. then I will fair both sides in prep for painting.

Another shot of the upper center tank top. Ready to trim the glass where it overhangs the ply.





Onward!!