leaking caravan tank

i bought a Heavy Duty Plastic-Seal product from a leading brand and then spent twice its price in cleaning products.

Even after extensivly preparing the surfaces I could not get it to work upon three differant plastic objects... it is a pity that sellers dont seem to care to test thier product..

is the leak suitable enough that you can get a stainless-steel PK screw into it....

I think not-potable water is for not putting in a water-pipe .. and yep, you cant drink that....

i ended up taking my tank out. I noticed my tank had fancy internal lining and steel bottom plate...Reinstalling it gave me opportunity to improve the mounts...

Jules, some of our tanks have leaks where the thread has worn where the inlet and/or outlet fittings screw in. We have tried a variety of sealants and glues around these. If applied when dry, and the tank not refilled for a few days, silicon sealant stops the leak - until the fitting gets knocked out again. We have now purchased some tank Sikaflex, and the matching 'cleaners' - cost almost as much as a new tank, but we of course had to buy full tubes when we need only a tiny amount.

We have in the past coated the inside of leaking concrete home water tanks with a black tarry stuff - name eludes me. It is fine if no sun gets on it - otherwise it peels off. A nasty job inside a tank painting it - need a snorkel! We have abandoned these old concrete tanks and purchased smaller but more versatile poly water tanks.

I don't see how you could apply any paint-on sealant to the interior of a caravan water tank; it would be useless on the outside, and it doubt it would adhere to the tank anyway. This seems to be a similar type of product, but non bitumen based:

http://www.crommelin.com.au/pdfs/elastoseal-multi.pdf

Some people report success 'welding' small splits with a soldering iron and a black cable tie.

Motherhen

I have used Selleys All Clear around the inlet and outlet points on my tank and this seemes to have worked in the past. If you really wanted something industry specific try a phone call to Camec, they sell the tanks and may have an alternative for you.

If you want to find out at what point it stops leaking and you haven't got a tank gauge, put a clear plastic hose connected to your outlet (to your taps) on the tank and droop it down below the bottom of the tank and secure the top of the clear plastic tube above the top of the tank. This is eseentially a water tank gauge telling you how full or empty it is. When it stops dripping, see where the water level is, it may help in determing where the leak may be coming from without removing the whole tank???

Best of luck with it.
Trevor.

The problem with caravan water tanks is there nothing that will bond to the material they are made from. I have been going through the investigative stages of installing a grey water tank and I find out that these tanks can not be welded or have things glued to them.

When the corrugated inlet pipes leak they are caulked with the sealant used around the rest of the van. If your tank is split or holed may be you can make a sheet metal patch, apply some sealant and use self tappers to hold it in place. If it is one of the hose connectors then you may be able to caulk it, but I would not rely on it way out in the bush.

PeterD

a
We have a number of caravans and a few with leaking/split water tanks.
These have been fixed on the road even with water in the tanks.
Clean around the leak with sand paper or emery paper then use Repco or Selleys ribbon epoxy make sure that both colours are mixed completely then apply over the leak and at least about 10 mm further out.
Epoxy will also work on the plastic radiators that leak only you have to go and have a couple of beers to allow the epoxy to harden completely.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Ted