Anyone know of someone that will custom fabricate a freshwater tank to spec, with fittings?

I would inquire around boat places. Boaters always have need for custom tanks.

Try PPL. I got a holding tank from them some time ago, and they were great to work with.
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/p...ing-sanitation-1.htm

Mark, If you need a special, non-production size, shape or fitting layout, and you're semi-handy, it's relatively easy to make your own with epoxy & glass cloth. Essentially:

1. With foam block stock (2"+/-), glue-up panels to desired shape (less about 1/2" overall final size))

2. Chamfer corners w/ surfoam tool to about 1/2" radius to stress-relieve the corners and make lay-up easier.

3. Skim coat exterior w/ drywall mud & sand...apply paste wax for bond-breaker.

4. Lay-up two fiberglass layers - cloth & mat.

5. After cure, cut in half with saber-saw, remove foam, lay-up interior stiffeners (cloth over paper-towel tubes), cut holes & plumb fittings, etc.

6. Jig-up tank halves & apply two, 6" wide layers of cloth/mat at cut line to reassemble tank, plus extra cloth reinforcement at strap support points.

Googling for experimental aircraft sites will bring up some projects....Before ethanol, lots of fuel tanks were made this way.......West Marine is a good material source, but there's plenty others out there.

PS: Enjoyed your blog!

I have made motorcycle gas tanks that way, with one difference. Rather than cut the tank in half, I just cut a panel in the bottom large enough for my hand and material removal. In an RV water tank, I would suggest cutting a hole in the top about the size of one of those round plastic hatch plate. (not sure of the proper nomenclature)

After I had clawed and scraped out as much of the styrofoam as as I could, I sloshed a little acetone around to get the rest.

I found that when building a tank, it was best to incorporate all bosses, bungs and mounting fittings in the original lay-up, rather than depend on the less secure secondary adhesion properties of attaching them later.

I used mat for flat areas and cloth for curves, edges and corners.

I opened up the bottom of the gas tank for appearance reasons, but if you open up the top of a water tank, however you close the hole will not be under an pressure or gravity stress.

I had great success with Shell Epon 828 with liquid DTA as a catalyst, but there might be a better product out now. Do not be tempted to speed things up by using too much catalyst. If you are working in cold, let the UV in the sun help the cure. Accelerating cure by heat sets up internal stresses that will shorten the life of the tank.

Having said all that, do some research on the toxicity of an epoxy water container. 828 used to be FDA approved for contact with food, but I don't know if that included drinking water storage or if there is new information out. Plastics are getting a bad rap lately on water storage. Or consider not drinking tank water. We don't.

On an unrelated note:

quote:

See our webpage at http://markestep.20fr.com
Check out our blog, http://road-trippin.blogspot.com/

I've just spent over an hour checking out Mark & LeAnna's blog and homepage. If you have some time read up on his interior transformation.

http://markestep.20fr.com/index.html

Use the Before and After links on the top of the page.

They're living the life I wish I could.

http://road-trippin.blogspot.com

quote:

Originally posted by Mark Estep at his homepage:
I have a tagline on the bottom of my emails that says...."Life is short - get out there and live it!"...and we are going to do just that! So come hell or high water...we'll be out there.

Good for you!!! Keep us updated and don't be a stranger.

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

bill h - As I,m spending winter at a lake in Texas, I guess a boat place would make a good place to start.

Danny Z - I looked at ppl's before and didn't see anything even close to the size I'm needing. It seems that production tanks are, for the most part, longer than wide. I need 24x24x12. Does ppl's do custom sizes?

Lee - Ordinarily I'd say that would be the way I'd go, but as I said, I'm in a park & we no longer have a stick house in which to do this kind of work.

Bill N.Y. - I'm glad you like the blog. I don't devote nearly enough attention to it. I wish I were the type of person to post on it more often, but...
Anyway, I guess I can fall back on "Quality not quantity", or "Less is more" or something like that.

The homepage is in need of some updates also. Since those pix we have put in a new ceiling, Taken out the carpet and did hardwood flooring, and redid the bathroom (again). I thought this remodeling stuff was supposed to go away once I got rid of my stick house!

I've been very lax about visiting here as well. After making this post (about the tank), LeAnna and I spent a couple of hours looking at the pix of the coaches here.

I'm going to put forth some effort to get all this up to snuff in the coming weeks. Thanks again to all for the info.

Keep 'em rollin'

quote:

Originally posted by Mark Estep:
Thanks for the advice, everyone.

As I,m spending winter at a lake in Texas, I guess a boat place would make a good place to start.

I don't know the size of the lake, but generally the larger the boat, the more likely it is to have water tanks or bait tanks. Perhaps an ocean or Galveston Bay area might have more tank makers.

You also might consider buying a used Seelye plastic welder and making your own tank out of HDPE sheet. The quotes I got on having a large tank made caused me to go that route. Plus, I like to buy tools.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark Estep:
Thanks for the advice, everyone.

...I need 24x24x12.

If you can use a size that is "close to that" you might want to try these people.

http://www.dura-weld.com/tanks_marine.htm

Part# 103026
26 Gallon Tank
L23xW22xH13
$127.00



It appears that threaded bung fittings are included, where you wish to put them, at this price

quote:

To place an order, find a tank you need, print it out, draw in fittings per your specifications, fax the drawing along with shipping information to (561)741-0490. If using a credit card please include your credit card information.

If that size doesn't work, they also do custom tanks. Here is the link to their Custom PDF Brochure

From their "Contact Us Page"

Dura Weld Inc
3599 23rd Ave S, # 9
Lake Worth, FL 33461

Toll Free: 1-877-DUR-WELD (877-387-9353)
Phone: 561-586-0180
Fax: 561-586-0181
E-mail: info@dura-weld.com

I was looking for a large storage tank for Maple sap, and found this, which seems to be what you may be looking for Plastic RV water tanks

I made some calls today and found the following...
Plastic Mart had a tank like I need for $164.99, which I had thought I'd be in the $150 range, so that wasn't too bad. They wanted $40 shipping. The real kicker was they charge $10/fitting. I need 5. So all said & done we were at better than $250 + Tax.

Dura Weld was somewhat better. They didn't have the tank I wanted, but had a slightly smaller one that I thought I could work with. It was $127.00 + shipping. They charge $7/fitting. So, $162 + shipping and tax. Only thing was, he had to "calculate shipping" and would call me back. He didn't. When I called him later in the afternoon, he didn't have the foggiest notion of who I was or what I wanted. I didn't bother going back over it.

I called this outfit in Canada called D&M Plastics. They guy spent a good amount of time with me, making sure I was going to get what I needed. The tank he came up with for me is .5" narrower & .5" longer by the same height I need, so it's the same gallons as I wanted. He quoted me $148.69 for the tank and $78 shipping, BUT they put the fittings in for free. Total was $226.69...but wait for it...that was in Canadian dollars. So, because the market fluctuates, we called it 80 cents on the dollar and locked in the price of $182.79 shipping and everything (includes customs value tax). He told me to fax a drawing and they would make it up. One downside here, they don't do credit cards, so I guess they won't actually make it until my check gets there.
But, all in all, I'm completely satisfied and would highly recommend anyone to do business with them.
http://www.dmplastics.ca/default.htm