Installing New Water Bladder - A Gumby's Guide

[tenzing]

I was having a bit of a whinge last week about my stinking leaky water bladder in the boat . I read all the advice and decided it was time to pull it out and redo the whole thing and this time add a deck filler.
I had a chance meeting with Grand Marlin yesterday at Bunnings ( nearly pissed myself Pete!) and he gave me plenty of encouragement and a few tips that Might help a complete twonk like myself find it harder to stuff the job up. He also took me shopping for a few bits of Kit that might make things like this easier.
Pete I hope you dont mind me sharing your hints here.

I was fair shoiting myself at the thought of cutting the glass to install the deck filler, so I measured 55 times and set off, not taking any pics till I got that out of the way.
As the available hole saw was undersize I enlarged the hole with a shiny new carbide bur - HINT 1 ( yep Pete , pricey , but sweet to use!)

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It was also helpful to downsize the hole to leave as much room as possible for the screw holes. I then used a 1/4 inch bit in recess to countersink the screw holes so as not to chip gel coat HINT 2

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Some SIKA in the holes and around the filler and in she went. Cleaned up the excess dry then Metho after. HINT3

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The fun stuff over it was time to cut the bottom shelf as I had decided to run the 38mm hose under the shelf out of the way.
Check out how thick the shelf was!!.
I then got an elbow on to my first piece and slid id up and onto the filler.
I used a heat gun and dishwahing liquid for Lubrication - HINT 4
BTW Pete you didnt tell me how bloody difficult it would be to fully seat these fittings in that BLOODY pipe!
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Next it was time to pucker up the schpooncter again and cut the two holes in the firewall .I didnt have too much room to get to the space under the seat in the cabin and not go out through the side , so I checked from both sides as I was going.
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continued next post.

[tenzing]

Part 2 (too many pics)

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I then ran the rest of the 38mm pipe from the elbow and up through the firewallblad13.jpg

The truly horrible part of this job was trying to hang the hose up under the shelf.
There is about 4 inches at the bottom of the pelmet and its very difficult to see anything , so i drilled down from above and put multiple locator cable ties in by feel. a real pain in the bum.
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So I the cut the hoses to length Heated and put fittings on and then wrapped the stainless clamps in rescue tape ( my little hint) to prevent rubbing.
I used some nice blue plumbers tape on the threads of the bladder and put it all together.
( note to self - put the threaded clollar on BEFORE jamming the fitting up the hose!)
I filled it fully and left it while I cleaned up.
All seems ok.

Thanks heaps to Pete , not just for this stuff, but for everything.
You will leave a big ( or small !) hole in the local boating scene.
Dont worry, many Coronas were injured in the making of this .
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Cheers
Brendan

[Grand_Marlin]

Very well done Brendan... That is a super neat job

I suppose you giving away my closely guarded trade secrets is ok
Would you mind if I gave out your phone number for quality installation work in my absence?

Cheers

Pete

P.S. could I ask a favour?
Would it be possible to put a comma between the words Pete and dear in your post...

[lucee81]

Very nice install. Don't you just love working in boats.
Pete he may have been sincere and you just shoot him down like that could have let him down nicely.
I don't use a bladder so I'm not sure but is it plumbed to a deck wash or something ?

[Boat Hog]

Looks like a great job Brendan. Well done.

What capacity is the new bladder and what is it plumbed out to?

I bet Tangels is off to get a carbide burr now.

Cheers,

[Grand_Marlin]

I had a chance meeting with Grand Marlin yesterday at Bunnings ( nearly pissed myself )


BTW Pete you didnt tell me how bloody difficult it would be to fully seat these fittings in that BLOODY pipe!.

That was funny... We were talking on the phone discussing the way to go about the job and what tools were needed... Neither of us realised we were standing 6 feet apart from each other!

The pipe fittings are fun!
Lucky you didn't go ahead with the hot water approach.

Cheers

Pete

[tenzing]

Very well done Brendan... That is a super neat job

I suppose you giving away my closely guarded trade secrets is ok
Would you mind if I gave out your phone number for quality installation work in my absence?

Cheers

Pete

P.S. could I ask a favour?
Would it be possible to put a comma between the words Pete and dear in your post...

No worries Pete. Done
Certainly dont want anyone to get the wrong idea!

You might also notice that I waited till midnight on the last day to give your business secrets out! - that may also be a clue as to how long it took me!!
Cheers
Brendan

PS I think that I might need some more practice with the heat gun. I am bloody dangerous with that thing

[Drew70]

Hello Guys
Is there an air breather for the bladder
Drew

[tenzing]

Very nice install. Don't you just love working in boats.
Pete he may have been sincere and you just shoot him down like that could have let him down nicely.
I don't use a bladder so I'm not sure but is it plumbed to a deck wash or something ?

Yes mate , it is plumbed to a deckwash. I have no salt pickup ( just a bucket for that)

Just re read your post! Thats funny! not true , but funny!

Looks like a great job Brendan. Well done.

What capacity is the new bladder and what is it plumbed out to?

I bet Tangels is off to get a carbide burr now.

Cheers,

The bladder is a 50l plastimo ( about $90 at the usual haunts)
It is 700 X 700 and is the same as the old one . A bit too big for the space, but the smallest they make. When full they are 250mm or more high. When I tested it to capacity last night it was about 350mm high because of the confined widths. I guess I only use abou 25 to 30 litres as thats all I need and then it doesnt lift the seat up.
I am now thinking that I might remove the centre of the ply( under the seat) and put a hollow in there and screw in some sort of flanged bowl or something to allow for greater capacity.
Anyway still dry this morning so success at this stage, lets see when it gets bumped about a bit!
Cheers
Brendan

[Grand_Marlin]

LOL Brendan,

Re: trade secrets:

Firstly, knowing and doing are two completely different things!

Secondly, as my dear old Dad likes to tell people about me... "I taught him all he knows, but I haven't taught him all I know!"

There are still more secrets in the bag and I would have to be well under the influence to release them (hint)

Cheers

Pete

[Tim Hutchison]

Well done Brendan now all you need to be taught is how to catch fish

[tenzing]

Knew it wouldnt take too long!. Mate I spend so long planning and putting you right on the mark, and by the time I turn around you're already on!
It would be a long swim out there with your plastics gear I would imagine.
Cheers
Brendan

[tenzing]

Hello Guys
Is there an air breather for the bladder
Drew

No Drew, you dont want a breather as the tanks is flexible so it collapses as it drains. In fact you keep the air out on purpose. That is why I followed all the advice and put in the 38mm inlet, so the air could escape to the highest point as it was filled. If the bladder gets air in it you need to "burp" it. Without air in it you can fill the whole bag and the pump doesnt suck it too.
Brendan

[top_deck69]

Hi Pete,

Any reason why the hot water approach is a bad idea??

Cheers
Ben

That was funny... We were talking on the phone discussing the way to go about the job and what tools were needed... Neither of us realised we were standing 6 feet apart from each other!

The pipe fittings are fun!
Lucky you didn't go ahead with the hot water approach.

Cheers

Pete

[tenzing]

Hey Ben, I had always used boiling water to soften hose to go over tight fittings.
In this case the fittings are quite large and long , and in the case of the deck filler there is even a screw on the side holding the chain that has to be negotiated.
The heat gun can generate up to 600 degrees C compared to 100 for the water, and I also found it necessary to give it a bit more when I was not quite there yet.
That size pipe was just so stiff that it needed all the softening up it could get.
Cheers
Brendan