iron rainwater tank leak quick fix needed please

[Rattrap]

My corrigated rainwater tank has just sprung a leak, right down on the bottom rung. The tank is situated up the hill in thick bush & its going to be a long slow job clearing a track big enough to roll a new polytank & i've got a garden shed & hothouse construction just starting here so i need a short term fix to the problem.
Its a pretty good size hole squirting water a good meter or more.
I'm thinking along the lines a a wooden plug so some sort.
Suggestions muchly appreceated.

[weisyboy]

ok

how biger hole

pop river is good for patching a small hole

bigger hole rivet a patch of corigated iron over the area with selastic under it.

[Rattrap]

hard to tell what size the hole is, it was almost dark when i found it. Going by the size of the stick i have shoved in the hole its around 4 -5mm.
I don't have much to rivet into on the bottom as its only round 20mm off the bottom. Might be enough but i'd like to leave that sort of patch as a last resort.

[weisyboy]

can you build a concreat mound over the hole we seal up taps in tanks like this whean they leak. just mix in some bondcreat watterproofing.

[weisyboy]

how about a short roofing screw witht the rubber seal

[tea lady]

Selley's Aqua Knead it? Can even be used under water.:cool: kneadable epoxy putty.

http://www.selleys.com.au/Selleys-KneadIt-Aqua/default.aspx

[flynnsart]

we have used a roofing screw before, good if you got one with the thread up close to the washer

[Cruzi]

Get a green tapered stick and shove it in as hard as you can, it will make the hole a little larger but it is then is the shape of the stick helping it seal, works a treat.

[Steve Fryar]

The tank sounds pretty bad to me so forget about screwing a patch.You'll have to drain the water out below the hole.Wet the iron around the hole and place a piece of canvas over it.Sift some cement to get the lumps out of it.Get one of those bottles you use with plants,the type that can mist water when you squeeze.Mist water on the patch and surrounding iron.Flick cement with you fingers over that area.Apply more water and cement till you have a good covering over the patch.When dry,this will hold the water.Any other places on the tank can be treated the same way but without the canvas.
If the bottom of the tank is really bad,consider emptying it totally and painting the inside with a slurry of cement and bondcrete only.Make a consistency that allows you to use a paint brush.Do not scrub the inside with a wire brush first.You'll create a thousand holes if you do.Hope this helps because it works.My grandfather was a tankmaker for fifty years.

[Rattrap]

Thanks for all your suggestions guys, i think the Selley's aqua kneed will be the go for me i only want a quick fix that will last 4-5 mths. By that time i should have the hothouse finished & have a good track cleared up to the tank. I've concreted a rainwater tank out before but this is just a small header tank & isn't worth the effort.
I've known this was coming for a while but its 1 of those things that u keep hoping will last a little bit longer or at least until you have the time to take care of it. Sitting an iron tank on the ground is a really bad idea, whoever did it should be shot.

[Vernonv]

I'll add my vote for aqua knead-it. Kept an already 30 year old tank going another 8 years.

[Lignin]

I'm with Cruzi UNLESS the tank is all but cactus.The water pressure will stop you getting a good seal with any of the putty-like solutions.
Once you've stopped the leak, you can reach for the putty!!
Been there and done it!!:q:q

[Rattrap]

Thats a good point Lignin, wood plug first to seal then putty.

[Vernonv]

I'm with Cruzi UNLESS the tank is all but cactus.The water pressure will stop you getting a good seal with any of the putty-like solutions.
Once you've stopped the leak, you can reach for the putty!!
Been there and done it!!:q:q

That's certainly not my experience with aqua knead-it ... and I've used it dozens of times. The key is to stop the water flowing (white the putty) and then holding the plug there while it starts to set - this can take 30 minutes. The other thing I have used is a ratchet strap around the tank the "hold" the plug while it sets.

[InterTD6]

Just drain it & render the inside or the tank with sand / cement render mix, no need for a new tank you have just relined the old one, if your desperate only give it a few hours to go off before filling it back up, water is the best curing agent there is
Regards inter

[Cruzi]

The stick idea is an immeadiate fix, will stop the leak until you can get something more permanent, used it a few times myself.

Another quick fix is a lump of clay (bentonite) put inside, not good to swim in drinking water tanks but it worked on bore water tanks OK..

[Rattrap]

The tank is too small to render or that would be an option, its only a header tank. I tried plugging the hole with the selleys putty but the pressure was too great, also 2 more holes opened up while i was messing round with it. So i think its a new tank for sure.
Thanks everyone for your advice.

[KenLinder]

I have a few tank problems. One is easy, I just need to replace a tap.

The one that is being a headache, has what appear to be multiple small leaks across the area where there is a diamond shaped piece of metal that the tap in the water tank comes out of at the bottom of the tank (a common enough area for leaks to appear). .

This tank HAS been repaired before. However when the last owner inherited the house it from his dad, he didn't really live there full time (just as a weekender) so when he had some tanks die, he did not repair them. As long as he had at least one 18,000+ litre tank (and the very slightly saline bore) he didn't really care.

We (on the other hand) want our water back.

So, I went ahead and got rid of the old sealant, leaving the tank disconnected from the others. I had already used a small amount of bore water to see where the leaks were so I was well prepared. I also took a very mild brass metal brush and went over the surface a little bit, just to be certain that ALL the old sealant was gone. Then I went to the hardware store (out here in "rain water only" land) and told them the condition of the tank and asked which sealant to use. They then sold me a clear silicone sealant: flexi-seal pro-seal, industrial grade, clear

I got home and cleaned the area well with meth-spirits to be sure there were no oils or other residue there. Then I let the February heat take off all the spirits for a whole day. The next day, mid-morning when the tank was dry and warm, I went out and VERY cautiously and slowly started to apply the sealant from the caulking gun, smoothing firmly it into every last variation of the surface by using a disposable paint brush for maximum penetration into every little surface variation. I wanted to be very sure that what I put onto the tank would stay there and match the metal perfectly.

After the first layer of sealant was there and as perfect as possible, I waited about 6 hours and added more. The next day I added more again in the late afternoon. After all my layers of sealant were good enough (in my estimation) I had a very nice looking even seal, and I THEN waited a week for the whole patch job to dry safely in the heat for several days.

A week later I chanced a test, by putting in a meter and a half of bore water (the tank is 3 meters across) . NOT ONE DROP LEAKED!!!. :U This seemed great, so I added a bit more water to see how it would deal with more pressure, and still not a leak. :U I left the water there for SEVERAL weeks (it nerver lost a drop) before I drained out the bore water and hooked that tank into the rest of the water tank system and transfered in soime rain water.

NOT A LEAK... UNTIL

Then yesterday we finally got our very first rain. I chose to have a look before it got too dark outside (if there had ben a problem), and I saw a problem.

:o

Water had started to well up and forward along the tap pipe that comes out of the tank. I felt arounjd and it was obvious there was pressures INSIDE of the sealant. I have no real choice with night falling, and I had just suffered a VERY BAD gall-bladder attack so BIG or heavy work was out.

I grabbed the sealant and squeezed and it stopped leaking.

So..as a temporary measure I have taken a rope and wrapped the pipe for the rain-water tank tap, as if it were a very tight spool of plastic rope. It is not leaking anymore, but I KNOW this is not a real solution. I need to find out what kind of sealant to REALLY USE, and how to do it, when I fix this thing FOR REAL.

I would love serious input from the experienced. I know that I have GOT to get this project/repair on the road before it is wet out all the time, or there will be a lot of limits on what kind of repairs can be done.

CHEERS

By the way, I am disabled, so there are some limits on what I can do (lifting and such) these days, but I am decent with my tools, so I am not afraid to try something new.


.


\along the pip the *UP* from underneath the sealant

[Rattrap]

Wish i had some advice for you Ken but i went with a new poly tank. cost me $1k - no more problems.