28TE Holding Tank Upgrade - Larger

[Chris & Dale]

As many of you have experienced, 20 gallons of holding tank isn't alot when there's company on board who aren't regular boaters. Once again, we unknowingly backed up and had to do an unplanned trip to the pump out station. This time we came precariously close to an overflow.

So, aside from pumping out every other trip as a routine, I'm considering upgrading to a larger capacity tank. Has anyone done this (couldn't find a post on that) on their 28TE? Do you have details, pics, write-up, etc.?

A quick upside down look indicates there may be room in that area, but the logistics of getting a bigger tank in and replumbing is where the problems would appear to be.

Thanks

[Nancy]

Hi Chris -

Are you sure you have a 20 gallon tank? I've done a lot of reading and discussing on this topic, and while I've seen a few ads for 28's with 20 gal. tanks, I haven't found anyone who has one let alone anyone who can explain where it's located. If you really have one, I'd love to learn more about it. As far as I can tell, most 28TE's are equipped with 6 or 10 gal. tanks.

Your timing on this topic is perfect. We're in the process of replacing our tank, so we're very familiar with the dimensions and challenges. The original tank is a Krakor 10-gal unit measuring 14" x 17" x 10"H. It sits against the engine room bulkhead and the starboard side of the hull.

holding tank-061312-1600.JPG

It sits partially underneath the cockpit sole immediately behind the helm station, and is constrained by the height of that "ledge". On our boat, the clearance from the plywood platform to the base of that ledge is 11.75". If it were 12", we'd have lots of choices for tank configurations.

We were intrigued by the large space between the ledge and the hull:

holding tank-061412-1600.JPG

This area is about 12" wide at the narrowest and is 34" high. But getting a tank into this space and then pumping waste *up* from the toilet to the top of the tank seemed very complicated, we weren't sure it would be work well, and it would put a lot of weight (with a full tank) at the extreme starboard side of the boat.

We also don't have much room for the tank to be longer fore to aft because of the thru-hull fittings within 5" of the forward edge of the tank:

holding tank-1-022613-1600.JPG

Our best solution right now looks like a Trionic 15 gal. tank - #2015 - 18" x 19" x 9.75" high. We plan to place all the fittings on the top of the tank (with a pickup tube for the discharge) in the open area beyond the ledge. This will give us a full 15-gal. capacity. We had hoped to get a tank of 20 gal. or more, but I don't see how that can happen.

If you have 12" of clearance under the ledge, your options open up. Ronco Plastics has over 400 molds (although only about 100 in the possible range for our boat). They make a great product with 3/8" walls vs. Trionic's mostly 1/4" (but for a tank under 20 gal., I don't think it matters).

There are companies that will custom fabricate whatever you want. We priced an L-shaped tank with the higher section in the open space, but it's more than we want to spend. We also priced a rectangular tank to the exact dimensions that we have available, which would have given us 18 gal., and the price was still $400.

Our project got really fun when John removed the old tank and discovered that the plywood beneath it was completely rotted. You can see a hint of this in the third photo above. As he proceeded to remove the million hoses and other stuff, he found the cause. When he removed the diaphragm bilge pump, the discharge port snapped off. It evidently was cracked and leaking for years.

[Chris & Dale]

Nancy,
10 gallons vs. 20 would explain a lot! I used the 20 gal reference as that's what's listed in the 28 TE bulletin I downloaded from the website. I'll be going down to the boat w/camera and tape measure in hand today. Great pictures. Obviously you've taken up the access panels to get these shots. Ya'll doing all this in the water? I've got a haul-out coming up in the next month, so if it's needed, that's the time. Keep posting on this. Thanks

[Nancy]

Chris,

I'll be very interested to learn what your tape measure says.

Access panels? What access panels? Our boat only has the center hatch, and we also removed the drawer unit under the helm seat, which provides more light and slightly more access. This project would be a good excuse to add an access panel, but that would add another layer of complexity and John thinks he can manage without it. (He said he can get into the tall void and sit sort of comfortably. I suggested that he keep his cell phone within reach in case he gets stuck. )

The boat has been on the hard for the winter since late September. We're doing this under the shrink wrap with a zipper door. It could certainly be done in the water.

[Chris & Dale]

This may be the difference between a 95 & 99...there is what I call an access panel right under the lift-up foot rest at the helm seat that unscrews and gives you access to right above the water heater, macerator, etc. You can see the white outline under the foot rest in this pic.

DSCN2043.JPG

[Pitou]

Small tank on Pitou as well. Nine point some odd gallons closer to 10 and not any real room for anything larger.

If you've got a 20 ... think in terms of 4 / 5 gallon construction pails.

I put in a tank monitor long ago to stay on top of tank level. If you overfill, the first place the overflow wants to go is out the vent on the side of the boat ... been there early in the ownership period.

Here are a couple pictures of the access panel under foot at the helm. Not sure what year Albin started putting these in, but in earlier discussions on the forum it was determined that the earlier years did not have them.

1Small-2.jpg

2Small-2.jpg

7Small-1.jpg

Good luck with your projects.

[Nancy]

Oh you people with your white bilges and sparkling hoses! LOL! Ours will look a lot prettier when we're finished.

[Chris & Dale]

Sealand Odor Filter in line for the vent. That looks like an excellent investment, as well as the tank monitor, when we fix all this. Thanks

[Nancy]

So Chris, what size is your tank?

[Chris & Dale]

Nancy,
Getting my 6'4", 270 lb frame up there for an exact measurement needless to say is difficult at best. My long-armed, thru the progressive lenses sighting, was approx. 24"w X 18"d X 10-12"h. I'm gonna get in some nasty work clothes in the next few days and try to get more exact. Again, this was a quickie in some decent clothes.

Kevin,
Want kind of indicator for the holding tank level & where did you mount it? Did you install it in place or did you have the tank out? Sure is pristine looking & well organized. Good photos.

Thanks Ya'll!

[Nancy]

approx. 24"w X 18"d X 10-12"h.

If those dimensions hold, you're in the 20-gal. range, and I'm really looking forward to seeing your photos and how the tank fits in there.

I've heard good things about the Profile monitor - http://ferriellosales.com/. Web site leaves a lot to be desired, but the owner, Dennis Ferriello, has a great reputation. He was the sales manager for Snake River Electronics, who made a well-regarded monitor. Their quality apparently went downhill and I believe they're out of business. Anyway, you can put together a holding tank monitoring system with sensor and display for under $150.

[Pitou]

Kevin
Want kind of indicator for the holding tank level & where did you mount it? Did you install it in place or did you have the tank out? Sure is pristine looking & well organized. Good photos.

I installed the FireBoy-Xanterx 2 tank Liquid Level Monitor. One flange in the holding tank and one in the water tank and mounted the 2 inch round monitor below the 120 Volt breaker panel. It took a little time running the wiring from the holding tank to the monitor, but with patience it was done. To cleanly get the wiring from A to B involved lowering the ceiling panels in the head and in the cabin. This was all going on at the same time that I was installing the inverter and a 3-way switch to go between, shore, gen-set or invert. Lots of wiring that day. It all came out very clean and looks like it was done at build.

The flange for the water tank is right on, but the one for the holding tank can be fussy if something sticks to the probe. If I were to do it again I would use a single tank monitor and probe from Fire-boy for the fresh water tank mounted beneath the 120 panel and purchase the Scad Technologies Solo Tank Monitor and mount that in the head. The Scad system came out 4 years after my initial install. The Scad system uses a sensor foil applied to the outside of the holding tank / keeping probes out of the tank makes since as they can easily foul. The Scad system has gotten rave reviews from Practical Sailor and from Peggie Hall, who goes by "HeadMistress" on Sailboatowners.com. Check out the goings on at that forum in the Plumbing & Sanitation Forum. She knows her $#@%.

http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/fo ... y.php?f=31

FireBoy-Xintex Two Tank Monitor.jpg

Sender.jpg

Scad Technologies (Full Alert).jpg

[Pitou]

I've heard good things about the Profile monitor - http://ferriellosales.com/. Web site leaves a lot to be desired, but the owner, Dennis Ferriello, has a great reputation. Their quality apparently went downhill and I believe they're out of business. Anyway, you can put together a holding tank monitoring system with sensor and display for under $150.

I hadn't clicked through your link to Ferriello Sales. It looks very similar to the Scad unit.

[Nancy]

I hadn't clicked through your link to Ferriello Sales. It looks very similar to the Scad unit.

I noticed that, too.

[amber jj]

I just received a SCAD single tank monitor from Trans Marine.The price was reasonable,$138.99+S&H