Fresh Water Tank Leaking

I used J B Weld WaterWeld on my PVC fresh water tank and it has been good for 2 years now. It is rated for potable water and PVC.
Home Depot JB WaterWeld

From what I have found so far, White tanks are typically Polyethylene, Black Tanks are typically ABS (Not always).

And based on the texture and feel of the tank, it doesn't feel like it has that waxy/slippery feel that Poly typically has. So I believe my tank is an ABS and the fittings are either ABS or PVC.

So, I'm going to try and clean up the fittings and surfaces the best I can and apply this, which says it bonds to ABS and PVC, but not Poly. And it's more of a putty, so I can form it around the entire surface where the leak is.

http://www.jbweld.com/product/j-b-plasticweld-putty/

And if that doesn't work, I'll try this one, which is more a liquid, but says it bonds with ABS, PVC, Poly, etc..
http://www.jbweld.com/product/j-b-plastic-bonder/

Although, it may take a combination of the 2 types. (ex. Fill with the more liquid type first, then cover with the putty)

Recall seeing thread where guy fixed a tank using epoxy for plastic .. he sanded tank, applied epoxy, put on a strip of fiberglass for reinforcement and then more epoxy. Not sure what type of tank it was .. don't think potable would mean much when it came to selecting epoxy - not sure.

Ok. Did some further looking at it to prepare to drop the tanks. But, noticed that the tank support straps aren't just bolted in, they are also spot welded in place.. So, since I don't know how to weld. I'm going to be taking the epoxy route for now, and see how it holds up and if I can get it to stop leaking. If that doesn't pan out, I'll have to take it to somebody who can cut the welds and drop the tanks for me.

Does anybody have any suggestion on which epoxy to use that would bond with the tank and fittings? And is safe to use on potable connections?

Thanks everybody for their suggestions and input!!

those nylon fittings on the tank do go bad from weather and elements.I just had one crack on my trailer a lil more than a year ago i temporary epoxied itit held til i bottomed out the tank in the sand and broke it off.A buddy of mines trailer same thing but 2 years older his went out last year cracked.

I ended up removing tank and took to a plastic guy and had him plastic weld a new fitting on it for around 35 bucks total.Way worth it considering all other repairs are temporary.

Thanks for the heads up Dusty. I did some searching on that one. It looks like there are many grades/types of ABS, some are safe for potable, some are not.. So, when I go to re-construct the connections after making whatever repairs are necessary, I'm going to have to be careful of the Fittings and Glues that are used.

Dave

I don't believe that ABS pipe is allowed for fresh/potable/drinking water.

Dusty

Thanks pugslyyy. I did a search on "PVC bulkhead fitting" on google, and from what the parts look like, I wonder if that's what is in place and just needs to be replaced. The white circle between the pipe and the tank looks like a perfect circle which makes me believe it's the silicone or rubber ring of an existing bulkhead fitting.

Do you know if there is an access panel of some kind on the top of the tank to get access to remove the current bulkhead fitting and replace it (If that's what it is)?

Dave

Ah gotcha, thanks for the photos that makes much more sense now!

I'm not sure how they have that connection between the ABS tank and PVC pipe (it looks kinda messy), but for me the right way to do it would be with a PVC bulkhead fitting. That way it wouldn't matter if you had good threads (or threads at all) on the tank.

If it were me I would take the rig down to an outlet that sells trailers and have the tech take a quick look and get his opinion. How to fix may depend on what material the tank is made of. All the plumbing up to the entry into the tank is relatively easy to fix .. not so sure about the actual entry itself.