Sante 230 hard tank leak

[Ogle12!]

I'll try to keep this short. I own a 2014 SANTE 230. I purchased it used in November of 2019, site unseen. Shortly after my purchase upon going over the boat I discovered the belly hard tank had a leak, . At this time I won't get into tank removal. My boat was out of warranty and ballast system operation was not a condition of my purchase. (What could go wrong with pumps and hard tanks!) so I opted to purchase a replacement hard belly ballast tank. So after working my *** off removing the old tank and installing the replacement tank, the replacement tank failed within the first two weeks of use. NOTE: I do not know the differences in belly hard tank locations, accessibility or design, only the 2014 230 model year.

Numerous months later Nautique acknowledged an issue and had the belly hard tank redesigned by their fuel and hard tank manufacturer. Nautique had the hard tank redesigned around mid 2020 or early 2021 (I kinda had to push hard for this to occur and COVID really had an impact) and keep in mind I am omitting tons of detail in order to keep this short.

For those of you that the flex tape solution will not work, as I see it there are two options. 1) cut open your hard tank and install a bag inside of that existing hard tank. (Great idea!) or 2) obtain a new replacement hard tank and make sure the tank is the newest design.

I have had the new redesigned hard tank installed for two seasons without any issues.

A big CAUTION to anyone adding a bow bag to your ballast system: Depending on how you plumb the bow bag addition, you may be adding additional operating pressure to the belly hard tank possibly reducing hard tank life.

[Jmeador15]

I am posting to add my name to the list of 230 owners with a busted belly tank. Seeing all of these comments makes me feel like im not so alone in this. What a huge design/engineering mistake by Nautique.

[Kiwiwake]

Hey guys , greetings from NZ.
I have just discovered this exact leak in my 2016 san 230.
I pulled the tank out , easy to do after you empty the fuel tank ....I ran mine down to about 20 liters ...pulled all pipes and blocked them , 2 person lift and then drained completely once out and off the boat. The balast tank pipes were a lot eaiser to get at after l removed the starboard seat cusion back (ie the one fitted to the bulkhead with push clips.) Just undo mount brackets at rear of tank and pull backwards toward stern. You have to hold your tongue right and get it at the correct angles but it does come out.
I am I process of either plastic welding it / have new tank built or weld it add and add a strenth brace to stop bulging.
I believe the bulging is what causes the cracks as mine was ballooned out in the spot the worst crack was when i removed it light presure caused it to pop back in.
I will post my repairs when I'm done.
Cheers mark

[Kiwiwake]

belly tank bulge belly tank split

[Kiwiwake]

Tank out and sitting on rear of boat ...gives good perspective of the bulge.

[charlesml3]

Yep. That's exactly where mine cracked as well. It was just a design flaw. When the tank filled to capacity, it would flex right at that "ramp" and eventually crack.

-Charles

[Kiwiwake]

here is the fix ...it was sorted by a local plastic tank builder, Hercules Tanks , they build fuel tanks , water tanks etc for yachts, motor homes etc.
They welded the crack and then reinforced the corner with 6mm piece which they formed to shape. Cost was $125 usd.
yes definately a design floor but Frank from Hercules explained that how they make them is in a mold that they pour liquid plastic into and roll it around to get required thickness, because of the shape it would be hard to get the correct thickness or indeed a uniform thickness at the edge where they split....If that all makes sense !

[MN Ryan]

Great fix, and not too terrible on the wallet.

[DCM]

Ogle12!, do you know the part number for the for the redesigned tank? Is it 100052?

[DCM]

The part number is 140196. New tank installed.

[kylant]

old thread

but has anyone had a rear tank crack? how did you fix? has anyone removed one?

[bturner]

Since no one is responding I'll tell you what I know.....

I've never had one crack but I have heard on multiple forums of it happening. From what I've gathered most times its due to loading on top of the tank in the form piggyback systems that were plumbed incorrectly back in the old days. Back then people were installing bags on top of the tanks and draining the hard tanks before the bags on top of the tanks which stressed the hard tanks. As with any tank like this I'm sure there were also defects or design implementations that caused tanks to crack as well but overall it has been rather rare in the grand implementation for the tanks to crack.

As to repairs..... I've heard of patching and plastic welding but these seem to have been mostly temporary fixes with varying results. Most people faced with this situation choose to remove the tanks and go with bags. Wakemakers is your friend here and has people on staff that can help you with getting the right parts for the conversion if that's the direction you decide to go. Removing a tank you don't want/need is fairly easy as if they won't come out in one piece, they're plastic and easy to cut up with a die grinder or cordless grinder with a cutting disc installed. Taking them out in one piece will depend on the boat and the tanks. I could see how the tanks on my 200V could be easily removed in one piece and had considered doing so to install bags at one point. That said, the tanks are installed before the deck is joined and that splitting the hull is required to remove the tanks in one piece on a lot of boats.

[kylant]

the tank on the starboard side is leaking at one of the "holes." it almost seems like the tank has a seam there.
it doesn't look like the tank will come out of the locker...
this is what i am afraid of, "the tanks are installed before the deck is joined and that splitting the hull is required to remove the tanks in one piece on a lot of boats."