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Dye in holding tank

1557 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  scottyt
There is some nasty smelling water in the bilge. Not clearly holding tank water but it may be.
Is their some dye I can put in the tank to find out.
What is it called where do I get it.

Do you think food coloring would work?
1 - 2 of 6 Posts
You can also slightly pressurize the empty Holding tank (2-3 psi) and check the area under suspicion with a mix of dishwashing detergent/water, then looking for the generation of 'soap bubbles'.
DO NOT PRESSSURISE YOUR HOLDING TANK TO 3 PSI.

Life is likely to get interesting and messy if you do this. Assuming the tank has a side 2' x1' the force created by a tank overpressure of 3 psi is 12 x 24 x3 is 864 lbs; do you really want to see if your tank can withstand this sort of force. :eek:
That's totally ridiculous !

Just the **weight** of static height of a 2 ft. of water in tank will generate 2 / 2.31 ~ 1 psi. (~432 lbs. at the bottom of a tank of your dimensions)....
For water, 2.31 vertical feet (of depth) generates 1 psi pressure !!!!!

Low pressurization is quite suitable and is often used in industry for checking leaks in most (including plastic) empty tanks. 2-3 psi (bottom) pressure would equate to filled tank that is water filled to ~4-6 ft. deep. (and this does not include any 'g' forces nor impacts normally associated with normal sailing conditions).
Checking via 'vacuum' however may implode the tank.
1 - 2 of 6 Posts
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