torn polyethylene water tank - repair or return?

[dejswa]

A friend ordered a 1000 gal poly tank for rain water and the delivery co. put a loader fork through the bottom leaving a 3" x 1/2" hole near the middle of the bottom of the tank. After some haggling with the company, they have offered a partial refund if he will keep the tank.

It is a round tank about 6' tall by 7' dia. and is otherwise new plastic.

Anyone have any ideas on repair of such? Trying to assess the options - return or keep the refund and repair.

Can post a photo.

Thanks for reading!

[creekbend]

How to Repair 1,000 Gallon Polyethylene Water Tanks | eHow.com

[creekbend]

How to Repair 1,000 Gallon Polyethylene Water Tanks | eHow.com

Sincerely hope that this helps. I found several websites regarding this issue that were very informative. Best wishes in whatever decision you make.

[idaho2]

If the delivery company is insured & bonded than the issue should have been taken up with them before the driver left. I would not have taken delivery.
In this case the tank should not have been left behind. Hope the OP's friend did not sign acceptance of delivery!!!!!

Had a situation where I had the driver call his trucking company immediately,for dropping a computerized robotic x-ray system 5' off the back of the trailer from the lift gate. No way did I accept the unit, signed nothing.


idaho2

[dejswa]

BTW, we do have access to the inside, narrowly through the service port on the top. So repair from the inside might be more successful.

And, yes, I think they are trying to make allegations that signing for delivery was acceptance of the product. The product was only handled by hand at the delivery site since the time of delivery so was no possibility of damage. And it was indeed unloaded with a fork under the tank and there was no palette or other protection under the tank.

Thanks for the above link re polyethylene repair. The refund is half the price of the tank so it might be worth the gamble to give it a try.

Here is a product called polyweld - sort of a poly repair epoxy. The demonstration looks convincing.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-9yhanz5DE[/ame]

[Tractor Seabee]

Not sure about the epoxy method. Putting a patch over a crack is not very successful usually, unless you do a mechanical bond such as rivets or bolts first. It tends to crack again with stress and there is a lot of stress on the bottom of that big a tank. Remember epoxy is not a flexible material like PE.

Look into hot air welding. This actually fuses all the material back together same as welding steel. The torches are inexpensive. HF has one. Key is using a filler rod of the same composition as the tank. You apply the torch same as O/A welding process, melt and form a full bead. Make sure you drill a 1/4" hole at eack end of the crack to stress relieve or it will crack again. I have welded several RV sewage tanks that way; even overhead in place. Takes a little practice to get a good looking bead. But then I am an old O/A welder by trade.

Ron

[MadJack]

Plain and simple....NO!
You paid for a NEW [not patched] tank. Do not patch it, do not frig with it. If you can't get satisfaction from the seller or the delivery folks, call Angie's list, the better business bureau, and your local newspaper and news team.
Report everything that happened, "nothing but the truth" and see how fast someone gets your NEW tank on site!

The local news around here really eat up stories about companies screwing the public.
I'm not anti-business but I am anti-bad-business!

[Brad_Blazer]

Very few things stick to polyethylene. I have tried unsuccessfully to get decent welds. It is extremely difficult to get a weld as strong as original. If it happened at the mfg they would probably regrind it. If they want him to keep the tank they better have a good recommended repair method.

[MMagis]

I work with polyethylene, and as mentioned almost nothing sticks to it. Unless your friend has access to a sonic welder or the discount is substantial, make them replace it. It’s very likely that any patch job will have to be done more than once. Even an extrusion weld (hot air) could very likely fail with a little time.

[dejswa]

Agree with MadJack, but they are offering considerable refund so it might be worthwhile to tackle the repair . . . or not.

Also, the hole is not a crack, but a fairly clean hole so this might be an easier repair.