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Replacing a holding tank 1993 44 ft Gibson Standard

kjsharp

New member
I have the original aluminum holding tank and it needs to be replaced. About 1/4th of the width is located under the galley floor; the remainder is under the pantry walls and bathroom wall framing. As it fits nearly tight between longitudinal stringers, it appears the walls mentioned will have to come out. I hope to get advice from someone who has done this (specific) replacement before; I am really hoping that there are some tips available to help make this easier. Thank you.
 
Ayuh,.... Not alota houseboaters here, though I own a '69 Nauti-line 34'er,....

In my experience, ya gotta tear out whatever's in yer way, to fix whatever yer workin' on,...
'n that's for All boats, not just houseboats,...
 
I have a 1990 44 Standard, and have had my fresh water tank out, but not the blackwater tank. Yours should be similar, but layout could be different. The water tank is in the rear stateroom between the same stringers as the blackwater. Mine had a removable cover, albeit screwed down. You could possibly slide the blackwater tank to the rear location for removal.
Looking forward from the hatch with water pressure pump under the deck I can see the wedges that locate the holding tank. Possible could be removed, along with plumbing etc to get the tank to the rear. Or possibly open the wall and floor area in the lower storage compartment forward of the galley and remove the tank toward to bow of the boat.
Just my thoughts , but if neither of those look feasible, gonna have to make a big mess.
 
It does sound like you have a similar layout. In order to slide to the state room the valves and pump located between the 2 tanks will have to be removed; to remove the thru-hull ball valve she will need to come out of the water. This is probably the "cleanest" option. A messy option might be to cut the tank longways, into two sections, in order to lift the pieces up and out of the narrow opening available above after removing the flooring. This will save tearing out the walls that are above and in the way. And obviously the new tank will have to be ordered a few inches narrower in order to drop and slide into the restrictive opening. Thank you for responding.
 
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