Popular water tank wall thickness not as advertised!!

[fisherjez]

Hi all,

I am after some advice about a water tank I just purchased for my camper trailer. I actually purchased 2 on them. They are 65L black poly tanks and very common.

They were advertised with a wall thickness 5-8mm. They also come with a flange area along each side for mounting under floor. This section is pretty thick, 10mm minimum I would say.

Without going into too much detail, part of my fitting process required me to drill new holes in the flange section to suit my chassis rails. It wasn't evident when I purchased the tanks that they come with pre-drilled holes, about 5mm diameter. My holes were for 12mm threaded rod.

I drilled the first tank and no problem so mounted it up. When I drilled the second tank the first side went ok, but when i drilled the holes on the second side it became evident that the flange section was hollow!

I just assumed that this was an air bubble and not connected to the main chamber. Wrong I was!!

The main chamber extended into the flange area leaving the wall thickness about 2-3mm on each side, and obviously no longer water proof!!

I contacted the supplier and sent them photos. They replied with the manufacturer wont warrant this because you have drilled it and should have used the pre drilled holes.

Now I except that if I drilled in the wrong place causing it to leak that would be my fault, however 3 issues with this.

1. The wall thickness here is not as advertised and would have never been discovered unless drilled.
2. The holes drilled on the other tank and the other side of this tank did not rupture the main chamber. Each hole was precision measured to be in equal locations on the tank flange section.
3. Most people would expect that this flange section would be for the purpose of mounting whereby drilling within it would be catered for.

When I work out how I will attached some pics so you can see. I have to say that I believe there is a manufacturing issue with this tank given it did not happen on the other 3 sides.

Pretty disserpointed

[fisherjez]

Image of drill hole showing hollow flange connected to main chamber.

Image of drill hole on other side with no hollow flange section. Other tank was like this all way around.

[GBC]

They haven’t added enough plastic to fill the mould. It should be replaced imo. If they won’t it would be simple enough for a plastic welder to overbore the hole and plug it so you can redrill. Pita though.

[AdrianLR]

What GBC said. Also, even if you had used the original hole, it’s very likely that the bolt would have cracked the plastic due to the lack of thickness.

[gordo350]

Love the way a company denies liability.  We won't warranty it because you opened it and found faulty workmanship.

[fisherjez]

Also The center hole I drilled was over the existing hole.

I think you are right that plastic welding might be the best option.

This could have all been avoided if advertised with some statement like 'pre-drilled holes must be used for mounting'.

The picture in the ad didn't even show the holes.

Worst thing is that when i called them they told me that this happened just recently to someone else. They would be the leading seller of these tanks on flebay, and promote themselves of customer service - total opposite, they couldn't care less in my case. I will be taking this further out of principle (and because it is genuinely faulty in my opinion).

[trinityalyce]

Worst thing is that when i called them they told me that this happened just recently to someone else.

Let's admit it's out fault and then deny all liability 

Oh geez, some companies... Sorry this happened to you, because it sucks. What if the pre-drilled holes weren't in the exact positions you required them to be, or of the right size (as you said you were drilling larger holes anyway)? Sheesh. As you say, it is reasonable to expect this area to be used for mounting purposes.

[MrCruza]

They would be the leading seller of these tanks on flebay, and promote themselves of customer service - total opposite, they couldn't care less in my case. I will be taking this further out of principle (and because it is genuinely faulty in my opinion).

Advise them you are going to give them negative feedback on Fleabay. Be surprised if that doesn't work in your favour.

[HKB Electronics]

Advise them you are going to give them negative feedback on Fleabay. Be surprised if that doesn't work in your favour.

Nope, if their a big seller it will be removed. There was a case recently where a seller even had it removed from this forum:(

[Bird]

Advise them you are going to give them negative feedback on Fleabay. Be surprised if that doesn't work in your favour.

Sadly Ebay feedback isn't worth a pinch of Shit these days + or -

I read on here, that once your a big seller you have an account manager. the seller must be happy but its not like they are going to go anywhere else are they?

[Fizzie]

Also The center hole I drilled was over the existing hole.

So if you'd just stuck with the design & used a 5mm screw, then you would have had 15mm (?) of screw head pressed up against 2mm hollow plastic

I'd reckon that after only a little while, that plastic would break due to the 70kg weight of the tank bouncing against it, so there'd be a bit more movement, the inner part of the flange would break so that side is no longer properly supported = more pressure on other mounts, rinse & repeat = very loud bang one day as tank drops off bottom of trailer

Would think that would well & truly come under "not fit for purpose" - a chat with Fair Trading may be in order

May also be time for a name & shame

[Pottsy]

Naming and shaming, I'm not sure of any legalities but I would have thought if you state only facts, ( take the obvious emotion out of the post) you should be well within your rights to warn others to the pitfalls of dealing with the named seller.

eBay and others now protect many major suppliers from negative feedback so if we do not discuss bad dealers (again sticking to facts) more of us may well get caught out.

I would caution that you try every available avenue to get a resolution before posting.

[fisherjez]

Thanks all for your advice.

I am not one for name and shaming.

I would think that these tanks are pretty obvious and i have seen them at a few retail outlets (identical tanks). In this instance it is not the sellers fault that the tank is defective it is the manufacturer. It is however the responsibility of the seller to provide a product as advertised. This clearly isn't as advertised, and so I believe that it is the sellers responsibility is to replace the tank or refund me.

I am currently in discussions with the seller, who is inturn in discussion with the manufacturer trying again to resolve the issue.

The seller is seemingly supportive of my situation. Hopefully I will have an outcome in the next day or so and will update this thread.

[Bird]

Suggest to him that he uses it as a display model.. cut it in 1/2 and show the quality to other customers

I'd be worried about the quality of the one you think is good, chances are its just as ****ed

[fisherjez]

Suggest to him that he uses it as a display model.. cut it in 1/2 and show the quality to other customers

Already have

[Fizzie]

I am currently in discussions with the seller, who is inturn in discussion with the manufacturer trying again to resolve the issue.

The seller is seemingly supportive of my situation. Hopefully I will have an outcome in the next day or so and will update this thread.

That sounds a lot better!

[fisherjez]

Update,

After several hard negotiating emails, the seller is supplying a new tank so long as I pay for postage ($40)! This is considerably more than I paid for postage the first time.

I guess this is a resolution somewhat.

My advice to people purchasing these tanks is to expect that the manufacturer will take no responsibility for skin thickness anomalies, and don't expect that you can fit them without using the pre drilled holes!

Try and purchase these in store and take some multi-grips with you to squeeze the flange section to test if it is hollow.

I see these as a great option for an under floor tank provided they are manufactured correctly. I chose these over S Steel to allow for some forgiveness with impact, and the ability to reform and weld if required.

Time will tell!

[fisherjez]

Update 2,

Still haven't received the replacement tank. Honestly I cant recommend enough that anyone looking at buying one of these tanks stay away from the ebay site. They state that they pride themselves on customer service yet after more than 20 calls I have yet to get off hold in less than 10 minutes.

Probably the worst after sales service I have ever experienced so be warned.

[Nomad]

Start a dispute asap with ebay or Paypal. **** em. 

[fisherjez]

So the replacement tank arrived finally and it appears that 1 side the flange area is soft when squeezed with pliers. This indicated to me that it is hollow like the last one. Looks like Ill be modifying my trailer to suit their holes.

Its only on 1 side like with the other tank so this seems like it might be a manufacturing issue.

[edz]

I'd be running a steel support angle the full length of both tank flanges to sit the tank onto for sure with a flat bar along the top edge to spread the clamping loads .

[Diesel Power]

Sounds like there isnt enough plastic raw material used when roto moulding the tank.

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

Sounds like you need a ladder type frame to hold it up, not just two bits of Angle.

[Bigfish]

They sound like crap products to me.  I,d bite the bullet, chalk it uip to experience and buy a solid , quality one direct from a manufacturer.  Install it once and have peace of mind.