I have a slow leak coming out the center of the back panel on a plywood tank I finished just 5 months ago. Obviously I will have to drain the tank, but what do I do now. Its not coming from a seam its just right in the middle. Does this mean that it wasn't sealed enough to begin with and its rotted through? Could this thing explode on me at any minute? Do I have to replace the panel? Or just re seal? Any help is much appreciated.
leak from plywood tank
- Thread starter jamntoast
- Start date
Update. I lowered the water level about 3" and the leak seems to have stopped, or at least slowed considerably. The water level is still well above where it was seeping through. I'm panicking less now. Either the pressure of those extra inches was pushing the water through and the break is still below the water line or the leak was at the top (hopefully) and I can just keep the water a little lower until I've got a permanent solution
If you don't have any stock in it I would replace the panel and re seal for peace of mind. Just so you don't have to worry about it. How far down is it leaking? And how bad is/was it leaking?
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How did you seal the tank originally? If the wood itself has been soaked it has been compromised in my opinion. With certain methods of waterproofing the wood was just the mold and this won't matter.
The leak was really small, Like maybe 1-2 drops a second. I do have stock in it and honestly not a lot of space to put them. Scrambling to fix that issue.
I sealed with west systems epoxy. The wood being compromised is exactly what I'm worrying about.
Did you paint the outside? If not how does the wood look? Any flaws in the wood at the leak, splitting, knots, etc.
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Yeah, lowering the water level cuts the pressure significantly reducing the leak. Plywood tanks can't go very deep because of flexing. I would reseal that panel and add bracing . It's possible it's flexing to much, cracking the epoxy...
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