Fiberglass tank heat rating?

 We have been without power for days. I've figured out how to get by
with alternatives for almost everything except a shower, since my
solar / wood water system isn't pressurized. A neighbor has a gas
water heater but I don't want to depend on them being home next time.

Does anyone know the temperature limits for a fiberglass water
purifier tank? I could pour kettles of 40C ~ 45C water into it,
pressurize it to perhaps 2 Atm and use a spare sink spray hose for the
shower head.

Or take a tub bath, of course. But this is an interesting problem to
solve on the cheap.

Jim Wilkins

  Jim Wilkins wrote:

I don't know about your tank, but most polyester and vinyl ester resins
are good to 80 deg C at their design pressure rating. So if your tank is
rated for normal water line pressure, it would be good at 80 deg.

This info is good for vessels designed to ASTM standards, but your tank
may be designed and built to another standard. ASTM design has a 10:1
safety factor for pressure.

 Jim Wilkins wrote:

A 55 gal plastic or metal drum raised to about 8 ft or more will give
you enough water/pressure for whole family to take a shower (quicky one)
I knocked together some scaffolding one year in garage to solve this
problem. A full barrel weighs about 500 lbs so the construction of
scaffolding is not that difficult.  I ran a hose through the house to
fill the toilet, also from the barrel.

hope helps...have fun....sno

 
The guys who lived in the woods across the street did that, but with a
5 gallon bucket, and even they aren't hardy enough to shower outdoors
in winter here in NH.

I might try a garden sprayer modified with the sink spray hose. They
don't hold much but they can be used and refilled right in the shower
stall, so a spill isn't the problem it would be with a larger tank
outside. Plus I won't need to cobble up a compressed air source.

I ran my blanketed 40 gal. electric water heater up to its maximum
setting of 143F when power came back on, let it stabilize for 6 hours,
then shut it off to measure the temperature decay rate. It's fallen to
125F (at a faucet) in 14 hours, ambient down there being ~65F.

Jim Wilkins

 on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:01:19 -0800 (PST), Jim Wilkins, KB1DAL@gmail.com
wrote:

  I've taken outdoor showers as low as 27F.  Sure
wouldn't do it by choice!

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