Heated & insulated tank from Aquaeous Plastic Fabrications.

[Jonathan Sanderson]

I've had a lot of people asking how I'm getting on with my new tank, so thought I'd post this on forums/groups to hopefully answer everyone's questions at once. This will be a long post but think I've covered everything.

Short story time......

Stephen Scargill at Aquaeous plastic fabrications custom makes these tanks to spec. So for prices etc your best to ask Stephen directly ......(price wise he is extremely competitive but quality in my opinion is second to none) .....as it all depends on what you want from your tank, and what dimensions. Me personally I had made the following;

670 litre capacity,

Frameless design,

Screw thread for immersion fitting,

Fully insulated.

Fast fill outlet for backpack/trolley.

I'm absolutely in love with this tank (sad I know), and the main reason is the heat side of things. It is insulated so well that it's basically a tank within a tank. The tank is coated with 50mill insulation, and then that is sealed in place with another tank over the top of everything.

I did a test to monitor the hot water side of things so that I could give specific figures so here goes;

I have a 2kw (not 3kw) immersion heater fitted to the tank which is connected to my garage on a separate board and rcd using 16amp fittings right to the immersion. I used a timer and set it to run for about 7 hours, From 3pm in the afternoon to 10pm at night.

In that time it raised the temperature from 7 degrees to 25. I know that temperature isn't boiling hot but it's nice and warm, perfect in my book for window cleaning in winter. (If you wanted more heat you could just set the timer for longer) Pretty impressive I though considering that it only costs me 25p an hour to run on my current tariffs.

Then the bit that really impressed me.... I left the van alone from 10pm and in the morning I checked the temperature again at 9am...... It was reading 22 degrees! So in nearly twelve hours of sitting still on a cold day it only loses a few degrees c in heat.

After a few days of testing it now I can say that the heat is evenly spread throughout the tank, and consistently you will only lose a few degrees as your working.

So going forward I'm going set the timer for heating from 10pm till 6am, and that will give me 30degree water in my tank, that will never drop below 25 degrees in my working day, all for a total cost of £2 per day (tax deductible so real cost is less).

I know 30 degrees c doesn't sound like a lot, but today I hadn't warmed my tank up since the night before, so water was less than 20 degrees in my tank, and it was still steaming up on the glass as I was cleaning. Makes working in the winter so much easier now.

I wasn't paid to say all this either, I'm just struggling to find anything negative to say about this tank. Only down side is with hot water you have to make sure your connections are spot on. Hot water will find leaks that cold water won't. I've switched to John guest speed fit and everything is fine now though. Also if you don't have access to parking and can't run a power cable to your van then it's no good, or if you use more than one tank of water a day then this would only work for your first fill. Apart from that it's all positives. Perfect hot water set up in my opinion.

Here is Stephen Scargills details if anyone wants more in depth info.

Stephen Scargill,

Aquaeous Plastic Fabrications,

07445 315910

[email protected]

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[Damo]

Very smart indeed :thumbsup:

 

[Tuffers]

How much did it set you back Jonathan? When you say frameless design does that mean it's not bolted through the floor?

 

[Trev81]

Nice tank which serves as a simple solution to the risk of tank freeze in extreme weather… Is the tank well baffled out?

Although I'd not call it a "hot water setup" at those temps but yes will be better than using ambient temp water for sure, you loose alot of temp through hoses, if your tank water is only 30 odd deg it aint going to be that high at the brush end as its passing through alot of hose, then going from job to job cools the water back down in the hoses, I run my webasto at the outlets around 60 odd deg for windows to get a nice warm 40/50 ish brush temp. Far higher temps for Upvc cleaning etc.

I like the see through plastic part so you can see the level of water, nice touch.

How much was it if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Eviestevie]

I've had a lot of people asking how I'm getting on with my new tank, so thought I'd post this on forums/groups to hopefully answer everyone's questions at once. This will be a long post but think I've covered everything.
Short story time...... /emoticons/smile.png

Stephen Scargill at Aquaeous plastic fabrications custom makes these tanks to spec. So for prices etc your best to ask Stephen directly ......(price wise he is extremely competitive but quality in my opinion is second to none) .....as it all depends on what you want from your tank, and what dimensions. Me personally I had made the following;

670 litre capacity,

Frameless design,

Screw thread for immersion fitting,

Fully insulated.

Fast fill outlet for backpack/trolley.

I'm absolutely in love with this tank (sad I know), and the main reason is the heat side of things. It is insulated so well that it's basically a tank within a tank. The tank is coated with 50mill insulation, and then that is sealed in place with another tank over the top of everything.

I did a test to monitor the hot water side of things so that I could give specific figures so here goes;

I have a 2kw (not 3kw) immersion heater fitted to the tank which is connected to my garage on a separate board and rcd using 16amp fittings right to the immersion. I used a timer and set it to run for about 7 hours, From 3pm in the afternoon to 10pm at night.

In that time it raised the temperature from 7 degrees to 25. I know that temperature isn't boiling hot but it's nice and warm, perfect in my book for window cleaning in winter. (If you wanted more heat you could just set the timer for longer) Pretty impressive I though considering that it only costs me 25p an hour to run on my current tariffs.

Then the bit that really impressed me.... I left the van alone from 10pm and in the morning I checked the temperature again at 9am...... It was reading 22 degrees! So in nearly twelve hours of sitting still on a cold day it only loses a few degrees c in heat.

After a few days of testing it now I can say that the heat is evenly spread throughout the tank, and consistently you will only lose a few degrees as your working.

So going forward I'm going set the timer for heating from 10pm till 6am, and that will give me 30degree water in my tank, that will never drop below 25 degrees in my working day, all for a total cost of £2 per day (tax deductible so real cost is less).

I know 30 degrees c doesn't sound like a lot, but today I hadn't warmed my tank up since the night before, so water was less than 20 degrees in my tank, and it was still steaming up on the glass as I was cleaning. Makes working in the winter so much easier now.

I wasn't paid to say all this either, /emoticons/smile.png I'm just struggling to find anything negative to say about this tank. Only down side is with hot water you have to make sure your connections are spot on. Hot water will find leaks that cold water won't. I've switched to John guest speed fit and everything is fine now though. Also if you don't have access to parking and can't run a power cable to your van then it's no good, or if you use more than one tank of water a day then this would only work for your first fill. Apart from that it's all positives. Perfect hot water set up in my opinion.

Here is Stephen Scargills details if anyone wants more in depth info.

Stephen Scargill,

Aquaeous Plastic Fabrications,

07445 315910

[email protected]

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Love it pal

I'll be ringing him very shortly

Just kitting out my new van hope he can work with me and my carbon!!!

 

[Jonathan Sanderson]

How much did it set you back Jonathan? When you say frameless design does that mean it's not bolted through the floor?

Don't really like saying prices on the public section. But send me a PM and I'll let ya know.

It's bolted through the floor but it's called frameless because the bolts are put straight through the moulded plastic at the bottom. The frames all built in to the design.

 

[Jonathan Sanderson]

Nice tank which serves as a simple solution to the risk of tank freeze in extreme weather… Is the tank well baffled out?
Although I'd not call it a "hot water setup" at those temps but yes will be better than using ambient temp water for sure, you loose alot of temp through hoses, if your tank water is only 30 odd deg it aint going to be that high at the brush end as its passing through alot of hose, then going from job to job cools the water back down in the hoses, I run my webasto at the outlets around 60 odd deg for windows to get a nice warm 40/50 ish brush temp. Far higher temps for Upvc cleaning etc.

I like the see through plastic part so you can see the level of water, nice touch.

How much was it if you don't mind me asking?

Temperature wise it can go up to anything you want. I only use a 2kw heater because 30 degrees is fine for me, I lose about 5 degrees to the brush head. I've cracked glass at 40 degrees believe it or not, wasn't fun.

You could use a 3kw heater and get the water up to 70 degrees if you wanted to, it's all up to the user really.

 

[Jonathan Sanderson]

Nice tank which serves as a simple solution to the risk of tank freeze in extreme weather… Is the tank well baffled out?
Although I'd not call it a "hot water setup" at those temps but yes will be better than using ambient temp water for sure, you loose alot of temp through hoses, if your tank water is only 30 odd deg it aint going to be that high at the brush end as its passing through alot of hose, then going from job to job cools the water back down in the hoses, I run my webasto at the outlets around 60 odd deg for windows to get a nice warm 40/50 ish brush temp. Far higher temps for Upvc cleaning etc.

I like the see through plastic part so you can see the level of water, nice touch.

How much was it if you don't mind me asking?

Sorry forgot to say, it's really well baffled. Using z plates, so there's no movement at all, but let's the heat spread all over the tank.

 

[Trev81]

Cracked glass at 40? Must of been fractured before or very old single pane glass? Luckily all stuff I do is good glazing, i have been in doubt a couple of times, once on a old porch with very old stuff, just switched to the cold pump.

I guess thats the only issue heating a full tank to hot, its that or nothing, but it's seems a very good design if it holds it temp allday long.

 

[Eviestevie]

I've had a lot of people asking how I'm getting on with my new tank, so thought I'd post this on forums/groups to hopefully answer everyone's questions at once. This will be a long post but think I've covered everything.
Short story time...... /emoticons/smile.png

Stephen Scargill at Aquaeous plastic fabrications custom makes these tanks to spec. So for prices etc your best to ask Stephen directly ......(price wise he is extremely competitive but quality in my opinion is second to none) .....as it all depends on what you want from your tank, and what dimensions. Me personally I had made the following;

670 litre capacity,

Frameless design,

Screw thread for immersion fitting,

Fully insulated.

Fast fill outlet for backpack/trolley.

I'm absolutely in love with this tank (sad I know), and the main reason is the heat side of things. It is insulated so well that it's basically a tank within a tank. The tank is coated with 50mill insulation, and then that is sealed in place with another tank over the top of everything.

I did a test to monitor the hot water side of things so that I could give specific figures so here goes;

I have a 2kw (not 3kw) immersion heater fitted to the tank which is connected to my garage on a separate board and rcd using 16amp fittings right to the immersion. I used a timer and set it to run for about 7 hours, From 3pm in the afternoon to 10pm at night.

In that time it raised the temperature from 7 degrees to 25. I know that temperature isn't boiling hot but it's nice and warm, perfect in my book for window cleaning in winter. (If you wanted more heat you could just set the timer for longer) Pretty impressive I though considering that it only costs me 25p an hour to run on my current tariffs.

Then the bit that really impressed me.... I left the van alone from 10pm and in the morning I checked the temperature again at 9am...... It was reading 22 degrees! So in nearly twelve hours of sitting still on a cold day it only loses a few degrees c in heat.

After a few days of testing it now I can say that the heat is evenly spread throughout the tank, and consistently you will only lose a few degrees as your working.

So going forward I'm going set the timer for heating from 10pm till 6am, and that will give me 30degree water in my tank, that will never drop below 25 degrees in my working day, all for a total cost of £2 per day (tax deductible so real cost is less).

I know 30 degrees c doesn't sound like a lot, but today I hadn't warmed my tank up since the night before, so water was less than 20 degrees in my tank, and it was still steaming up on the glass as I was cleaning. Makes working in the winter so much easier now.

I wasn't paid to say all this either, /emoticons/smile.png I'm just struggling to find anything negative to say about this tank. Only down side is with hot water you have to make sure your connections are spot on. Hot water will find leaks that cold water won't. I've switched to John guest speed fit and everything is fine now though. Also if you don't have access to parking and can't run a power cable to your van then it's no good, or if you use more than one tank of water a day then this would only work for your first fill. Apart from that it's all positives. Perfect hot water set up in my opinion.

Here is Stephen Scargills details if anyone wants more in depth info.

Stephen Scargill,

Aquaeous Plastic Fabrications,

07445 315910

[email protected]

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Can u pm me mate I'm after something very similar and wondered a rough figure

 

[Jonathan Sanderson]

Cracked glass at 40? Must of been fractured before or very old single pane glass? Luckily all stuff I do is good glazing, i have been in doubt a couple of times, once on a old porch with very old stuff, just switched to the cold pump.
I guess thats the only issue heating a full tank to hot, its that or nothing, but it's seems a very good design if it holds it temp allday long.

I think it might have been a faulty unit. Glad it wasn't a huge pane of glass mind you. Can start getting expensive. That's what I'm I'mpressed with mostly is how it holds the heat.

Your right what you say though, that's a down side in having to just have one temperature all day, and not have the ability to switch back to cold.

 

[Jonathan Sanderson]

Can u pm me mate I'm after something very similar and wondered a rough figure

Will do. If I forget just drop me a PM and remind me. I've got a brain like a sieve. Lol

 

[Andy]

I'm not trying to knock it but would a combi not be a cheaper option with much better control over water temp.

 

[Jonathan Sanderson]

I'm not trying to knock it but would a combi not be a cheaper option with much better control over water temp.

Used that for years mate. Boilers work well, but.........

This way I don't have to worry about fumes, gas leaks, blowing myself up or running out of gas etc. /emoticons/smile.png

This is cheaper to run too.

 

[Cghwindowcleaning]

Looks great and very good idea.

I have only ever heard good things about Stephens Scargills work.