10 meter Colonoscopy

[Drafter]

So the other day, I saw a friend post something on Facebook about picking up an endoscope online that plugs directly into your smart phone for little to nothing. Been wanting one for a long time, and decided to buy 2 for an insane price of $12 each.
15' cord on each with dimmable LED light, and waterproof. Surprisingly enough, it works great. Record the video like you would any phone video to watch on a larger monitor for some Trojan exploratory surgery to look in yet unexplored spaces.
This is a little(or a lot) disgusting, but one is headed for the fresh water tank, and the other for the (other) tank. The second camera will be on a kamikaze mission, and will be taking one for the team. Yes, we will be doing some pumping, rinsing and more pumping first......but I just have to see what's in there....
Not for any morbid fetish, but to see if the whole tank is open without anything solidified in there taking up space from 30 years of previous owners. The other is going into the freshwater tank for a little look see. Mostly I want to know if I need to keep running any treatments to get rid of gross stuff. Especially the fresh water tank.
So with this, has anyone ever pulled your 30+ year old tank apart to see what condition things were in? I realize both tanks are just simple gel coated boxes molded in by the factory vs. actual "tanks". Think Yorklyn had some photos of them exposed during his restore.

[Big D]

I don't have the glassed-in tanks, mine is plastic but thought I would remove it and give it a good rinse since it was behind the generator and I had removed the genny to rebuild it when I first got the boat, so thought it would be a good opportunity to access the tank. I was surprised to find that it wasn't actually that bad, and I doubt this was ever done since her build in '69.

Most holding tank chemicals used these days are just that; chemicals that deodorize only, so sludge can build up. To minimize sludge buildup and odour, newer enzyme based products are becoming more popular. These actually break down and digest the solids and deal with decay by-products that cause bad odours. They're supposed to be good for keeping your tank walls and senders clean, as well as helping to minimize hose odour permeation. I'm currently trying one of these products and while it's keeping odours under control, I never really had an odour problem to begin with. I guess the real test would be to check how much sludge is in the tank again compared to last time but I'd have to remove the genny again to get at it so....

[rickalan35]

Big D What product are you testing if I may ask.

Rick

[Misty]

Yeah, don't keep us in suspense. Sounds like a screaming deal. I would remove the waste tank, period, and enlarge. I you can bleach a tank with Clorox (caution, all bleach is harsh on old seals or plastic fittings so not too long a soak.)or starbrite water freshener.

[Stripermann2]

Here's one...

http://www.tmart.com/5M-6-LED-5.5mm-Len ... AsDC8P8HAQ

[prowlersfish]

Yeah, don't keep us in suspense. Sounds like a screaming deal. I would remove the waste tank, period, and enlarge. I you can bleach a tank with Clorox (caution, all bleach is harsh on old seals or plastic fittings so not too long a soak.)or starbrite water freshener.

Never put bleach in a waste tank , it can cause a toxic gas .

[Big D]

Big D What product are you testing if I may ask.

Rick

Super Enzo by Aqua-Tek
http://www.marineoutfitters.ca/index.cf ... 6871530199

[rickalan35]

Thanks, Big D

[RWS]

I have the 1983 International with the built in tanks,

They live between the center stringers.

I removed the lid and resealed the waste tank.

Excessive use of poo poo chemicals actually softened the seal.

RWS

[Barrie]

I purchased an endoscope on ebay for $25 with the light on it and fed it into my fuel tanks. I learned 1 was toast and 3 were good just needed a cleaning, which I did in place using the camera to check my work. Best $25 I ever spent, saved me from pulling all the tanks to inspect and clean.
I used a laptop to store video and take screen shots, the only real issue was figuring out what you're actually looking at, most of the time the camera is upside down or on it's side and is very disorienting.
There's no telling where I'll send this thing in the future