Making a bath tank with your own hands is not a difficult task, especially if you are an experienced welder. But not every material will be able to work independently, and some types of tanks are easier to buy ready-made. Let's talk about what tanks are, what material, and also how to install a water tank in a bath. Content:
- Tank making
- Product selection
- Installation features
The bathhouse is a place where it is customary to go with a large company or family. Therefore, you should make sure that there is enough hot water for everyone. When choosing a tank capacity, it is better to stop at 70-80 liter containers. This volume is quite enough for a family.
Making a tank for a bath
If you take on the manufacture of a bath tank yourself, then it is better to use stainless steel for this. There are also enameled and cast iron tanks - these are preferable to buy ready-made.
Before you weld the bath tank, you need to prepare:
- Sheets of stainless steel (about 105 thousand rubles per ton);
- Welding machine (about 10 thousand rubles);
- Metal brush (from 100 rubles apiece);
- Electrodes with a diameter of 2.5–3 mm (from 100 rubles per kilogram);
- Pliers (about 100 rubles);
- Hammer (from 170 rubles).
Next, you should make a small drawing of the future tank. It is necessary to correctly calculate the dimensions and determine how much metal is needed for a rectangular or square tank - these forms are the simplest and most practical.
The main process of work looks like this:
- We cook the tank of the desired shape.
- We weld bends into it, which will act as a supply and drainage of water.
- We make a ceiling seam. This is if the tank is planned to be mounted on a pipe. Ceiling seam is a very demanding job, you need to be especially careful. Otherwise, water may flow through it.
It is profitable to make a homemade bath tank in the case when you are a really experienced welder. The quality of such a tank mainly depends on how correctly the joint seams were made. If the seams are not given proper attention, the tank will soon begin to leak. We'll have to redo it or even change it to a new one. This will entail unexpected expenses.
Choosing a finished tank for a bath
As mentioned, not all tanks can be welded by yourself. In addition, most of us want to play it safe and buy a ready-made bath tank and be confident in its quality and reliability. On sale you can find tanks made of steel, stainless steel and cast iron.
Each material has positive and negative properties, let's try to figure it out:
- Stainless steel bath tanks … These tanks are made of thin, but strong enough steel. They are the easiest to care for and do not deform at all over time, and also do not corrode. Stainless steel tanks have excellent thermal conductivity and are absolutely not afraid of moisture. This is perhaps the most popular tank at the moment.
- Cast iron tanks … Cast iron is a very heavy material and quite thick. The water in such a tank heats up for a long time, but it also keeps the temperature for a long time. For example, in a stainless steel tank, water heats up quickly, but it also cools down immediately after the heat supply stops. The cast iron tank is able to keep the water hot all day long.
- Enamelled tanks … Such bath tanks are rather fragile and require special care. Although they are not susceptible to rust formation, corrosion often occurs with them. If you decide to purchase an enamelled bath tank, then remember that they cannot be built into the oven itself, and should also be treated with heat-resistant paint.
Installing a water tank in a bath
The principle of natural circulation of water in the tank is that when heated in the register, water rises into the tank itself, and when it cools down, it descends back into the register. The water can be used immediately after the stove is heated, and in order not to disturb the natural circulation, the water should be taken from the return.
We install the tank in the bath in the following sequence:
- We connect the pipes of the tank to the furnace coil.
- In order for the circulation to be correct, the lower branch of the tank is connected to the lower branch of the furnace coil, and the upper branch of the tank is connected to the upper branch of the coil.
- We install a safety valve at the cold water inlet.
The water in the tank is heated through a coil, and when you take out some hot water, cold water is automatically added to it through the inlet. If you do not take water for some time, and it has already warmed up to a critical temperature, the fuse will work and lower the pressure.
In conclusion, it is worth mentioning one more, important detail. It is possible to heat the water in the bath tank both with the use of a wood-burning stove and with the help of an electric heating element built into the tank. Features of using a water tank with autofill in a bath can be seen in the video:
When choosing a method of heating water, it is important to take into account that the larger the tank capacity, the longer the water heats up in it. Heating water with a water heater in a large tank will increase your electricity bills. Therefore, this method is not bad, but if you have a small tank.
