Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

[astampfel]

I have a 2005 21' pontoon with a 60 hp Yamaha. I've been battling pin holes in both pontoons ever since I bought it used about 5 months ago. Yesterday I picked the boat up in my lift and it was tilting to port. This has happened before to me, so I'm aware of the process: remove the drain plug, hook up the compressor to get 4 psi, and start sparying on soapy water to find the hole. This time, I hooked up my compressor first without draining since I thought the extra 4 psi would help to drain the pontoon. So, I used an aluminum rivet to seal the hole. Then I removed the drain plug and water came out. I thought I was done, but my pontoon still lists to port! Previously, the pontoon was pretty even when I thought I had water out from both. Can there be water trapped inside the pontoon somewhere? Are there compartments in the forward part of the pontoon? Do I need to drill a hole in the forward most section of the pontoon and drain?

 

[Blank-N-Ship]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

I have a 2005 21' pontoon with a 60 hp Yamaha. I've been battling pin holes in both pontoons ever since I bought it used about 5 months ago. Yesterday I picked the boat up in my lift and it was tilting to port. This has happened before to me, so I'm aware of the process: remove the drain plug, hook up the compressor to get 4 psi, and start sparying on soapy water to find the hole. This time, I hooked up my compressor first without draining since I thought the extra 4 psi would help to drain the pontoon. So, I used an aluminum rivet to seal the hole. Then I removed the drain plug and water came out. I thought I was done, but my pontoon still lists to port! Previously, the pontoon was pretty even when I thought I had water out from both. Can there be water trapped inside the pontoon somewhere? Are there compartments in the forward part of the pontoon? Do I need to drill a hole in the forward most section of the pontoon and drain?

It's not uncommon to have more than one section in each pontoon, separated either partially or completely with baffles. There should be a check valve somewhere in each section though--this could give you a sense of how many sections there are inside.

If it were me I'd run a hose (possibly weighting the end) through each check valve down to the bottom of the toon in that section and attempt to syphon any water out.

At the point where you have multiple pin holes in your pontoon and--from your location--assuming that you're in salt water, you have to wonder how much corrosion is going on there. My guess is that the previous owner didn't manage the sacrificial anodes and now you're stuck with their problem.

 

[luckyjr]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

ships right, when you get the water out, fill the toons with styrofoam. Get some pro help with the fill.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

ships right, when you get the water out, fill the toons with styrofoam. Get some pro help with the fill.

Not sure I'd want foam in leak-prone toons.

 

[EGlideRider]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

I'm sure I wouldn't place foam in the pontoons.

 

[oops!]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

dont mean to hijack......but i would not use foam in toons either.

has any one ever tried cutting the top of the toon open.......and coating the inside with 4 layers of epoxy?...then welding the thing shut?

 

[EGlideRider]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

dont mean to hijack......but i would not use foam in toons either.

has any one ever tried cutting the top of the toon open.......and coating the inside with 4 layers of epoxy?...then welding the thing shut?

IMHO, I would think this option would be very pricey... And I'm sure the epoxy and aluminum would expand and contract at different rates so that may be an issue.

 

[luckyjr]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

I'm sure I wouldn't place foam in the pontoons.

Could you please share your reasons why? thank You.

 

[luckyjr]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

Not sure I'd want foam in leak-prone toons.

Could you please share your reasons why? thank You

 

[luckyjr]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

Here is a situation. Two pontoon boats were out on the lake and both ran over a rock and tore a 16' hole about a inch wide on the bottom of their toon. One pontoon boat had air chambers toons and the other boat had block styrofoam filling the id of his toons, Your were thrown out of the boat on impact. Which one do you swim for?????

 

[EGlideRider]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

Here is a situation. Two pontoon boats were out on the lake and both ran over a rock and tore a 16' hole about a inch wide on the bottom of their toon. One pontoon boat had air chambers toons and the other boat had block styrofoam filling the id of his toons, Your were thrown out of the boat on impact. Which one do you swim for?????

I would swim to the closest one because they will both float with a hole on the bottom of one of the pontoons. However, if foam is in the damaged toon, draining and repairing it is almost impossible.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

I would swim to the closest one because they will both float with a hole on the bottom of one of the pontoons. However, if foam is in the damaged toon, draining and repairing it is almost impossible.

Yep. That's why they have chambers. There are foam filled toons on the water and I think there are some being produced currently. I believe they're popular with the performance toon crowd, and I have nothing against them per se. The trouble starts when the foam begins to get wet, which it likely would in toons that seem to be regularly developing holes. Waterlogged foam is a big enough headache in glass boats, imagine the implications of it in toons that aren't meant to be opened.

 

[DJ]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

Could you please share your reasons why? thank You

There is NO such thing as completely water proof foam. There is closed cell and open cell. In each case, water finds a way to penetrate. Getting rid of it (water) becomes more difficult with a media, such as foam, impeding its removal.

Leave the chambers open to "air". Patch and replace sections as needed.

I am a Boston Whaler owner-I know about foam filled hulls..

 

[Blank-N-Ship]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

dont mean to hijack......but i would not use foam in toons either.

has any one ever tried cutting the top of the toon open.......and coating the inside with 4 layers of epoxy?...then welding the thing shut?

Sounds like you could open a business just doing that if you were successful. And you could knock out any dents in the toons while you were in there. And midgets might make this work out even better...

Okay, maybe not the midgets.

On that to-foam-or-not-to-foam issue, I'd throw in here that once foamed, it makes welding problematic after that.

I wonder if there's a middle-of-the-ground solution here where you use the existing holes to inject epoxy into them. I know this wouldn't be optimal later should you decide to weld the hole(s) closed again but it does sound slightly better than having all these holes and just repeatedly draining the pontoons.

 

[luckyjr]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

YOU LEFT OUT DENSITY OF THE closed cell FOAM. DOWS BLUE AS EXAMPLE. max WATER ABSORBED 0.01%. A coffee cup in a 28' 25" dia toon.

 

[Water logged]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

Okay, maybe not the midgets

I believe that should be "littile people".

Glenn

 

[lncoop]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

Okay, maybe not the midgets

I believe that should be "littile people".

Glenn

Might be able to hire some smurfs cheap.

 

[luckyjr]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

There is NO such thing as completely water proof foam. There is closed cell and open cell. In each case, water finds a way to penetrate. Getting rid of it (water) becomes more difficult with a media, such as foam, impeding its removal.

Leave the chambers open to "air". Patch and replace sections as needed.

I am a Boston Whaler owner-I know about foam filled hulls..

Yes there is. It is incased in poly comes in 8' sections and 24" OD. Total Weight per 28' toon 60lbs

 

[5150abf]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

You absolutely DO NOT want to cut the top of the toons out, you will never get them back in right and the welding bill would be outrageous, you also don't want to put foam in a toon with a known leak, it would work for awhile but as others have said it would water log eventually and you are in for new tubes.

Welding the pins shut isn't an option either since there is lake crap in the hole and you ar more likely to create more leaks than you fix.

You may get by for awhile with some Gluvit on the outside of the tubes but you are going to have to get new tubes or scrap the boat eventually since there is no real fix for pin holes and they are just going to keep getting bigger.

I am the number 2 in the weld shop at Bennington and have built close to 200,000 tubes in my 25 years so I have actually tried alot of these things and even knowing what you are doing it is really hard.

Start looking for some new tubes.

 

[cbavier]

Re: Water stuck inside pontoon after draining?

DON"T put any styrofoam or anything in the tubes. You will regret it if you do. There should be a plug on the top of each section. Take the plug out. Run a small hose down to the bottom and syphon out any water. You can buy a cheap hand syphon pump at any Auto parts store and probably even at Walmart or Kmart. After you get the water out. Take the pontoon to a reputable Aluminum welder and have him find the leaks and repair them.