Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I just bought a 2000 22' Pontoon for the family on a small Michigan inland lake.

The toons have quite a bit of pitting (more than I originally thought, as whatever was built up on the toons when removed by the shop doing the delivery cleaning revealed pitting). It appears that a previous application of black stuff to seal the pits. This area is the worst, not so bad other than near the backs.

I have never owned a pontoon, and would like to know:

- How bad is this? I am concerned if the wall thickness is thin, then pinholes will develop.

- What do I do to seal it / prevent this from happening? I assume an application of "stuff" but would like to know what, and how long does it take to dry.

Welcome ! Sorry to be the bringer of bad news, but that looks like a classic case of the wrong bottom paint being applied to aluminum. Copper anti-fouling paint should never, EVER be used on aluminum hulls. You need to remove it (ASAP, before it goes back in the water) by sandblasting it down to the bare aluminum and :

1) Fill in any pits with epoxy (they are eventually going to leak if you don't).

2) Follow up 2 coats of etching primer from Interlux (formulated for aluminum).

3) Follow up with Interlux Trilux 33, (preferably 3 coats minimum).

Copper paint plus aluminum sitting in water will rapidly degrade the hull. You are essentially creating a battery with the dissimilar metals and the aluminum will degrade quickly.

If a marina or dealer painted it, they are responsible and would probably help you out on that.

I agree with Ed!! Look how all the pitting is at the paint level and no where else. That sucks..................

Personally, I'd return it to the dealer unless you got a very good deal on it. That kind of corrosion has severely decreased the life expectancy of the pontoon logs.

Make sure you use a soft blasting media, walnut hulls or something like it. Hard media such as sand will remove aluminum and all you want to get off is the paint.

I would soda blast the paint off, it won't remove any metal and easy cleanup. You might be able to rent one. They will strip paint fast.

Ouch!!!
That is the worst that I've seen.

Yep, it'll start leaking. It's only a matter of time. Shame some dumb ass didn't use the right paint for aluminum.