Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

This is where it gets really strange: Toon is a 1987 28' foot Sun Tracker Party Hut with 2 and 1/2 logs. 3 chamber each in the outside logs and 2 in the middle 1/2 log.

I can hear water sloshing in one compartment of my log - yet when I open the plug on the top I get a ton of air rushing out?

The other chambers are quiet, no apparent water in them - yet when I open the plug I get just a very little bit of air rushing out...

I don't understand what's going here - seems like it is exactly opposite of how it should be.

Anyway, my plan to fix 'em is:

1. Drill a small drain hole in the center/back bottom of each chamber, park overnight with the bow elevated to allow it to drain. This would appear to be the only way to know for sure if I've got water in each chamber.

2. Run a tap in the hole, then install a round head phillps stainless truss (larger surface area) pan head machine screw with a couple of wraps of Teflon tape, snug gently. Maybe toss on a very thin O ring under the head as well.

3. Pressurize each chamber with no more than 5psi and spray with soapy water - look and listen for leaks.

4. Repair cracks by welding, and pinholes with Marine Tex epoxy coating: http://www.marinetex.com/gluvit.html

Is this a decent plan, or is there a better way? Thanks in advance for your input and advice.

How about using a shop vac and sucking it out, then you have no holes to fix, get you a small line to put in the toon and then use the shop vac to suck her dry

That sounds like a good idea. I would be nervous with holes under the waterline. Too many chances for a failure.

Well, yeah, I've got a good shop vac and could easily rig up a suction hose - but how do you know if you've got a small leak... it would seem difficult to get the hose to lie down completely flat on the inside rear of the chamber to suck all the water out.

I need to establish a baseline on each chamber.

I was thinking maybe use an aluminum "rivnut" instead, which is just a threaded insert you install in a hole, and attach/seal the collar with JB weld. Should be stronger than just going into the thin aluminum. There's a separate tool you need to buy to install it permanently since it draws down the rivnut similar to a pop rivet, but for a simple plug I think JB weld would be more than adequate. I also think you can draw it down with just a washer, nut and bolt - especially the aluminum ones since they are so soft.

If you going to drill holes, get them welded up, but to find out if you have a leak, make a pressure cap and pressurize it to 4 pounds, no more!!! and then spray it down with a of a few drops of dish soap in a spray bottle filled with water and look for bubbles

The fab shop where I take my pontoon stuff charges $125 to pressure test and weld normal small pinhole leaks in a pontoon. I always just have them do it. Ive tried using epoxy on my last pontoon and it cracked and leaked 2 weeks later.

RonKMiller wrote:
Is this a decent plan, or is there a better way? Thanks in advance for your input and advice.

None of the above...trust me. Never drill holes below the waterline. Never use JB Weld below the waterline. Screws and JB will fail at more often than not and at the worst time. Suck out the water with a shop vac/hose, SLIGHTLY (2-3 PSI, never go any higher than that...ever. You risk rupturing the log) pressurize the offending log. Use soapy water to find the leak and get it welded. Common failure points are at the top of the "M" brackets.

Also any welds that are bad should be covered under Tracker's lifetime hull (welded seams only) warranty.

badmoonrising wrote:

RonKMiller wrote:
Is this a decent plan, or is there a better way? Thanks in advance for your input and advice.

None of the above...trust me. Never drill holes below the waterline. Never use JB Weld below the waterline. Screws and JB will fail at more often than not and at the worst time. Suck out the water with a shop vac/hose, SLIGHTLY (2-3 PSI, never go any higher than that...ever. You risk rupturing the log) pressurize the offending log. Use soapy water to find the leak and get it welded. Common failure points are at the top of the "M" brackets.

Also any welds that are bad should be covered under Tracker's lifetime hull (welded seams only) warranty.

Wow, thanks - great advice. Nothing worse than a newb going off on his merry way...

If I could get Tracker to actually pay up for welds done in 1986 - that would be AMAZING. Good advice where to look for failure, and that's making a lot of sense since I just washed every thing down for the first time yesterday - AND it's the first time I heard the water sloshing.. It would make sense to go really easy, even low pressure in a vessel not designed for it could go boom. 2-3 psi pushing on that much surface area is a LOT of force.

I have found a guy locally that has welded pontoons before - he's very familiar with the technique required.

Thanks gents for all your input - I think I'll stick with the tried and true ways instead of reinventing the wheel.

Glad I could help.

Ron keep us posted. I've got to have both of my logs pressure checked and tested this spring. I had water in both logs last fall. Boat stays in the lake all summer but I don't want any water in the logs. We have a welding shop that repairs toon logs so they know what to do to fix them. I figured they were leaking at the M brackets myself. They will find out for sure though.

cbavier wrote:Ron keep us posted. I've got to have both of my logs pressure checked and tested this spring. I had water in both logs last fall. Boat stays in the lake all summer but I don't want any water in the logs. We have a welding shop that repairs toon logs so they know what to do to fix them. I figured they were leaking at the M brackets myself. They will find out for sure though.

Since I've got the luxury of time, I'm going to go at it in a different way: pressurizing each chamber and waiting to see if it "leaks down" over 24 hours. Our high and low temps are pretty stable right now so that should not be an issue.

Number one (of 8 total) was pumped to about 3 psi today, so will see the results late tomorrow. No pressure drop and it's on to the next one.

One thing I've already learned - don't be in a hurry to bring it up to 3 psi - it can happen fast - so check the pressure with a quality gauge frequently and keep the compressor setting ultra low. Or else:

I could NEVER leave a test like this to someone else. Seems like a surefire way to cause some serious damage if you aren't paying CLOSE attention.

Still lovin the bilge pumps I put in each tube after last years fiasco. Just hit the switch for quick peace of mind. Now if my lake would only get rid of that last pesky two feet of ice.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=267327

The above is a link to an I-boats thread on how much air should go into a tube (with a good picture).

Is it repairable?