water in toon

[dlensing]

I have a 2008 G3 Suncatcher seems to have water in toons. Drained themand had at least 40 gallons in left and probably 15 in right. Got new SS plugs and went to lake the other day. Rode a lot better without all the extra weight. Got home and out of curiosity opened drain plugs. Both toons drained out about a gallon total for both. I am wondering if this was new water or some that did not drain out the first time. It drained overnight the first time. If it is leaking what is the proper approach to fix it.

[sjc195]

We just did mine. I had recently welded a hole after one of my pontoons were damaged from being pushed ashore by the wind. We pressure tested the pontoons at 3psi saw that one pontoon was not holding the pressure even after the fix. Got some soapy water and were able to find about 3 small pinholes around some factory welds. simply welded those up and now it's all good.

[Ron Burgundy]

Yep, you need to do a pressure test to see if you have any leaks. If you do have leaks they need to be welded.

[dlensing]

Can I do a pressure test myself? How do I do it. I have a compressor

[GregF]

You can do it with a vacuum cleaner on "blow". You just need enough pressure to blow bubbles in soapy water.

[jeffybear]

Right, no more than 3 or 4 psi.....I like the vacuum cleaner idea, it surely couldn't put enough pressure in the tubes to cause problems....could it?

[cdnpartyhut]

What about on of those rechargeable tube inflators?

[Ron Burgundy]

It's a two man job. At least it was for me. One person to hold the vacuume cleaner line up to the drain plug, and another person walking around spraying the tubes with soapy water looking for bubbles.

[Leisure Kraft]

Can I do a pressure test myself? How do I do it. I have a compressor

Be careful on this. I just had a pair of guys in asking if they could buy a replacement pontoon. Guy #1 suggested to Guy #2 that he "just hook up his compressor to it..." in order to remove dents. Neither guy seemed to know that pontoons often are baffled. One of the guys was lucky enough not to be killed when it blew up in his garage.

So step one would be to see how many plugs there are along the pontoon itself. There should be one plug per distinct section. Different manufacturers have different styles of baffling. Some put a small hole/channel so that one section is essentially the same over time, water-wise. The hole in theory would be so small so that you wouldn't sink if you hit something and started taking in water in one section.

Using a compressor wouldn't be my suggestion. Sounds like you still have a leak... or some water is slowly making its way from one of those other sections and didn't drain completely the last time. Get the pontoon on a steep enough slope to drain it out completely this time.

[dlensing]

Will a shop vac work? It would not put out too much pressure would it? Also does anyone know if the G3 warranty would cover it?

[Terry Dactile]

Vacuum cleaners are perfect for pressurizing toons for leak check.

[badmoonrising]

Will a shop vac work? It would not put out too much pressure would it? Also does anyone know if the G3 warranty would cover it?

Not sure, but Tracker's warranty is lifetime for all welds. I would call the manufacturer or dealer if the leak is at a weld. Yes a shop vac will work.

[Ogre]

So how would a guy pressure test a center 'toon that has a ski locker? Is it the norm to have those sealed? or is the center 'toon open to the atmosphere?