Helium ?

[monoshock]

Hello, I have a out of the box crazy idea. On a pontoon or tritoon boat, what if you filled the tubes with helium would that give any extra lift? Would I make any difference if the helium was at a higher PSI? Told you this was a crazy idea.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: Helium ?

Sorry to tell you, but you're not the first lunitic:<br /> http://www.iboats.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=000630 <br /><br />What would give you more flotation than helium is to evacuate all the air from the pontoons. Might even add up to ten pounds off the boat, and better yet a vaccum is 'free'. 'Course, it would suck (har, har, har!) if a pontoon suddenly imploded or leaked under the waterline.

 

[bayman]

Re: Helium ?

If you filled them with helium at the same PSI as the air around you then you would probably make your boat boat a few ounces lighter. Doing it at a higher PSI could even make your boat heavier...and could be dangerous in that it could cause your pontoons to explode or burst a seam. If you were able to put helium in at a very high PSI (which isn't possible because they aren't strong enough) then you would have liquid helium...and that would be very bad because liquid helium is extremely cold.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: Helium ?

Ok, say we have two pontoons, 16' long and 16" in diameter (say, 500cm x 40cm). That's about 2,500,000ml of air. Since a ml of air weighs 1.2mg at standard temperature and pressure, that means you've got about 3kg of air in each pontoon, or 6kg total (13 lbs).<br />So if you were to use my vaccum idea, that would save you 13lbs. (Hey, not a bad guess!)<br /><br />Now, fill er up with helium at standard pressure/temperature. Helium there weighs 0.18mg per ml. So that means you'll need 0.45kg (1 lb) of it. Total weight savings on your pontoon: 12lbs. If you use hydrogen instead (0.09mg/l), you'd save an extra 1/2 lb.

 

[umblecumbuz]

Re: Helium ?

Lay off the big macs.<br /><br />Saves weight and bucks.

 

[mattttt25]

Re: Helium ?

i was thinking he was on to something until paul came along and ruined it with math.

 

[jim dozier]

Re: Helium ?

Clearly he just needs bigger pontoons. Oh wait they have a name for that, a dirigible! I like the hydrogen idea. Convert the outboard to run on hydrogen and you have a spare tank.

 

[monoshock]

Re: Helium ?

Paul Moir <br />How many of those foil baloons would it take to get 12lbs of lift, I maght tie them on the railing a give it a go.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: Helium ?

Same volume as those pontoons I guess. Lots?<br /><br />I think jimd's got a good idea there!<br />

 

[BF]

Re: Helium ?

now you're talkin'!!! giant hydrogen filled pontoons!! <br /><br />When you scrape the dock we can say "Oh, the humanity!!" Come to think of it, that would be a catchy name to have painted on the stern!<br /><br />Brent

 

[bayman]

Re: Helium ?

Hmmm, now we have a wind resistant problem!<br /><br />Okay, so putting various gases in your pontoons doesn't help that much. However, you can save money on the way to the boat ramp (and elsewhere) by putting nitrogen gas in your vehicle's tires. That will actually keep the heat down in the tires and give you better gas mileage.

 

[monoshock]

Re: Helium ?

I read about that some where on the net a while back. <br />Do you have a link for this subject?<br /><br />I'm still thinking about going to Wally World and buying a bunch of the foil helium filled <br />B-day ballons and tying them on the railing. <br />And on the way home picking up a 6 pack of Big Macs.

 

[Solittle]

Re: Helium ?

A 6 pack of what - - - ??????????

 

[monoshock]

Re: Helium ?

McDonalds Big Macs hamburgers.<br /><br />See Stillfishing's post. LOL<br /><br />I'm really a Toco Bell man.

 

[KRS]

Re: Helium ?

Wow.... scary stuff going on there in Lake City

 

[Realgun]

Re: Helium ?

Not a good idea Hydrgen goes boom and will leak right through that aluminium in a few weeks.<br />Helium is even worse it will leak faster but will not go boom. <br /><br />I say leave the darn things alone they aren't hurtin ya.

 

[monoshock]

Re: Helium ?

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: Helium ?

<br />Now there's a party barge!<br /><br />I wonder if you could use a lift-fan though? Sort of a cross between a hovercraft and a tunnelboat.

 

[ZmOz]

Re: Helium ?

Originally posted by bayman:<br />However, you can save money on the way to the boat ramp (and elsewhere) by putting nitrogen gas in your vehicle's tires. That will actually keep the heat down in the tires and give you better gas mileage.

Nitrogen will have no effect on the heat of your tires or the MPG you get unless they are inflated to the wrong pressure with air. It is a marketing gimmick. It's like bottled water. Most people do not need it, and would never know the difference given a blind test. The only thing nitrogen does is not expand as much when heated, (it heats up just the same as anything else) but that is not a problem with air unless your tires are inflated to the wrong pressure. Remember, plain old air is already 80% nitrogen.

 

[monoshock]

Re: Helium ?

We need to laugh at ourselves sometimes to forget how cruel the world can be.<br /><br />Now, get the helium tanks ready, I’m going to the lake!!