Water in the Pontoons?

[thisuldoit]

I recently pulled my pontoon boat out of the water and noticed that there seems to be water inside the pontoons. We have owned this boat for approximately 13 years, and I am sure we have never drained the pontoons. There are drain plugs on the back of the pontoons, and I am wondering if I should drain them, or is this something that the manufacturer does to stabilize the boat? The boat had been running fine, and does not seem to be riding low in the water at all. Furthermore, it has been in the water all summer, and had not sunk.

Suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Water in the Pontoons?

No,........

There should Not be Water inside your Toons......

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Water in the Pontoons?

tilt the boat up as high as you can and remove the plugs, and drain the water. is there water in both toons? when putting the plug back in use some plumbers teflon tape. you an test the toons, by making a fitting out of plumbers stuff, that will fit the drain hole, and using a compressor, charge to toons to about 10 psi. then take a soap solution and go completely of the the toon , and look for leaks,

 

[thisuldoit]

Re: Water in the Pontoons?

I will drain them this weekend. I believe there is water in both pontoons, but I am not completely sure about this. I will also test them as you suggested with the compressor. If there is a leak then it is a very slow one.

Thanks!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Water in the Pontoons?

slow this year, faster next, sunk 3rd year. you can't put a bilge pump i them. if you find a suspect leak this works really well. my airconditioner man put me on to it.

http://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/466327

 

[strizzy]

Re: Water in the Pontoons?

Had a crappy small pontoon come in from auction that had water in both pontoons. I took the pontoons off, as there weren’t any plugs on the back, only top. This was easy with a couple chain falls and forklift... I then drained them, and pumped a couple PSI into them and sprayed down with some cleaner. And where the bubbles formed, I had my leaks. In this case it was where the deck mounting brackets were mounted to the pontoon in the rear.

Cheap fix, JB Weld. "Right fix", weld it.