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Water in starboard tube.....

BigKahuna

BigKahuna

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Well I thought this would never happen to us but it's a reality now. The last 2 times out we took our 18 yr old neighbor on the boat to teach her how to ski before she leaves for college. It was a success! Anyway we noticed that our boat was leaning a bit starboard. We thought no way can we have water in there after 11 seasons. What else could it be? My wife drove it to the ramp this morning and we put it back on the trailer. Oh yeah water sloshing around inside. We took it to a welder across the lake and by the time I backed it up to his shop he drilled the hole and water gushed out. Damn! He said come pick it up tomorrow...... We're lucky he wasn't busy.......
 
Well handled with minimal time lost. Any idea how the hole came to be?
 
Any idea of the cause?
 
Haven't heard yet.......
 
Wow! Sorry man. Glad you got right on top of it, and the welder is able to tackle it immediately for you. Keep us posted if you figure out what caused it.
 
All right here we go. The welder called and said that he installed a threaded bung hole or drain in the back of the toon. He applied 5 lbs. of air pressure and watched with a soapy spray solution that he had sprayed on several places. He did not observe any bubbling or air leak and the toon held the 5 lbs. of air for 20 minutes. In other words....... He couldn't find the leak. I asked if the pontoon could be sitting on the trailer bunks covering the hole. (Nauticals theory) He said 99% of the time the leak comes from a bad weld or seam. There are no welds or seams where it meets the bunks. He thinks that the water probably accumulated over a long period of time and we are just now noticing it. But it's going to drive me nuts not knowing how it got in there. At least we have a threaded drain in case of future water accumulation. My mechanic suggested in the off season to put it on a scissors trailer or some kind of forklift to go over the toon with a fine tooth comb. Total cost for draining the water out, installing a threaded drain, and looking for the leak ...... $60.
 
Cannot beat that price! However, I’d exactly like you. It would be driving me crazy wondering about it. I like the off season idea, just to try to be sure there is nothing being overlooked by it being on your trailer bunks.

Now, don’t go out there and sink on us. :eek:;):D
 
Maybe time to lower that insurance deductible!!! Just kidding!

Also, hopefully this isn't one of those times where someone works on the wrong toon like when a doctor cuts off the wrong leg.
 
Vikingstaff said:
Cannot beat that price! However, I’d exactly like you. It would be driving me crazy wondering about it. I like the off season idea, just to try to be sure there is nothing being overlooked by it being on your trailer bunks.

Now, don’t go out there and sink on us. :eek:;):D
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Picking it up and putting in the water today. We'll see.
 
lakeliving said:
Maybe time to lower that insurance deductible!!! Just kidding!

Also, hopefully this isn't one of those times where someone works on the wrong toon like when a doctor cuts off the wrong leg.
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That's funny!
 
This is what the welder installed in the rear of our starboard tube..... IMG_20190719_141820689.jpg IMG_20190719_141810017.jpg
 
Looks like a nice bung hole.
 
My ignorance, but I thought the toons were actually 3 or 4 seperate chambers (so if a small leak in one, the rest keep the boat floating) are welded together in some way to look like 1. If this is true, by definition there has to be a weld or seam where it meets the bunks.
 
Vikingstaff said:
Cannot beat that price! However, I’d exactly like you. It would be driving me crazy wondering about it. I like the off season idea, just to try to be sure there is nothing being overlooked by it being on your trailer bunks.

Now, don’t go out there and sink on us. :eek:;):D
Click to expand...

Ditto!
 
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