Newbie to the tri toon game as I ve only had fiberglass boats... as I was launching my 2016 benny 22 SSX I noted the sound of water in the toons. After searching under the deck and researching it appears there is no easy way to drain said water. Called the local dealer and of course they said bring it in hurry up and wait. Would love to do this at the house. Any advice would be appreciated.
Water in toons.
- Thread starter jmonty
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Jack M
Moderator
I had water in my 2022, holes were drilled, then welded until a replacement arrived 8 months later .
Potomacbassin’
Well-Known Member
I'm going to try a method whereby I cut access holes into the deck to get to the air pressurization ports that are at the tops of each tube section. Take off cap, insert inspection camera and if signs of water insert tubing to suction out.
There is a YT somewhere where the owner does this, pretty simple. Only downside is holes in your deck but I'll buy deck plates to cover.
There is a YT somewhere where the owner does this, pretty simple. Only downside is holes in your deck but I'll buy deck plates to cover.
DVW
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The drill and weld method is not as scary as it sounds. On the other hand it is nice to be able to inspect and drain as required. I have drained thru the vent port on the boat up north. Your ear will be pretty good at locating the compartment that has the water. The quantity of water will tell you if it is just condensation. You will need a straight stiff tube to get down to the bottom. For this reason the drilled hole will need to be directly over the port. It was hard for me to locate the hole. If I had to do it over I would clamp a drywall screw in a vice grip, heat it red hot and push it up thru the flood. Use the burnt hole for a pilot hole. Pump the water out with a cylinder style oil extractor pump. More than a cup is probably not condensation. Considering furniture location you will probably not need a hole plug. Hope this helps.
NO reason to cut any holes in deck. All you have to do is take off the side ribbed horizontal skirting with I think 1/2' or 9/16's bolts between the tubes and the bottom of the decking to access the ports on the top of the tubes. Thats how my shop accessed my plugs and figured out where my leak was at the end cap M brace weld.
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DVW
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Air pressure from a shop vac can be used for a bubble test. If it is just condensation and you do not want to have a drain hole drilled into the bottom it might be reasonable to suck it out the top.
Potomacbassin’
Well-Known Member
That was an option but I figured having regular access to the port might be worthwhile in the long run. A 4" diameter hole isn't going to create any structural issues in the deck and the cover plates blend right in. But on the flip side it's of course permanent!
Vikingstaff
Moderator
Typically after locating the leak(s) one would drill a drain hole, drain out water, aluminum weld repair leak(s), hole drain plug -> pretty straight forward and doesn’t cost much. If the welder is good, you will never notice any work was done on it. We had seam leaks along our port side performance foil on our tritoon in 2019. Covered under warranty. Fixed as described above. However, I think the cost was +/- $500 anyway. So it wasn’t a costly repair if we had been off warranty.
When off warranty, it’s certainly the way to go. Even when still under warranty, for something fixable, it’s an easier and quicker route than a pontoon replacement.
To the OP, if you have the skills to do what I listed above, you might be able to pull off a home repair. Aluminum welding the leaking area is tricky from what I hear. Given that it likely isn’t a big ticket repair (assuming nothing major and its repairable), I’d just let the professionals take care of it.
If it’s major damage for someone, requiring a new pontoon, then warranty or insurance claim is the route to go as that is crazy expensive.
When off warranty, it’s certainly the way to go. Even when still under warranty, for something fixable, it’s an easier and quicker route than a pontoon replacement.
To the OP, if you have the skills to do what I listed above, you might be able to pull off a home repair. Aluminum welding the leaking area is tricky from what I hear. Given that it likely isn’t a big ticket repair (assuming nothing major and its repairable), I’d just let the professionals take care of it.
If it’s major damage for someone, requiring a new pontoon, then warranty or insurance claim is the route to go as that is crazy expensive.
So you can access the " vent ports " to pump that water out ?
DVW
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Anything is possible if you do not have hands on experience. The best advice came from Vikingstaff. You can access the vent ports but it is rigorous on a Bennington. In my case I pumped condensation water out of an old boat. I first confirmed that I did not have a leak by doing a bubble test. That involved mild air pressure in the vent ports. I then pumped the condensation water out of the vent port. That required drilling small hole in the deck directly above the vent port. Had I discovered a leak that would have required a welder and a different course of action. A welder will simply drill a drain hole in the bottom. The extra time to plug weld the drain hole is small once the welder is setup for the leak repair. Hope this helps.
Yup. If you pull off the "side skirting" panels, you can reach each vent port for each chamber from the outside of the boat. Then you can use water and a soap mixture in a spray bottle and cover each weld and pressurize each individual chamber (very very low pressure) and see which seams / welds bubble the soapy water mixture as the pressurized air passes over them ( same thing a tire shop does to diagnose a slow tire leak either at the bead or in the tread from a nail etc) . The shop I had did that and noticed the M brackets at the top of the rear tubes had a couple of pinhole weld cracks and they re-welded them.
BigKahuna
Well-Known Member
When we had water in our starboard toon the welder drilled a hole, drained the water and then installed a threaded bung hole for future leaks.....