Leakey pontoon what to do about this

[MrG]

Noticed that our drivers side pontoon is leaking at the weld where the Lifiting streak meets the toon? Here is a video

 

[Pbakk]

Are your lifting strakes sealed or open? Maybe the toon is not compromised (hopefully).

 

[Vikingstaff]

I had the same problem a few years ago on my sealed strakes and performance foils and port side pontoon. Covered on warranty, but has to be documented by dealership and submitted as a warranty item for approval by Bennington. I took the quicker and easier fix: drilled out a drain hole in the rear of my “formally” sealed strakes to drain, and re-welded up the weld seams. It was a fairly quick and easy process. Being on fresh water anyway, this solution has worked great, as I really didn’t need sealed strakes anyway.

 

[MrG]

Are your lifting strakes sealed or open? Maybe the toon is not compromised (hopefully).

My lifting streaks are sealed

 

[MrG]

So this what I did. I removed the aluminum side panel. That gave me access to the Bung’s at the top of the toon. So I removed the bung and went to the local hardwear store and made a Bung with a Shrader valve.

 

[MrG]

So I threaded this into the factory bung. And added a little air into the toon. Then I got a spray bottle with soapy water and found exactkey where the leak was. It was comming from the bottom stitch weld on the bottom side of the lifting streak. I checked both pontoon chambers. My buddy’s welding shop is his Airplane Hanger

 

[MrG]

So the crack ran along the lifting streak. And the crack ran slightly under the streak.
The danger was that the crack could have ran up and under the streak being hidden by the lifting streak that would have been a HUGE problem. The other danger would have been if the welder would’ve accidentally blown through the pontoon and created a void under the lifting streak. So I was Super lucky and had a great welder buddy. He fixed the leak in all of 5 mins

 

[MrG]

So the Only bummer was. When backing the boat in the hanger, I backed the boat right into this Overhang & caught the Bimini on an overhang , TOTALY destroyed it. OMG 1 step forward 4 steps back. So frustrating. Well at least I was at the right place to get it repaired. Here are some pics of the Bimini repair

 

[MrG]

Well now the boat has a few more battle scars I can order a new Bimini hoop and wait mean while continue enjoying summer. (I can’t believe the Bimin canvas didn’t get seriously damaged. The Bimini cover got destroyed and took the damage