Water in my pontoon log

[Jversace]

I have a technical question/issue with my ’99 Premier Alante pontoon boat…

I hit a rock on the lake bottom last year and punctured a small hole in the bottom of the nosecone section of the pontoon and the pontoon log filled half up with water. I took it to the dealer and they fixed the hole with a weld and drained the pontoon by installing drain plugs in the lower rear section of the pontoon logs. It worked, but after storing the pontoon over the winter, the weld where they fixed the hole burst outward due to some water freezing that was still in the nosecone section of the pontoon.

Here’s my question:

I believe the pontoon logs have baffles in them to connect each section of the log (connecting the nosecone to the main log, etc.). Does each baffle have a drain hole at the bottom to allow water to drain to the rear of the pontoon log and out the drain plug? Or do I need to drill a drain hole in each pontoon section and drain each section separately? If there is a drain hole near the bottom of each baffle, is it possible the drain hole is blocked? Is there some sort of water drainage system built in to the pontoon log on my ’99 Premier Alante? What do you think?

[pontoonMoose]

Im pretty sure there are no drain holes in the baffels, that way with a hole in either end it keeps from flooding the whole log and sinking one side all the way,
Do you know if they are foam filled logs
Reason for asking is I dont see a little water freezing and busting a weld. but water soaked foam I could see that happing.
Ive never seen drain holes on a pontoon log, my tracker has some service plugs on the very top

[rockhound]

i have seen them advertised both ways, some of the older pontoons had drain holes that went all the way aft.

my 1997 riviera cruiser has this type of setup, the po did not transport the i/o motor properly (not supported) and the toons had developed a stress crack. we had reinforced the area with a second lay of aluminum, but the crack was not properly sealed (first time) the tube took on a large mount of water, not half full, but way more than i wanted to ever see in my toons. I removed and reinstalled the repair and the new epoxy seems to be working, in fact the second test outing, the port toon was bone dry. the starboard toon still had a small amount of water get in , but it was minimal. id beileve their may be another small leak that i have not found.

In addition to redoing the repair i also installed new bilge pumps in the toons. I removed the aftmost plugs in the toons and using the proper combination of plumbing fittings i was able to install 5/8 inch poly tubes into the back section of the toons, those tubes run under the deck above the underskinning and into the drywell where my battery is mounted. the tubes are connected to two 12 volt self-priming bilge pumps, each capable of priming at over 12 feet above the liquid level and pumping enough water dry the toons in short order. i was concerned about creating a vacuum inside the toons so at the next plug i installed a another set of fittings that allow a check valve to be installed that will equalize the pressure inside the toon should the pump create too much vacuum.

if you have the same setup with a toon that drains all the way back a similar setup would work well as a back up system.

[mcrane32]

I have drilled holes through the deck so that I can run rigid tubing through the service ports on top of the individual sections. I used a pump driven by an electric drill. I don't know how the water got in there but it has not returned. It was definitely saltwater and according to my calculations there was more than 80 gallons in one section and 50 in another. I gained about 6mph LOL.

[phlpittsny]

Rockhound: I am interested in putting bilge pumps in my pontoons as well ... OR using a transfer pump OUTSIDE the pontoons to pump water out. Either way, I need to figure out how best to attach tubing to the pontoons.

Can you post a little more detail about your bilge pump connections ... maybe with pictures???

[margaritaman]

Your pontoons should not be taking on water without a leak somewhere. If they are I would just fix the leak and save the bilge pump expense.

[HandymanHerb]

A lot have hole on the bottom in the baffles , you can get water in all sections but it air locks (like when you put an empty glass in water upside down) and keeps the water from filling the toon and are easy to drain if you do get water in them

[RcgTexas]

Your pontoons should not be taking on water without a leak somewhere. If they are I would just fix the leak and save the bilge pump expense.

+1 no extra holes in pontoons if you can help it. fix em and seal em and test, then you are done unless they are junk.

[phlpittsny]

Well ... all that info about fix them and leave them alone is good. And I DO understand the advice about not putting MORE holes in the pontoons. However, my research (in forums like this) indicates that such leaks are not uncommon.

For the record ... I DID find a welder who knows how to pressure test the pontoons, find leaks, and weld them shut. I HAVE had that work done (several cracks, 9 hours labor for ~ $700.00). The welder said that there were 1 or 2 VERY small leaks that he could not get to without cutting out sections of the pontoon and welding on a patch later, and he suggested we not worry so much about them. When all was done, it took hours for 1.5psi pressure to drop measurably.

However ... the welder said that such leaks are likely to reoccur. They (almost) all occurred where the brackets that attach the deck to the pontoons are welded onto the pontoons, in the rear, near the engine. The bounce of engine makes these welds the most likely to fail (confirmed by my research).

Sooooo ... I thought maybe I should put in a pump system to account for water, over time, until the cracks get big enough to spend another $700.00 to fix them. I certainly can't do a fix like that EVERY year.

This is the full genesis of my question, above.

Thoughts???

[margaritaman]

Install a drain plug in the rear bottom part of your pontoons and just drain them occasionally. Then you can monitor how much water is really seeping in. This is not an expensive option.