Water in my pontoon.

[Tim P Jones]

I have a 97 party hut 30' kept in a slip year round just bought it and new to the pontoon life. I pulled it out to get the motor tuned-up and the mechanic tuned it up and told me I had water in the pontoons. he told me that there are no plugs in the toons and that I should drill a hole in it siphon it out and plug the hole. the other questions I have are can I do this while the boat is in the water and do you need to put any air pressure in it when I am done. what's the best procedure to fix this problem. Note I am mechanically inclined just do not know much about pontoons. Thanks for the help.

 

[cemcrae53]

Re: Water in my pontoon.

I have a smaller party barge of the same year and it has plugs on top of the toons in each compartment. I think if you will reach back in underneath the top mounts on your toons you will find plugs, probably with schrader valves.

 

[BLC]

Re: Water in my pontoon.

Tim
Water in the toons sucks, I know because I just finished fixing mine. Depending on which section the water is in, is going to dictate what you have to do. You will have to remove it from the water though. There is obviously a leak in the toon and it will have to be repaired or the problem will continue. The pontoons are in sections and each section will be a sealed chamber. Where ever there is a weld around the tube/pontoon, there will be a baffle. On a 30 footer you may have 3 or 4 chambers in each tube. If the water is in the back tube you are in luck because you can just drill a hole in the back cap of the tube down as low as you can get, drain the water and have it welded back up. But I would suggest getting a 3/8" threaded aluminum pipe coupling, cutting it in half and welding it where you drill the hole and then just installing a 3/8" threaded pipe plug. That way if you have any issues in the future you can just remove the plug and drain the water. If the water is in any of the other chambers things get a bit more tricky. You could drill a small hole in the bottom of the tube, drain the water and have it welded back up. Before you do any drilling I would check with the person doing the welding as to how big of hole he is able to weld. It will most likely have to be tig welded as the material is too thin to be mig welded. Once the water is out and the holes welded back up you will have to pressure test them to find the leak. Each chamber should have a threaded plug at the top of the toon, you may have to look for them as they may be hidden by the mounts welded to the toon. You can see the red plugs in the first picture if you look closeYou will have to make a test gauge so that you can pressurize the tube and check for leaks. Put no more that 3-5 psi in the tube. This is extremly important, any more and you could damage the tube. Once the tube is pressurized, spray a dishsoap/water solution on every portion of every weld an look for bubbles. Keep a close eye on the front and back mounts where the mounts are attached to the toon, this is a common place for leaks. Some of the newer boats have threaded plugs welded up high on the inside area of the tune under the deck, similar to the second picture below, except under the deck not on the outside and a way better job also. Good luck and don't hesitate to ask for more info if any of this is unclear.

 

[Bamaman1]

Re: Water in my pontoon.

Tim: A 30' Party Hut is a good find on the used market. They're popular and presently none are being made. I just hope you have a matching trailer to put it on, as 30' pontoon trailers are hard to find.

I suggest you find a good welding shop that's had experience welding on pontoon boats. Marine mechanics don't have the welding skills needed for this job. Once the leak is found, you'll probably find it to be very, very small TIG spot weld repair.

As was mentioned, little air pressure needs to be applied. A vacuum cleaner pushing air in reverse is probably too much. All pontoons will have a plug somewhere, even if it's on top of the toons.

Chances are any leak is in one of the weld seams--found with soapy water and a little elbow grease. Obviously, the underwater welds would be the first to check.

And like was mentioned, you'll need to have the water removed. The easiest way is to drill a hole in the toon and later hit it with a small TIG weld. And it would again need to be pressure tested before putting the boat back in the water.

 

[Tim P Jones]

Re: Water in my pontoon.

Hay guy's Thanks for the great info and pictures. I have found them to be very helpful. Thanks again