water in the log

junkman41

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I had to take my pontoon to the welder, Easter weekend I put it in the water for the first time since I got it last fall. after loading it back up on the trailer and lowering the hardtop and securing it to the trailer, I noticed a lot of water running out of the bottom front of the one log, I took it home, and the next day it was still dripping water. the welder told me there must of been water in the log, and over winter it froze and split the weld at the seem. it now is fixed and ready to get back in the water and do some fishing.my question here is, first off the pontoon is a 1986 SanPan 24' how does the water get in there first of all, and if I remover the drain plug at the back of the log, will that drain the whole log? I have two caps on the top of each log, so i assume it has two chambers to each log. how does the water come out of the front chamber or doesnt it? I store it outdoors in the weather. should I add anti-freeze to the logs? I never had to deal with anything like this before, this is my first pontoon.

I want to say thank you to everyone on this forum, it has been very helpful to me.

thanks Jack
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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Re: water in the log

water gets in thru cracks, holes or unsealed plugs.

every fall we pressurize my buddies pontoons up to 3psi and use soap water to look for cracks. last year we found one that was along the welded brackets on top. ground out the old weld, and rewelded it.
 

5150abf

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Re: water in the log

I don't know how Godfrey does thier tubes but if it has a drain plug on the back, never understood this, it must have a hole from the first to second chamber as far as the water getting in, ti can be from anywhere.

Wate splashes all over the tubes underway so most leaks are at the top of tubes and temp changes can actually maeke the tubes go into a vacuum so they actually suck water in.

You can easily air check the tubes with a spray bottle full of soapy water and a small amount of air, no more than 3-4 psi, check the bracket especially, the front of the front brackets and the back of the rear brackets a re big stress points and prone to crack.

I wouldn't add antifreeze but rather find and fix the leaks.
 

junkman41

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Re: water in the log

the leaks are fixed. the welder I took the pontoon to did the pressure test and soapy water. found the leak and re-welded it
thanks Guys
 

MH Hawker

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Re: water in the log

Hope it goes very well for you this summer. Boats can be a lot of trouble but I belive ite well worth it.
 

junkman41

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Re: water in the log

I was wondering how to get the water out of the front chamber of the log. once it gets in there. In my case i guess the water had to be in there since last season, to freeze and split the welded seamon the bottom of the log, over the winter, but I never seen any water dripping out of there. untill I put the pontoon in the water over Easter weekend, and put it back on the trailer. I then alot of water came out will have to keep an eye on it now.
thanks everyone
Jack
 

Scott Danforth

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Re: water in the log

is there a plug on top of the section? my buddies pontoon has plugs on top of the sections, we dropped a small line with a weight to the bottom and use a squeeze ball pump. if there is no plug, you could take it back to your welder, drill a drain hole, drain it, then weld the hole shut.
 

pugsley

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Apr 11, 2010
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Re: water in the log

I have a old 24 ft HJariis and have seen the insides of the toons. In them there is a welded "baffle" evey 8 feet the diame6er of the toon. On the bottom they are open for the 1st inch or so allowing water from each chamber to run to the back. This relies on air in ecch chamber to isolate themselves. In theory this should work...but.. like most.... my bracket welds developed leaks at the very end of nearly every weld. So if there is a leak anywhere in the top of the toon the baffles no longer isolate and allow water to fill each chamber. Perssure testing (2 or 3 lbs) is the only way to find them. The leaks are under the welds yet a suprizing ammount of water can enter them. Sounds like you found a good welder. I was not so fortunate.
 

junkman41

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Re: water in the log

I will find out more tonight after I go pick the pontoon up from the welder. he seems to be pretty good, thats what he does for a living.
he also welded 7/16 round stock to the front of the logs on the bottoms for me, so if I beach the pontoon I dont have to worry about putting any holes in the logs

Scott there are two plugs on the top of each log, and one drain in the rear at the bottom.

thanks guys
Jack
 

5150abf

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Re: water in the log

That is pretty ingenious, it is like the Titanic only backwards, the Titanic had water tight bulkheads that were open on the top instead of the bottom, the theory being one chamber could fill and the rest would be dry and float the boat, that system didn't work so well either.

I have never understood why you would put a drain plug in a toon, it is like they expect it to leak, I prefer the sealed chambers adn a leak on top of the tube is way worse than one on the bottom.

I am kind of suprised that ice broke the weld, normally ice damage happens when the ice runs out of room to grow.

Glad you got it and keep your welder happy, good ones are very hard to find.
 

junkman41

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Oct 16, 2011
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Re: water in the log

after going back up to pick up my pontoon from the welder, he told me he fixed the leak on the bottom of the tube where it was leaking.and he also told me they would not hold 3 lb air pressure over night.but he couldnt find where they where leaking the air from. how and where can I get the valve and guage to put in the tops of the tubes,and check for the leaks myself? and can i still use the pontoon even if it is not holding air pressure, or will I sink. as you can tell this is my first pontoon, and we dont want to be out and have to swim back.

thanks Jack
 

81 Checkmate

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Re: water in the log

Well thats a bummer, leaks off over night.

If your tubes have threaded pipe fittings on top or on the drain then you could go to the hardware store and buy the stuff to do yourself. Look in the pipe section and get a nipple, tee, install the gauge on outlet of tee then off end of the tee another nipple with a ball valve then your quick disconect to atach the air hose. Block off your other outlets with either plugs or caps.
Attach air hose, Valve closed, turn on air, slowly open valve and pump up to 5 psi then shut ball valve and look at the gauge and see your reading, check to see if it drops. If so add alittle more air till she holds at 5 psi, then get a spray bottle of soapy water and spary all fittings and joints. Should see some kind of leak... it will bubble up..... if not my have to add alittle more air to get a higher pressure. Do not pump to high as air tends to expand quickly. Not positive but i would think you could go as high as 15 psi on it. Do not quote me on this!!!!

Good luck hope you can find it!
 

MH Hawker

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Re: water in the log

Jack, if its so small it leaks off over night I would suspect it would be nothing more than a pin hole and would be fine in the water for days before it leaked enough to be noticeable and in fact that may be a good way to test for leaks on the underside of the logs in areas where it sits on the bunks that would be very hard to fine any other way.


Checkmate, 5150 here works for a toon manufacture in the toon department and he dose not recomend over 3 to 4 psi max pressure.
 

81 Checkmate

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Re: water in the log

Good to know about the psi max. Thats why i said dont quote me on it.
Just me but a all welded constructed tank would take alot more pressure than 15 psi to destroy it. Im just saying!!!!!

But in all reality 3 to 4 psi is not much and would be very hard to detect on a gauge. Only if you used a guage that maxed at 15 psi would you see a drop in pressure.

Thanks again for the info hope it works for you jack!
 

MH Hawker

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Re: water in the log

I am by no means a expert on the log construction and I refer to 5150abf on those things, but I have done a considerable amount of fabrication over the years and pontoon logs are not designed even close to a pressure tank. I am not sure where it is now posted it was in one of the sticky`s of a log that was over pressured and if I remember right it was about 15 psi and I can say with total certainly I wouldn't of wanted to be with in 100 yards of it when it blew. Hopefully some one will weigh in who knows where it is at.
 
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