Foam or no foam.

POINTER94

Vice Admiral
Joined
Oct 12, 2003
Messages
5,031
I was asked whether to put in floatation foam on a rebuild job on a pontoon sponson. It's an old boat being rebuilt. There was a leak in one of the sponsons and my buddy is going to weld it up. But before he does, he is considering injecting some foam floatation.

Not being a toon guy, I have no clue. I would think that like all foam is would make the sponson difficult to drain if it leaked and the foam like all petrolium products must be very expensive.

Any ideas?
 

Tail_Gunner

Admiral
Joined
Jan 13, 2006
Messages
6,237
Re: Foam or no foam.

Filling up a toon flotation barrel would be a lot of dollar's, nope just seal her and check for leaks.....
 

sdunt

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Sep 11, 2005
Messages
389
Re: Foam or no foam.

I would think that like all foam is would make the sponson difficult to drain if it leaked and the foam like all petrolium products must be very expensive.

All flotation products work by displacing water, the same thing that the 'toons sponson's do, so putting foam in them would be doing the same thing twice..

Sorry, I just have a real problem with 2 part foams and putting that inside of a 'toon were it will absorb any water it finds (condensation) and make the 'toon heavier, just sounds crazy to me. Much less when the stuff gets wet, you have to cut the entire 'toon open to get the stuff out??
 

Islandlure

Seaman
Joined
May 14, 2006
Messages
63
Re: Foam or no foam.

Another opinion, I agree, the toons are already your flotation and over time if the foam gets wet it will add weight and this would not be an easy removal job. Most likely if it isn't there from factory it shouldn't be there. Plus is would be extremely costly.
Now look at it this way also. I dont know the size of the whole, but you would just melt everything within a good radius of the hole when you weld it up. The aluminum is going to get very hot.
Just my two cents...
 

reelfishin

Captain
Joined
Mar 19, 2007
Messages
3,047
Re: Foam or no foam.

I have to agree with the above posts, I don't think it would add any boyancy and if it did get wet, it would be imposible to get back out or dry out. Leave it empty and seal it well.

I had an aluminum pontoon boat with a few leaks several years ago, what I did was to drill out a drain plug to take a standard tire valve, that way I could add a few pound of pressure and leak test the pontoon with soapy water or simply look for bubbles in the water. (Warning, do not add too much air, only a few pounds is plenty).
I was able to find all of my leaks and weld them up in no time, mine had a porous weld and a small crack near the drain plug. A few minutes with the tig welder and it was all better.
 

Jimmyz123_

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Oct 23, 2004
Messages
39
Re: Foam or no foam.

I have a 17 1/2 foot bow rider that has some foam that I was thinking of cutting out to put a built in cooler or live well into. Would it hurt the boat if I did so? I can't see why it would, but I thought I would ask.
 

Jimmyz123_

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Oct 23, 2004
Messages
39
Re: Foam or no foam.

Hello, any answer to my question? Would cutting away a hole in the foam of about 14" X 11" do any damage to the boat itself?
 

erikgreen

Captain
Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Messages
3,105
Re: Foam or no foam.

Well, you really need to start a thread of your own to ask a question, even though it's related to the other discussion here.

Quick answer: no problem removing foam, you're just decreasing floatation in the even your boat fills with water.

Erik
 

Jimmyz123_

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Oct 23, 2004
Messages
39
Re: Foam or no foam.

Thank you, and I don't think the amound of foam that I will be removing will be that big of a deal. The majority will still be there. Thank you so much for the answer.

James
 
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