Gluvit on Pontoon to stop Leaks??

[Seadoomanls]

Hi all!

I recently purchased my first pontoon boat. I live in South Florida on a small freshwater system with a couple of small lakes. I am excited about getting a pontoon, but I love projects and of course had the itch to buy one at a steal and do some repairs!!

I got a 20' Pontoon Boat (Unknown Brand) with a 1988 Johnson 90hp VRO (VRO already disconnected :joyous
Motor runs good, trailer is in good condition and the boat is stable. I picked it up for a sweet $800! Which I am happy with.

Now to the fun part. The pontoons leak (I think they are 1978). I measured about 2-3 gallons out of each pontoon in a 4 hour time window. I did not see a difference in the ride height of the boat, but I would like to get the toons sealed.

There are no visible scratches or pinholes that I can see. I would like to do the pressurized test, however, the previous owner cut holes in the top of the Pontoons as "access" holes I guess..for whatever reason! I filled the toons up with water and didn't see water coming out what so ever.

So my question is can I get away doing a coat of Gluvit and see how that slows down the water intake or hopefully eliminates it. This is my first pontoon boat and im using it strictly freshwater. I want it to last a season and then if I like the idea of a Pontoon I will be buying a 24' in much better condition. But I was thinking I could Gluvit the pontoons and then put a bottom paint on it that will adhere to epoxy. Again, I don't want a 5year boat...just a year or so.

Also, the tacky lawn chairs are from the previous owner and will be removed soon!

 

[MinUph]

Re: Gluvit on Pontoon to stop Leaks??

What am I missing here. You measured 2-3 gallons of water. Then filled them with water. How did you empty them? With a pump? Are you sure the "access" holes are not plugs that might be missing? Logs have these by design. Are you running when you did this test and maybe the 2-3 gallons went in these access holes?

 

[Seadoomanls]

Re: Gluvit on Pontoon to stop Leaks??

I measured the 2-3 gallons by pulling the drain plugs...each toon has a drain plug on the bottom with a plastic screw in plug. I used pipe threader on the drain plug to ensure it wasn't the plugs leaking. The previous owner cut a 3" diameter hole on the top of each pontoon (these are flat top). His plan was to insert a bilge pump but he noticed the pontoons are foam filled.

I drilled down the foam from the hole that the previous owner put and it doesn't seem to be water logged. it was all dry from what little i extracted. but i did drill down the entire height of the pontoon.

 

[Nightfisher-]

Re: Gluvit on Pontoon to stop Leaks??

My guess would be those 3" holes are where the water is getting in!

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: Gluvit on Pontoon to stop Leaks??

Seal up the 3" holes with something temporary to see if that is the issue.If it is the cause then seal them permanently with proper materials (not silicone). Inspect closely around all mounts and brackets and the nose cone. This is the likely areas for cracking. Have any cracks welded by a competent aluminum welder. Whatever you do, do whatever you can to prevent the foam from becoming waterlogged. If that happens, your in for a world of hurt. Welcome to the world of tooning. Oh, I almost forgot. This is NOT an application for Gluvit.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Gluvit on Pontoon to stop Leaks??

The foam will soak up water and add weight and that will really drag your speed down a lot.

 

[Seadoomanls]

Re: Gluvit on Pontoon to stop Leaks??

Ok thanks for the good advice! Those holes are covered so water shouldn't be getting in but ill double check. Just out of curiosity and for clarification purposes for future reference, if this isn't a good application for gluvit, what is a good situation for gluvit.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Gluvit on Pontoon to stop Leaks??

Welding is the only real cure. The other owner knew that and why he sold it to you so low.

 

[Seadoomanls]

Re: Gluvit on Pontoon to stop Leaks??

Even for a boat I don't plan on keeping. I have an aluminum welder. My stepdad actually owns a shop that fixes boat propellers for the last 25 yrs, but unfortunately the boat can't go where the welder is located. And I'd hate to take it to be welded just to find more leaks. But I guess it's what I have to do. Also, what about bottom paint. What is the best paint once the old paint is stripped off and properly prepped??

 

[5150abf]

Re: Gluvit on Pontoon to stop Leaks??

You need to seal the hole on top as in air tight not just putting something over the top of it, that could be where the water is comeing from and if it isn't it is certainly making the problem worse.

In theory if the top of the tube is totally sealed water can't get in the tube unless the air is allowed to displace, take a 2 litre bottle and cut the bottom out and stick in a sink full of water cap up,a very small amount of water will go into the untill you loosen the cap then it is over.

This theory doesn't actually work in practice because of cooling of the tube, creates vacuum that sucks water in, and pressure from the boat moving but non the less.

You would need to pressure check the boat and try to have it welded but being foam filled I would wonder if that could even be done, the foam will almost certainly get into the weld and make it impossible to fix and youuld end up with a really big hole instead of a small one.

So for this one I think I would find the leak and fix it with some JB Weld, if done properly it should stand up for years but you do need to do something before the foam get water logged, there is no cure for that.

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: Gluvit on Pontoon to stop Leaks??

Ok thanks for the good advice! Those holes are covered so water shouldn't be getting in but ill double check. Just out of curiosity and for clarification purposes for future reference, if this isn't a good application for gluvit, what is a good situation for gluvit.

Gluvit is typically used for seam sealing along a rivetted seam. It has the ability to penetrate the seam to enhance the seal. It is not UV rated therefore needs to be painted over. Gluvit is mostly used on the INSIDE of an aluminum boat.

 

[Seadoomanls]

Re: Gluvit on Pontoon to stop Leaks??

Ok Thanks for the clarification Jeep Man. My original plan was to paint the tube with Gluvit and then apply a bottom paint that would adhere to the Gluvit. If I can pressure test it, I really like the JB Weld idea! Thanks for the info!!

 

[dls322]

Re: Gluvit on Pontoon to stop Leaks??

I had leaky toons on my Riviera Cruiser and i spent about $300 on a bunch of gallons of Coat-it epoxy....thinking that would work because it is supposed to seal 100% and designed to be coated on aluminum boats that hit allot of rocks, had kevlar in the formula.

After all the prep, taping, and multiple coats they still were not 100% sealed....and once you epoxy your toon you can't weld it so if you go that route you are committed.
In theory it sounds like it will work but you will more than likely have problems