Ping Pong Balls instead of foam?

[Winger Ed.]

Re: Ping Pong Balls instead of foam?

Originally posted by Nos4r2:<br /> Soda bottles with foam pumped in round them?

Its been discussed alot, but yeah...<br /><br />That's a darn good way to go.<br /><br />The bottles take up most of the volume (more or less) for free. The surounding (expensive) poured foam gives more strength & support than any boat will ever need to stay afloat--- even if its ripped apart by running over a rock or stump,,,, or even by another boat.<br /><br />The down side of bottles is, if you punch a hole in one with a screw or whatever--- it will eventually fill up with bilge water, and never be able to drain. When the bottle fills and can't drain--- you're back to where you were with waterlogged factory foam. You get added weight without gaining support or floatation.<br /><br /><br />What I've done as a compromise is to use 1 quart oil bottles (well rinsed with solvent), upside down and uncapped. and keep them away from where I plan to run screws holding down the floor or whatever. Get them crammed in, and pour the foam. If one ever gets punctured--- it can only fill up with one qt. of water max.<br /><br /><br />With the 3 boats I've done this with, 2 hydros & a antique Al. hull daycruiser, they've done well over the years. I've marked and recorded the 'waterline' from when they were new, and where it is now. So far, I've seen no measurable change in any of them from water saturation.<br /><br />And they all live very exciting lives in hazardous waters. <br /><br />Ed.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Ping Pong Balls instead of foam?

Soda bottles with foam pumped in round them?

That Defeats the Whole Purpose of using Bottles..............I'm Not proposing to Lessen the Co$t of foaming your boat,... I'm proposing to Eliminate the Foam Altogether.. To Insure a Dry Bilge.. No Rot....<br /><br />If you Foam Around them, the Bilge will Hold Water again.............<br />The idea of the bottles is to Insure Bilge Drainage .............

 

[jimmythekid]

Re: Ping Pong Balls instead of foam?

I believe that the need for foam is twofold.<br /><br />1. if for some reason you take on water it will keep the boat at the surface.<br /><br />2. if you hit something, and put a hole in the hull, hopefully you wont take on water in the first place, allowing the boat to be motored back to shore in a safe manner. it will at least slow the inflow of water down.<br /><br />So, bottom line at least in my view is, put foam in where its supposed to be(hollow spaces under the deck), and put soda bottles where they are supposed to be(in the cooler or in the trash)<br /><br />by the way, a while back there was a guy on a military ship, a very mathmaticaly smart guy, that proved it to be more expensive to use ping pong balls rather than foam<br /><br />come on 50.00 bucks for 8 cubic feet is not expensive IMO more like VERY CHEAP insurance<br /><br />just remember nothing manmade lasts forever, no matter what we do, its going to rot eventually, and judgeing by the guality work guys on this board do, we will all be long gone from this earth before our rigs rot out again whats a little rot gonna matter to us then??<br /><br /><br />peace

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Ping Pong Balls instead of foam?

Do the job right the first time.<br />Take pictures ! ( when you sell the boat it will help when you show the prospect all your good repair work )<br /><br />As kid said..2 part foam will add structural integrity (some boats are ment to have the foam were it is)<br /><br />as for saturation of foam due to water..well..dont get a hole in your boat,the glass repair will cost much more hassle then the wet foam behind it.<br /><br />As for the wieght difference between foam and soda bottles or pong balls..nothing even to speak about ( just goto the bathroom before you board and you make up the difference ) <br /><br />last part..are you crazy? um..dunno you tell us

 

[Richard Petersen]

Re: Ping Pong Balls instead of foam?

I thought, I WAS, the only mental case. I am alone no longer.

 

[DJ]

Re: Ping Pong Balls instead of foam?

Foam?<br /><br />Ping Pong balls?<br /><br />The boat builders use foam for two reasons.<br /><br />1. Ease of application.<br /><br />2. Structural integrity.<br /><br />If you are confident that you can get over # 2, then "go for it".<br /><br />A word on #2.<br /><br />Boston Whalers, Edgewaters, McKee Crafts, and others, use foam. Those are all "high line" boats.

 

[cc lancer]

Re: Ping Pong Balls instead of foam?

if for some reason you take on water it will keep the boat at the surface.....Hopefully!!<br /><br />I now know of 3 that went down that had foam in them, Mr. Oakes got hit at Smith Mt. Lake in Va. just below the water line, by a drunk boater ripping a gash in the side below the water line.<br />His Boston Whaler started sinking, he told me when it stopped, he and his passenger were hanging onto 3 feet of exposed bow.<br /><br />An 18 foot runabout open bow, hit a small log head on, went through the hull, through the floor,<br />a near by boater saw them screaming, got the man, wife and kids off the boat, when it stopped the windshield was all that was exposed.<br /><br />Washington, NC at Christmas time, a buddy sent me a picture of a new center console, that had sunk at the dock, all that was showing was the top of the engine. The dock cleats was all keeping it from going completely under.<br /><br />When water starts pouring in at 6.5 pounds per gallon, per minute, the boat will get real heavy, real quick.<br />Go to the USCG web site and look at the requirements for sink rate on a boat with water in it, and read the specs.<br /><br />Last the liability issues, you put ping pong balls in the boat, then sell it and the new owner<br />has an accident, and the marine surveyor discovers sloppy non USCG repair work with p/p balls for flotation, you will loose everything you own because you were to cheap to do it right the first time?<br />And in some states if you have the new owner sign a statement that the boat is sold "as is", and you have hidden something as serious as flotation<br />material, and the plaintiffs attorney, brings in the experts, the jury is going to give the plaintiff everything you own.<br />So put what ever you want in to float your boat, I will continue to do it by USCG standards.

 

[Tinkerer]

Re: Ping Pong Balls instead of foam?

cc lancer<br /><br />Do the USCG standards guarantee that your boat won't sink?<br /><br />Are the USCG standards the same as industry standards?<br /><br />If the industry standards are lower, how come as it's clearly a life and death issue?<br /><br />As the new centre console sunk like a brick, either it wasn't built to USCG standards or boats that comply with USCG standards can still sink.<br /><br />Similar with the Boston Whaler as it went down by the stern, which doesn't give you much to hang onto while following the usual instructions to stay with the boat.<br /><br />It's all meaningless to me. My boat relies on air in the (hopefully) sealed cavity between the floor and hull. Hole that and I'm swimming pretty soon.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: Ping Pong Balls instead of foam?

hello<br /> poart of my duties are to assist the TOW BOAT US capt here. I recover 10-15 sunk boats every year. all boats will sink toat least the gunnels. most hulls with flotation will roll over and capsize due to the offset center of gravity caused by consoles motor and gear. most every whaler I ever recoverd flipped. the good thing about whalers is you have towork atit to make it sink enough to roll. kinda like a carolina skiff. the only reason the hull floats in the first place is cause it has less weight than the water it displaces. and most the newer foams are closed cell and dont absorb water. foam will also increase structual strength. when repairing anything that requires foam removal I put it back. however I have seen many 2 liter bottle flotation boats sink over the years and its amazing but they will float.<br /> most times when flipped we can hook a bow line on it and one side cleat and as we start pulling it will right itself. as it rights we release the cleat line and allow the water to flow out over the splash well. then ya have tohustle tohave the pumps ready. always remember sometimes you dont have to seal the hole just slow the water down enough that the pumps will pump more out than is flowing in.<br /> I will say probably 50% of the boats I work on have defective/inoperative pumps. to me a 500 gallon an hour pump is ok to keep bass and minnows alive but not to keep the boat on the surface and they dont last forever nor does the wiring to them.

 

[lakelivin]

Re: Ping Pong Balls instead of foam?

Originally posted by rodbolt:<br /> hello<br />.... however I have seen many 2 liter bottle flotation boats sink over the years and its amazing but they will float......

Just out of curiosity, approx how many is 'many'? Sounds like there are more people using 2 liter bottles for floatation than I'd have guessed...<br /><br />Based on your experience, any idea as to whether there might be a greater incidence of puncture related sinkings in boats with soda bottle floatation as compared to foam? (i.e., cases where the foam might slow down water intake enough for the boat to get to shore as compared to the speed of water intake on a punctured hull of a boat using bottle floatation?)