[paulineh175]

Single Chambered Baffled Round Pontoons: In general round pontoons offer some significant advantages for geometrically a cylinder is the strongest shape that aluminum can be formed into. The symmetrical design means the diameter stays the same regardless where you measure it. The larger the tube is in diameter the more weight it can carry and the more water it can displace. Baffles are usually put in at specific intervals down the length of the pontoon. At the bottom of each baffle there is a void or pass-through purposely left in place which allows them to pressurize equally throughout. Many pontoons of this design also have a drain plug at the back rear bottom to allow drainage of condensation or accumulated water. The repair-ability of this style pontoon is simplified by the fact that once drained it is a relatively simple routine welding repair. The downside of this design however is should you hull a pontoon you'll accumulate water along the entire length of the pontoon. The baffles somewhat limit water accumulation because each section pressurizes individually until it disallows any more water infiltration.

[stracer01]

U shaped foam filled pontoons: The advantage of foam filled logs is primarily the inherent safety of a redundant flotation system that it provides. Foam filled logs also offer manufactures a cost savings in the production of them. For the U shaped pontoons are inherently easier for them to produce and manufacture. Many manufactures also use a thinner gauge material because the foam inserted within reduces or prevents canning that would usually occur with the thin walled U shape. The inserted foam flotation makes it difficult to use baffles in the pontoons so they are not generally used which will also lower costs of manufacturing. Other disadvantages of the U shaped pontoons are the fact that they are generally fairly narrow in width. The width of the pontoon has a direct affect on how it will displace the water and therefore how high above the water it will float. The narrower pontoons along with the additional weight of the foam results in the pontoons that are sitting lower in the water. The additional draft of the pontoons results in more drag and can reduce fuel economy and increased occurrences of hitting underwater obstructions.And should you ever hull the boat and take in water and it remains there over time the foam has a tendency to absorb it and becomes waterlogged. This condition is nearly impossible to repair effectively and poses a serious problem. Though most pontoons have a drain plug on each pontoon to drain accumulated condensation and water intrusion it also means you have to remove the boat from the water. And finally should you ever need to repair a hulled pontoon the most common and best repair, welding is very difficult to achieve because of the inserted insulation and associated heat from the process.

[alystair]

Pontoon Design: There are three primary types of pontoon designs used on current pontoon boats. One is the foam filled (U) shaped pontoon, another is the round baffled single chambered pontoon, and then there is the single round pontoon with several airtight individual compartments. Each and every dealer will have a reason or explanation why the style on their perspective boats is the best. But a better definition of the best could be a lower cost of production, more efficient to operate, easier to repair if necessary, or maybe even the safest. However all the above designs have their own unique advantages and disadvantages..

[Limpan94]

Round Pontoons with Airtight Individual Chambers: These usually feature at least three often more distinct individual chambers per pontoon. They offer all the efficiently and most of the moat repairable of the above baffled style pontoon. The airtight chambers should they be hulled only allow water into the individual chamber that received the damage. The airtight chambers offer outstanding safety due to this compartmentalized design. However this may be the most labor intensive design to produce and manufacture and often reflects accordingly. The only real drawback to this design is should there be water infiltration into the pontoon. The only way to remove or drain it is through a usually small plug at the top of the individual affected chamber usually by siphoning though small hose. It is a slow cumbersome process should a substantial amount of water be involved. more

[cyclonite]

[tsxparts01]

[JosephT.Holt]

Re: pontoon construction ( inside)

[fabianhjr]

Fred dont cut your pontoons. The pipe plugs are for seperate compartments as some pontoons like mine and aparently yours have. this is so if one compartment gets a bad leak you wont sink.When I got my pontoon I had the same problem. I found out that most of the water was inside the front two compartments because when you hit waves they run up over your plugs in the top and water gets in them because each of those pipe plugs has a smell hole in them to allow the air inside the pontoon to expand when you take it out of the cool water and the sun heats it up. All I did was remove the plugs and cyphoned out the water with a 1/4 inch peice of hose with a fishing sinker tied to the end. Trus me use the sinker I tried and tried to cyphon the water out without it and the hose just floats and dosnt get much water out. Now the down side, when you take the plugs out they will most likeley break on you and it can be a pain in the rear to get them out but its a lot better than cutting a hole in your pontoon and they shold be replaced anyway. If you want you could fill them first to find the leak but Im betting on the plugs being the problem. In fact I beleive most 20 ft pontoons have four plugs in each side so you might start with looking for the hole without a plug in it, that might also be where the water is coming from. Also for a little more info for ya, I dont know of any maufacturers making pontoons with flotation foam in them but they do make the foam and some people do put it in there. If yours has it you wont hear any water sloshing around in the pontoons. Good way to check is if its on a trailor just roll it forward and hit the brakes and have someone standing by the boat and listen for the water to slosh. Also another good way to check for leaks is to remov the plugs and hook up an air pump. If it dosnt hold preasure you can just spray the outside of the pontoon with some soapy water and find the leak like you would on a tire. I dont know what the apropriate preasur is but I did see a story about to much air and the pontoon blowing up. I think its always at the top of the page in the pontoon section if you want to check that out. I know its alot of information so I hope it helps.

[storm]

Re: pontoon construction ( inside)

[BookLover]

I believe the pontoon logs have baffles in them to connect each section of the log (connecting the nosecone to the main log, etc.). Does each baffle have a drain hole at the bottom to allow water to drain to the rear of the pontoon log and out the drain plug? Or do I need to drill a drain hole in each pontoon section and drain each section separately? If there is a drain hole near the bottom of each baffle, is it possible the drain hole is blocked? Is there some sort of water drainage system built in to the pontoon log on my ’99 Premier Alante? What do you think?

[dooglus]

I hit a rock on the lake bottom last year and punctured a small hole in the bottom of the nosecone section of the pontoon and the pontoon log filled half up with water. I took it to the dealer and they fixed the hole with a weld and drained the pontoon by installing drain plugs in the lower rear section of the pontoon logs. It worked, but after storing the pontoon over the winter, the weld where they fixed the hole burst outward due to some water freezing that was still in the nosecone section of the pontoon.

[seopro101]

In addition to redoing the repair i also installed new bilge pumps in the toons. I removed the aftmost plugs in the toons and using the proper combination of plumbing fittings i was able to install 5/8 inch poly tubes into the back section of the toons, those tubes run under the deck above the underskinning and into the drywell where my battery is mounted. the tubes are connected to two 12 volt self-priming bilge pumps, each capable of priming at over 12 feet above the liquid level and pumping enough water dry the toons in short order. i was concerned about creating a vacuum inside the toons so at the next plug i installed a another set of fittings that allow a check valve to be installed that will equalize the pressure inside the toon should the pump create too much vacuum.

[daemox]

When it comes to pontoon houseboat floatation, do I use expanding foam, or styrofoam? here

[jimbob007]

Pontoon Houseboat Floatation - Use Foam or Styrofoam? [links]

[joshuaissac]

Possibly someone in the community who some some technical experience in this topic will be able to confirm some of those details.