See full version: Air Valve On Pontoon
Take an empty 1 gallon metal can similar to the old metal gas cans. close its cap securely. put it in the freezer. After a while you will possibly hear it crushing itself. Check on it in an hour or two if you don't hear anything. [links]
Possibly to allow for air expansion/contraction with temperature so the pontoons don't crumple or burst. [links]
Now to really be impressed. put it in the oven at 150F for 20 min. then back in the freezer for an hour. Repeat 4 times. The can will be FLAT. more
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I have a 2006 Suntracker Party Barge with the fuel tank mounted in the transom as with most modern outboards. I want to replace the gas cap and got thinking about the vent screw on the cap that currently exists. My thought is to purchase a non-vented cap and add a thru hull vent that you would find on a below deck mounted tank. This would do two significant things. First and foremost it would eliminate the possibility of water being forced into the vent screw as the water pours over the tank while under power. I've watched the transom while at speed and I'm surprised this design has not been addressed by the boat manufacturers. the spray is serious. A bonus would be that it is no longer necessary to manually open the vent on the gas cap. I've made that exercise part of my launching ritual but have forgotten it on occasion. The plan is to add a tee at the pickup tube, extend a hose up the railing and mount the thru hull vent to some sort of bracket. Am I way off base here or does this sound like a reasonable solution for a potential water in gas problem? here
Hello folks, boating season is right around the corner and I can hardly wait. Wanted to pick the brains of you more experienced mariners.
I searched the internet for information but did not come up with anything. Specifically, I was trying to understand the workings of the vented gas cap. Is it some sort of check valve or is it simply opened and closed (my boat is in the barn at my property so I can't look at it)? I just can't get my head around how that could work. When I open the screw on a warm day, it vents vapor pressure out which tells me water can get in while the water rushes over the fill port. Or does it close until a low pressure builds in the tank and then opens to allow air to fill the tank and then suck water in with it? Here is the cap on my tank.
Sorry for the windy post but I'm trying to prepare for a uneventful summer if you know what I mean. It was really frustrating solving the water/fuel issues last year and want to do everything possible to prevent that in the future. Thanks to all in advance.
Having foam on the inside of a pontoon tube only becomes an advantage when the pontoon tube sinks below the waterline i.e. when the pontoon boat starts to sink. Foam will help keep the pontoon tube from totally sinking to the bottom of the lake. more
By dividing the interior of the pontoon into sections, a hole or crack in the tubes will have less affect on the pontoon’s buoyancy because the water intake will be limited to a small section and not the entire tube. [links]
Pontoon boats are no longer the simple sluggish flat platforms they started out as. These days modern pontoon boats are impressive, luxurious speed boats that can be used for the same type of water.
I have already covered why pontoon boats float in a previous article but it is necessary to quickly cover some of the concepts visited in that post here. By revisiting the principle of flotation you will better understand why pontoon tubes are made the way they are and why they don’t need to be filled with anything. [links]
The only reason you put air in tubes is to find leaks, if you are trying to get them to be more buoyant that doesn't work. more
Jeep man is right, 5-7 psi max, no need for any more and use soapy water in a spray bottle, we actually use Polmolive dish soap at work. [links]
I use more pressure at work because the leak test is also a quality check, if they can't take a little air I don't want them in the field just like the tube in the top post, it had a flaw in the top seem weld and failed the pressure test.
The ONLY way to increase flotation is to increase the displacement of the tube, they will have the exact same flotation whether there is a 10 psi vacuum or 10psi positive pressure because they are the same size. [links]
Water in the tubes can lead to buoyancy problems and even nosediving or sinking in worst case scenarios. Although most pontoon boat owners never need to check their pontoon tubes there may be an instance where you feel your pontoon boat is sitting too low in the water and thus want to check the logs for water-intake. [links]
There may be occasions when you want to re-pressurize your tubes if air has escaped in order to either strengthen the inner walls of the tube (not entirely necessary) or to check the pontoon for leaks (a good idea). more
In most cases pontoon tubes are only filled with air to check them for leaks. Pressurizing the logs on a pontoon boat does not in any way affect the buoyancy of the boat.
To know if your pontoon boat has pressurized pontoon tubes simply visit the manufacturer’s website or call a local authorized dealer. They will likely tell you that it doesn’t matter if they are pressurized or not … because … it doesn’t really matter, unless of course they have a leak.
I have read, in some forums, new pontoon boat owners asking if they can increase the psi in their logs to 5 or 10 psi so they can increase the buoyancy of their boat. Luckily, these forums are filled with very knowledgeable pontoon boat owners who put the “newbie” on the correct course of action quickly.
If you ever intend to re-pressurize the tubes on your pontoon boat be sure to get a gauge before attempting it. It is also wise to seek expert technical advice on the exact psi of your specific pontoons. more