"Foam" is a 4 letter word.... :(

[Mark44]

couple of posts back I saw something about plastic coke bottles....What about 20oz'ers?

would something slightly larger that displaced more water be better?

Not a bad idea at all. Would also need something small enough to fit under the scupper tube and exhaust. I think the ½ flotation balls would work for that.

 

[onesojourner]

Did any one not see the mythbusters episode where they raised a sunken ship with pingpong balls??

They concluded that it took way to many balls to be worth while,,they did get it to work but I dont think the few balls you could get in the hull would be enough to even help out. Thats just my thought on it,Im sure some one here is way smarter in this then me and will chime in with the math to prove it,but I dont see it.

there is a big difference between a ship and a small stand up.

 

[onesojourner]

Running your boat without foam is a great idea! and riding without a life jacket is also smart too!, just make sure you write down the GPS coordinates whenever you loose your boat, it might save you some down time!
just my .02

foam is not a good idea either. if it was there would not be endless threads of people having to replace it since its water logged.

 

[Legdragger]

Hello? the point of this is to fiure out how to get a ski to float when sunk without foam but with an alternative method of flotation the DOESN'T absorb water. Foam is perfect until water gets in. Then it sucks.

I think a lot of guys have accepted the fact that they will be cracking something soemtime and don't want to deal with DEFOAMING on top of crack repair.

Ping pong balls or a bladder don't absorb water and a couple plugs would let out anything that gets in after you are don riding.

Cracker is testing the no foam structural integrity for us right now so lets see how it turn out. So far it is fine. Oh and I like his light superjet A LOT:arms:

 

[KaosFreestyle]

Well whats so great about ping pong balls they just have air in them just like the open cavity will have air in it.

Would it not be better to put some kind of bladder system in it that could be inflated with a gas that is lighter than air but hopefully not explosive. Was thinking helium but Im not sure how that would react if their is an exhaust tube back their.

 

[Matt_E]

Helium will find its way out of the bladder - that's inevitable. You'd have to reinflate on a weekly basis.

 

[Rickster]

Ping pong balls or a bladder don't absorb water and a couple plugs would let out anything that gets in after you are don riding.

Ping pong balls and bladders also compress very easily, and that would be my greatest fear IF there was water intrusion. that along with the ping pong balls distorting and losing their strength.

I'm not poo-poo'ing (sp) the idea, i just think ripping the foam out and placing a bit of carbon fiber over the tray would not sufficiently strengthen the back end. Hopefully Bronson is correct.

I do however like the idea of tunnels in the middle of the foam to allow it to drain when water does intrude.:biggthumpup:

I just know I would have a hard time replacing the money I have in my skis, and personally would take the safe route and keep on de-foaming ever couple of years.

My $.02

 

[thegoldenboy]

Yamaslut deserves to be on a sponsored aftermarket hull. Refoaming won't ever be a concern if you get a new boat every couple seasons....:woot:

If I owned a hull company I'd sponsor him. What better community figure could you obtain that can organize an annual massive freeride, and rip it up at the same time? And I've never met him, but judging by his apperance in The Addiction & on this board (a fair sized niche market) , its a win-win.

Someone give this man a hull...

 

[yamaslut]

Yamaslut deserves to be on a sponsored aftermarket hull. Refoaming won't ever be a concern if you get a new boat every couple seasons....:woot:

If I owned a hull company I'd sponsor him. What better community figure could you obtain that can organize an annual massive freeride, and rip it up at the same time? And I've never met him, but judging by his apperance in The Addiction & on this board (a fair sized niche market) , its a win-win.

Someone give this man a hull...

Thanks for the kind words...

 

[Big Kahuna]

I just tore out some wamiltons footholds yesturday from a 2000 model hull that has been through 3 previous owners........ guess how much water I found in the foam....................

 

[yamaslut]

I just tore out some wamiltons footholds yesturday from a 2000 model hull that has been through 3 previous owners........ guess how much water I found in the foam....................

uhhh??? ya gonna tell us:biggrin:

 

[Legdragger]

I think in a perfect world foam would be perfect. However, Yamaslut lands flat from 15 feet up doing re-entries and crushes his footholds/tray. His life would be easier if he could drain the water out at the end of the day if his stuff was jacked up rather than riding around with a waterlogged hull that needs to be de foamed. Then he would have to peel some turf, fix the cracks and re turf. No big mess. Just a little patch up. Like surf board repair.

 

[yamaslut]

I think in a perfect world foam would be perfect. However, Yamaslut lands flat from 15 feet up doing re-entries and crushes his footholds/tray. His life would be easier if he could drain the water out at the end of the day if his stuff was jacked up rather than riding around with a waterlogged hull that needs to be de foamed. Then he would have to peel some turf, fix the cracks and re turf. No big mess. Just a little patch up. Like surf board repair.

yeah.... it would be easier to fix too...

nice, didn't even think of that...

 

[KaosFreestyle]

Well if your not all to worried about the boat sinking and its more about keeping water out of the hull. Why not go with hull braces like whoever else used to keep the hulls shape and strength. Then just tiny plugs like mentioned before on the back of the boat so after a ride you can drain the cavity if water did get in their.


You just mentioned surf board. Are those big pieces of fiberglass or is their some kind of foam type material at the core?

 

[Big Kahuna]

uhhh??? ya gonna tell us:biggrin:

Dry as a bone................. I think it all goes back to how the hull is prepped to begin with... this hull has everything sealed up, the 2 holes that usually have the tape/stickers over them, around all the penetrations, the footholds were totally glassed in........ I was surised, figured I would find some, still have to dig down all the way, but so far no sign of water, trying to deside if I should dig the tray out..................

 

[yamaslut]

Dry as a bone................. I think it all goes back to how the hull is prepped to begin with... this hull has everything sealed up, the 2 holes that usually have the tape/stickers over them, around all the penetrations, the footholds were totally glassed in........ I was surised, figured I would find some, still have to dig down all the way, but so far no sign of water, trying to deside if I should dig the tray out..................

Ehhhhhhhhh.... I somewhat agree...

I did all that, and still.....

 

[Mark44]

Yep me too thank god I installed drains.

Mark44

 

[Matt_E]

I think it depends on proper preparation, a clean job, and no abuse.
In my [limited] experience, leak points are:

bond rail, both sides and rear
foothold seams due to shoddy install
hull inserts for rideplate and intake grate
Driveshaft tube
steering tube
cooling & bilge tube
Exhaust tube

The tubes and inserts can all be sealed with 5200. I wouldn't use epoxy on it, because it needs to stay flexible.
The epoxy can and will crack, especially with heavy [surf?] abuse.
That leaves the rail and the footholds.

 

[Idok]

Dry as a bone................. I think it all goes back to how the hull is prepped to begin with... this hull has everything sealed up, the 2 holes that usually have the tape/stickers over them, around all the penetrations, the footholds were totally glassed in........ I was surised, figured I would find some, still have to dig down all the way, but so far no sign of water, trying to deside if I should dig the tray out..................

so, wait.....the foam was dry at the holds? when slutty and I ripped apart my 93 sqaure a couple of years ago the foam at the holds was dry as a bone as well.......

but what about at the bottom of the tray cavity? thats the TRUE test!

 

[Matt_E]

Exactly. Dry foam at the holds means someone did a good job installing the holds.