polystyrene or ping pong balls

[D-Nice]

so im in the process of renforcing, defoaming, painting, and adding some new stuff to my superjet to get it ready for some big flips and rolls. as im defoaming the tray im realising how much it blows since ive never did it befor and never wana do it again. now all ima be riding is surf. any surf riders ever do the pingpong ball in the tray set up and have it hold up ok? cuz that seems like the way to go if u can make it strong enough and put in drain plugs. from what i read its like impossible to keep water out of the tray and im not tryin to go threw that bs again with 2 part. while im in the process of doing all this should i put a scupper in? i here alot of ppl dont like em cause they leak and what not. i got a 500gph bildge so i figured that should be good. any other input would be great while i got this all apart cause this is my first build. like is it worth it to shorten the hull etc.. heres a pic of what ive done so far

 

[227]

I've never defoamed a ski so I'm no expert but I'm thinking that pingpong balls wouldn't offer any hull support. Remember the foam in your hull serves not only as floatation but as support for your hull structure also. If you did go with Ping pong balls you would most likely need to reinforce the rear section of your ski as well as the engine compartment. Just curious, has any one ever compared polystyrene against Ping pong balls with regards to weight, floatation and hull structural support?

 

[XJCrawler]

Nether the polystyrene or the ping pong balls offer support. I would go with polystyrene, thats what I used when I did mine and its way cheaper than buying a bunch of ping pong balls. What ever route you go don't use 2 part foam, your hull will leak again!

I was pretty and about sealing up my hull when I did mine last year. This year my hull is leaking alot more and I'm going to get rid of my drain plugs and install versiplugs

 

[yamanube]

Poly is actually pretty strong (I feel its just as, if not stronger than most 2 part foam) its just a matter of how tight it is installed. No way would I go with ping pong balls, absolutely no support, likely more expensive and I would think noisy.

 

[227]

I would think that polystyrene would offer a lot more support than ping pong balls. The hard thing would be cutting it to fit tightly around all the corners, tight spots, exhaust pipe, cables, etc in your hull. I am guessing they are both fairly similar in weight and flotation.

 

[XJCrawler]

Theres no way to make the polystyrene completely fill the tray like to part foam. It's not a big deal, just do some reenforcing while you have the tray open

 

[D-Nice]

yea well my plan was to renforced the tray area real good without puttin to much weight. deff aint doin 2 part. seen a good thread on ping pong balls but i think the dude lived in mid country so i assumed he wasnt pankaken off 15 ft of air an jus flatwater riden

 

[Pablo]

go with polystyrene. way cheaper. if you pack enough in there it will give you support. mix a bit of 2part to drizzle over the top of it when u install the tray to help lock it together with the poly and it will provide some stuctural support to the whole setup. make sure you weight the tray down with a concrete block or a 50lb dumbell to prevent the little bit of 2part from lifting the tray will it cures.

 

[yamanube]

Do not add any 2 part foam, no matter what you do the water will find it and soak into it. Take your time, fit the poly as tight as you can and add a little extra reinforcement to the tray.

 

[B3IS]

D-Nice welcome to the X. It looks like you are going to be doing footholds too, what other mods are you planning.

 

[Idok]

poly

 

[D-Nice]

ive had the ski for about 2 years and dude befor me did
rickter foot holds
ada girdled heads 35cc domes
pole spring
b-pipe
500 gph bilge
worx intake grate
jet dynamics ride

stuff i added
13/17 skat trak impellar
24/7 hood hooks
billet coupler
motor mounts
made pole rope
made hood straps
cut pole 3 inchs
wdk razor hood (ordered)
xscream pole (ordered)
xscream trim system and quick turn nozzle <-- got from jet maniac

pankake pete hooked me up with s-glass an carbon and schooled me on reinforcen inside of hull, any other good mods worth doing now while my ski is completely parted out? im lil leary on a scupper, was thinkin bout just runnin 2 500 gph bildges. thinkin bout changen the reeds but idk what to get. and not sure bout cuttin the back of the hull down or not. like i said this is my first build, i can ride the chit outta a jetski and ridden out in surf plenty of times, just dont know much bout soupen em up

 

[227]

....... im lil leary on a scupper, was thinkin bout just runnin 2 500 gph bildges.

I'm no fan of scuppers on a surf boat either. I run a single 1000 gph bilge in my ski, it shoots water out at least 10' and it works even if your not moving forward Haha!

 

[snowxr]

When I defoamed my RN, I said "Screw 2-part, polystyrene, AND ping pong balls!". Really, that's what I said. Anyway, my hull is fully reinforced nose to tail with no foam (except in front of the pump tunnel). Strong and light.

 

[227]

When I defoamed my RN, I said "Screw 2-part, polystyrene, AND ping pong balls!". Really, that's what I said. Anyway, my hull is fully reinforced nose to tail with no foam (except in front of the pump tunnel). Strong and light.

I hope you're scuba certified!!!

 

[XJCrawler]

I hope you're scuba certified!!!

Thats exactly what I was going to say

 

[OCD Solutions]

Was there any real feedback from the guys who already filled their skis with ping pong balls? Its been a few years now so I would be intetested to hear how it all worked out in the long run.

Same goes for the polystyrene. Alot of guys started doing it the last few years and some maybe longer but now that time has passed, how did it all work out?

Sent from my Droid so spelling mistakes courtesy of Android keyboard.

 

[McDog]

No problems with my polystyrene skis so far.

 

[Idok]

ive seen the aftermath of ping pongs firsthand.....not rec'd at ALL

 

[yamanube]

ive seen the aftermath of ping pongs firsthand.....not rec'd at ALL

Care to elaborate? Did they crush? Fall apart?