water in tray

so i am new to the forum and i have a few questions i could not find with the search.. i just did my footholds this weekend.. and i could feel a little moisture in the foam when installing them. now where is the most likely spot the water is coming in? engine bay or the outside seam? could i just install a drain and try to seal up the tray from the outside rather than having to open the tray?
 

Waternut

Customizing addict
Location
Macon, GA
Water comes in from the seams of everything. Could be the bond line, exhaust tube seal, you could have a crack in the tray, etc. Water is a fantastic thing in that it can find every little void. The hull flexes and also creates little voids so it's nearly impossible to keep water out for good.

Waterlogged foam won't drain more than a couple drops so adding drains now won't help you much. You could let your ski sit in the sun for the next 3 weeks and the foam will still be waterlogged... Do a lot of reading before you start cutting and you'll save yourself a lot of work and money.
 

Penken

whoomp there it is!
Location
Umeå, Sweden
everybody tells you to refoam. i did it and it took me about a week to do. working some almost every day. and at first when i cut the tray the cutting disk squirted water out from under the tray. so i thought s*** my foam must be waterlogged to hell. opened tray and there was about 1/5" of water on top of the foam. water had gatered in a void from different foam pourings, so i thought my foam definitly is waterlogged. but when i started diggin it was dry as paper. no water whatso ever. no brownspots. nothing. i must own a super hull. superjet from -90. never cut or refoamed.

so not to have to do this :):):):)ty jobb again i put styrofoam in it and drainplugs. ridden it a couple of times and when i removed the drains there didn´t even come a drop of water.

so i would think twice before refoaming. if you are sure it´s waterlogged than do it. if it seems dry save it for later.

reason i did it was bc i was doing footholds and didn´t want to turf and then have to rip it, of refoam and turf again.
 

OCD Solutions

Original, Clean and Dependable Solutions
Location
Rentz, GA
There is a big difference between wet foam and waterlogged foam. The weight of the ski is a good deciding factor on when to refoam. I pulled 32 lbs of wet foam from my tray and replaced it with roughly 4 lbs of dry foam for a loss of 28 pounds total. I rode it that way for the last couple years before I finally had enough and committed to it along with a set of footholds. It wasn't the worst job I've ever done and a couple of easy to find tools make the job alot easier but I wouldn't do it again for a just a couple extra pounds of water. Greater than 10lbs more and I'd be all over it.
 

BruceSki

Formerly Motoman25
Location
Long Island
There is a big difference between wet foam and waterlogged foam. The weight of the ski is a good deciding factor on when to refoam. I pulled 32 lbs of wet foam from my tray and replaced it with roughly 4 lbs of dry foam for a loss of 28 pounds total. I rode it that way for the last couple years before I finally had enough and committed to it along with a set of footholds. It wasn't the worst job I've ever done and a couple of easy to find tools make the job alot easier but I wouldn't do it again for a just a couple extra pounds of water. Greater than 10lbs more and I'd be all over it.

what was the weight of the ski RTR before and after refoaming?

i am at 350 right now RTR with a couple gallons of gas, water in the hull, and a wet rope. i drilled two holes in the rear of the ski by the chines and tons of water came out of my tray. im planning on refoaming after daytona this year, but im just wondering how much weight ill lose.
 

OCD Solutions

Original, Clean and Dependable Solutions
Location
Rentz, GA
I never weighed my complete ski to give that number but I removed all my wet foam with a shopvac and then weighed the bags after.

I wanted to work out a simple method for everybody to figure out when to refoam. Using a basic fulcrum point, (ie: round broom handle). Place the ski on a hard flat surface like a shop floor and place the broom handle under the ski. Roll the ski on the handle until it balances even and then measure from the rear of the ski to the center of the balance point. First we would need to establish the measurement for a dry ski and a few other constants like how much fuel in tank etc, and then work from there. The shorter the measurement, the worse the waterlogging. :dunno: It was just an idea, don't know how well it would work in practice.

I never realized how much water I had in my SN hull until I came across a new RN and picked up the back end, it felt like a feather compared to mine.
 
thanks for the help.. i don't notice the ski getting heavy or anything i just read about everyone saying they leak so i just thought i should do it.. i think if i decide on reinforcement this year i will just work on sealing it from the outside as much as i can, until i notice it getting heavier.
 

Rickster

Matakana Menace
Well, I just drained over 1.5 gallons out of my SN last night when I put drains in the back and it is still dripping...

So whomever thinks it's not worth putting drains in, is :trink26: some good shiat...

This SN was already re-foamed, reinforced under the tray, and the whole tray area sealed (supposedly).

Also, when de-foaming my Roundie, is Started digging out the foam in one section on one side. The next morning 1/4" of water had drained from the surrounding foam and collected in the void.

If the water gets in the foam, it will eventually come out of the foam with drain plugs.

:beerchug:
 

Proformance1

Liquid Insanity
Site Supporter
Vendor Account
Location
New York Crew
I'm going to use Sea Doo style in the pump area, it's not at the very bottom but should get all of it out but a few ounces. The best drain spot is at the rear below the scupper/exh but that is also the most likely place to hit something with so....
 

Mark44

Katie's Boss
Location
100% one place
j

I installed a piece of 5/8" thick nylon with epoxy resin and filler on the inside of the hull to accept the 1/4" pipe threads for the pipe plugs.

Mark44
 

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