leaking pontoon tubes

[beer batter]

Pontoon stays in the water all year long tied to a dock. Been noticing one side floating lower. Drained it last weekend, and noticed similar problem again this weekend. Pulled out and dried it off. Looked for leaks and found none. It was at a slight slope so water was towards rear end of tube, which points to possible leaks towards front or elsewhere?? Drained it again, about 6-8 gallons came out in one week's time since it was last drained. No obvious areas show where water is leaking in.

How do I detect where the water is leaking in?

[Finns]

Maybe fill it with water and see where water is leaking out.

Finns.

[beer batter]

I'm thinking that might be a little dangerous, to fill the tubes up with how many hundreds of pounds of water. Might tip over the trailer with all the weight to one side.

Thinking about sticking a compressor hose in the drain hole and going over the tubes with soapy water looking for bubbles. Wondering what others have done in the past.

[efgh]

Pressurize it with air, won;t take much, mix up soap and water, use a big paint brush and paint the supected area with the soap and water, the leaking area will bubble like crazy.

[mskyfshntchr]

In case you dont have a paint brush,fill a spray bottle up with a mixture or water and soap. Spray it on your pontoons, you will see it bubble.

[Valv]

Don't go too "wild" with pressurizing the pontoon. Just few PSI (like 5 or 10) are enough, I believe it takes 3 lbs to "blow out" a dent. You don't want to make more damage then wha t you have.

[beer batter]

Thanks for all the replies. It worked slick. Key is to use a compressor more for volume of air rather than pressure. Something used to blow up air mattresses worked real well. Soap bubbles were easy to see. Patched up the leaks and off we went for the weekend. Pulled it out yesterday and popped the plugs just to check, nothing but air pressure shot out. JB Weld was the patch.

[Whoaru99]

Glad it worked for you.

Had a friend hook up a compressor to try to push out a couple dents and find a leak. He ended up splitting a seam with very little pressure like as in just a couple PSI.