Leaking Zodiac Pro Open 650

waterboy120 · 15 September 2012, 02:47

I have a 2005 Zodiac Pro Open 650 that intermittently takes on tremendous amounts of water. After having trouble finding the leak I posted my problem on Ribnet and was given some great suggestions on how to find it. After pressurizing the hull with a shop vac, and spraying all the seams and fittings with soapy water I found the leak. The slot on the starboard side of the hull that holds the inflatable collar was bubbling from about amidships to the stern. It was suggested that the hull may have suffered this damage from the previous owner operating the rib with the collar underinflated. Anyway, now it's a matter of what to do about it. I have a good fiberglass man that is willing to tackle it, but quite frankly we're not sure what the best way is to approach this. Short of dismantling the boat we don't know how the hull is constructed or what's behind that slot. There aren't too many of these hulls around where I live. We'd like to fix it properly.......

spartacus · 15 September 2012, 09:24

Any pictures?

You'll need to remove the inflatable collar/sponson at the very least to gain access to make the repair. Am I right in thinking the Open Pro 650 uses the same slide on tube rail system as other Zodiac Pros? The bow section might be different given the size of the boat and how it's attached, once that's removed - it can be hauled off by pulling from the front. Maybe not as easy as it sounds if it's never been off before.

waterboy120 · 15 September 2012, 16:04

Yes, we pulled the collar off before we pressurized the hull a second time. First time, we checked for the obvious stuff, cockpit drains, thru hull fittings etc. I'm just figuring that this has happened to other owners of this boat and that there's someone out there who's already gone through the " learning curve " on how to properly fix this. I've actually taken a video of the leak...now if I can just figure out how to attach it...........

S2S · 12 July 2019, 18:59

I am having a problem finding a leak in my 2006 zodiac 650 pro, just started taking on massive amounts of water. After two hours of operation water will drain like a garden house for 10+min. How did you pressurize your boat with shop vac to find the leaks?