how much pool noodle is enough

[driftah]

building a cyberstorm hull up and gonna jam it as full of pool noodles as possible but how much is enough? I will jam as much as I can in there but how do I know it will semi float without submerging it w electronics etc in there.....add the same weight in other objects possibly??? how do I hold them in the hull though hmmmm

[Chilli]

The only real option is to weight the boat when complete, then pull the electronics out, add lead to match the finished weight and fill it with water .. I didn't have enough in my sport hydro last year. LOL On mono's I just usually fill the bow up with three pieced of noodle abreast (or fill it with two part foam). I trim the middle piece pointy to get as far up front as possible. Then trim the side pieces to slide in. I had a P-mono fill up with water years ago and with noodles in the bow it was enough. I hold them in place with Goop.

[madmikepags]

I weigh 300 lbs and a single pool noodle keeps me afloat, a half of one is usually enough for any boat

[B Neal]

Your body almost floats on its own, blow a bubble with bubble yum and your 300 pounds just might not sink😜

Do what was stated above weigh the boat loaded pull electronics weigh again and replace the difference with a metal (lead being best) fill the boat with water and add flotation until it floats.

[Jason4636]

I hope I have enough in noodles in my 56" twin mono. I have 4 whole noodles in mine.

[lenny]

Why not just weigh the whole boat RTR,
Than get that same weight in weights and add the noodles till the weights it staying afloat good.
Now just add that flotation and a little bit more to be on the safe side to the boat.

[siberianhusky]

Found a couple references on manufacturer sites, they claim Polyurethane foam has a buoyancy of 60 lbs per cubic foot.
That's what noodles are made of.
Just what a quick search turned up.

[martin]

Simple testing with 1ft of 60mm diam pool noodle with weights added = 2.25 pounds before it sunk.

[Fluid]

To be safe, use 28 cubic inches of foam for each pound of boat weight. This isn't exact but will always be safe. A solid 3" noodle 4 feet long will support over 12 pounds - this means keeping it afloat not awash. Comes reasonably close to Martin's value above. I watched a 45" mono sink with just one noodle in it....ain't pretty.

Why sink your boat first to find out how much to use when you can do the math?



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[keithbradley]

I weigh 300 lbs and a single pool noodle keeps me afloat, a half of one is usually enough for any boat

That because you displace a lot of water. I think the average adult life jacket is rated to float around 13-14lbs.

[Chilli]

Why sink your boat first to find out how much to use when you can do the math?
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I was never good in math......... Seriously, By the time I do all the cutting and trimming, I have no idea what volume of noodle I have in the boat.

[785boats]

I just put in as much as I can. And don't forget to add some to the hatch.
In the pic those two bits of noodle are tapered & fit right up to the bow & then there is a couple of pieces in between them, tapered to fit.

[Fluid]

...Seriously, By the time I do all the cutting and trimming, I have no idea what volume of noodle I have in the boat.

The solution is simple. Determine how much noodle you need to keep the boat on the surface: ~28 cubic inches per pound of boat. For a 3" solid noodle that's 7 cubic inches per inch of noodle, so for a 5 pound boat you'll need a 20" length of noodle. Just chop that length up to fit and stuff it all in the boat. Now you know how much floatation you have in the boat.



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[martin]

I think a lot of boats simply don't have enough floatation to keep them afloat, either by not having enough put in the boat or available space to get it into the boat. Example I have a DF26 that I run on 6s, 2 3s 4000mah in series with 36mm motor & boat weighs 5 - 5.5pounds. I need around 28" of 60mm noodle to keep afloat, I suppose ive got about 14" in their but could probably push to 18". No where near enough to keep afloat.

[Fluid]

So true. The Insane FE-30 will sink no matter how much floatation you try to put in. I've watched two of them take the one way trip to the bottom. Riggers are usually impossible to keep afloat if they have small sponsons and a tub breach. Some thin monos have the same problem, not enough room for both floatation and the drive equipment. I suppose that if a hull can't hold enough then adding any flotation is pointless. Personally I add it anyway.


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