aluminum boat help!

[Anglinarcher]

i might just be dumb but i would spot weld over the rivets that might be leaking and that might seal up the leak, i guess thats kinda the red-neck way of fishing leaks in metal boats.

Spot welding aluminum is a trick thing. Welded aluminum boats are more expensive because of two factors.

One, you need thicker aluminum because a rigid design, like a welded seam, prevents flexing. This actually causes stress concentration and you will get split or cracked aluminum. If the boat has rivets, it should stay with rivets.

Two, welding aluminum requires pre-heating the joint, and it requires a purge gas, inside and out on thin aluminum, to prevent flash oxidization. If these two things are not done, the aluminum will split or crack.

If it was a single spot, than spot welding would work, but if you have numerous spots, as I suspect, than welding is not the answer.

[Anglinarcher]

I use to have a similar problem. I once owned an old Star Craft boat, bought by my dad in 1964.

The boat was fine, but it leaked through the seams at the keel, and some of the rivets. Finally I turned the boat over, got some paintable caulk (yes, there are paintable silicones now), caulked up the keel and the known leaking rivets, then I painted the outside with a couple coats of paint.

The boat was dry and it looked great. I sold that boat in about 1990, but it had stayed sealed for about 4 years to that point.

[qxlooper]

Ok, I have read all the responses. I do appreciate them. I now have a question. Someone recommended a truck liner. I was at Home depot today and noticed that they have alum. roof material that is suppose to stop leaks and what not..... would this work if I painted the bottom(inside) of my boat with this? It says it is waterproof and to fix leaks. 100% elasticy and good down to -32 degrees.

Keith

The stuff is not designed to handle any abrasion. Just pulling your boat onto a trailer, or beaching it will remove the stuff. Don't even consider the water moving by when under power, the stuff can't handle it.

I was going to do the inside of the boat, not the underside. I have nailed it down to the back part of the boat. I do not have a drain plug, so it is not that.

[kevinb]

Theres tons of good info on here. I'm not trying to put any of these ideas down,...there great.
But I would seriously try getting a hold of Gisteppo. The dude builds boats...He has a ton of knowledge.

[Anglinarcher]

Theres tons of good info on here. I'm not trying to put any of these ideas down,...there great.
But I would seriously try getting a hold of Gisteppo. The dude builds boats...He has a ton of knowledge.

Kevinb, I don't take offense, in fact, I quite agree. If I was not making payments on my current boat, I would have had him build me a jet. I have planned on fishing with him a couple of times this year as well. Give him a PM for sure- knowledgeable and a great guy.

qxlooper, the roofing material is still not going to take the abuse of walking on it over an extended amount of time.

I do think that if you used a bed lining material it would hold up, but it adds a lot of weight, and to be honest, I find that it is difficult to seal anything on the inside. If a dam leaks, they don't seal the back side, the lower the water and seal the water side of the dam. Sooner or later, an inside seal will fail.

[fishing collector]

Ok, I have read all the responses. I do appreciate them. I now have a question. Someone recommended a truck liner. I was at Home depot today and noticed that they have alum. roof material that is suppose to stop leaks and what not..... would this work if I painted the bottom(inside) of my boat with this? It says it is waterproof and to fix leaks. 100% elasticy and good down to -32 degrees.

Keith

You will have nothing but probems.... Your boat is not a roof.... Unless you turn it over and sleep under it.. :-)

[VooDuuChild]

As far as the bed liner adding weight, unless you spray in five gallons of it, it won't add any real weight (don't do the roll-on crap). We're talking maybe one gallon of weight which is less than ten pounds, water is just over eight pounds per gallon, so that stuff should be close. You could always just spray all the seams themselves and not the whole inside of the boat if weight is concerned. As for it not holding up, we took one of those cheap four dollar white styro-foam coolers and sprayed it inside and out and not only have we used it for years now, but it also doubles as a seat...it's that strong.

[qxlooper]

Well just an update! I found the leak! It was a patch that was done some time ago and my trailer sctrached through the patch that was on there! I used alumiweld and hopefully that will seal it up. In the process I found 3 slooooowwwww leaking rivests and did the same to those! We will have to wait until I get back home to see if I fixed the leak! At least I found it! Thanks for all the suggestions! I will keep you all informed as to the fixing of the leak!

Keith

[Gisteppo]

Glad that worked out.

E

[fishing collector]

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[fishing collector]

Here is an entire "how to" about Gluvit from the Steelhead University website.... http://steelheaduniversity.com/gluvit.htm This product will probably seal up any little leak in an aluminum boat rivet. Kinda late post but the problems are ongoing.

[reigndawgs]

Any new updates in this area since the original thread? It looks like I am about to have to deal with this endeavor myself. I am trying to decide if I should just get a pump or go through the pain of fixing it.

[reigndawgs]

I would fill the boat with enough water with a garden hose, bucket or whatever and detect the general area that the leak is coming from. Then empty the boat of water and dry the leaky area and use clear RTV silicone to seal the area. This worked great on my boat and I sealed it with the same every year or two. If the leak is in a high use area such as where you would step a lot I would recomend reapplying it more often. You can pick this silicone up at a Schucks or any other atomotive store or probably even a hardware store. Good luck.

This worked like a charm as far as how to find the leaks. Not sure I'm sold on the silcone as a permanent fix though.

[reigndawgs]

I worked in a boat shop and the way would check for leaks was to fill it with a garden hose like some of the others mentioned. Most likely you will find a leaky rivet or rivets. Since its an older boat, you will not get manufacturer support, so I'd cover the leakers with JB Weld.

I'm going to try this. As I mentioned before the filling the boat with water was sheer genius. Found a couple pretty good leaks that are likely the culprits and some real small ones that I will tackle as well. I will report back once repairs are done and I test her out.

You guys are awesome. Once again my favorite website comes through for me!

[BentRod]

Reign,
I've done some repairs to my 12' aluminum. I replaced some broken rivets that held the bench to the hull with Stainless pan head screws and added a little clear gutter seam sealer (Lowes) to the screws before I set them. The repairs are holding up nicely and that gutter sealer is a little more aggressive than standard silicone in my opinion. Still flexible, but more stout. I've not done any floor rivet repairs, but I'd probably go with either JB weld or you can buy Marine grade 2 part epoxy at Lowes also. I've used that stuff for numerous other repairs around the house and on fishing gear and it seems to hold up well. Good luck on your repairs.

[G-Man]

I would recommend the JB Weld, and they also make a marine version. It is one of those products, like duct tape and vice grips, that should be in everyone's toolbox. I'd be leery of using their Water Weld product as it creeps and expands which may pop your seams.

[reigndawgs]

Home Depot didn't have the Marine version of JB Weld so I went with the LocTite 2 part epoxy marine version. Just slapped it on there and it's drying now. I will let you know how it works.

[reigndawgs]

It worked like an absolute charm!

[BentRod]