Repair tip for aluminum boat leaks

[surfcaster69]

I recently re-sealed all of the rivets and several cuts in the hull of my old 12' jon. I bought Scotchkote sticks from Cabela's.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...pair&noImage=0

They are 12'' long and 1/2" round. You get 2 for about $7 and they will seal over a hundred rivets. Using a propane torch you heat the aluminum and melt the stick over the rivet or crack in a circular rubbing movement. Take away the stick and the heat and you are done. This seals it for good and will not leak or come off. Unless you have a welder for aluminum, this is a fantastic fix. You have to clean away the paint with a wire wheel or sandpaper the area first. You then paint over the bare aluminum with self etching spray primer from Napa Auto and then paint to match your boat color. Does a professional job. Hope this helps with your winter repairs!!

[CRAPPIEDENTIST]

SURF,,
i'm looking at a new 20' grizzly (boat only),, i really hope i don't need this stuff but where i fish ya never know BLUFF (metropolitan stump city)..
thanks for the info
JAKE
there's a forum member here that has many years werk'n with aircraft aluminum (CRAPPIE REAPER),, if i getta seam leak, i'll try this product,,,my luck i'll poke hole,, ya could drop an orange thru,, thats where buddies come in handy (2 to paddle & REAPER to fix it)
and if REAPER is with me he can paddle, he knows he knows his way around a boat..
still wanna go OKSTATEjiggy???

[luvjign]

I recently re-sealed all of the rivets and several cuts in the hull of my old 12' jon. I bought Scotchkote sticks from Cabela's.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...pair&noImage=0

They are 12'' long and 1/2" round. You get 2 for about $7 and they will seal over a hundred rivets. Using a propane torch you heat the aluminum and melt the stick over the rivet or crack in a circular rubbing movement. Take away the stick and the heat and you are done. This seals it for good and will not leak or come off. Unless you have a welder for aluminum, this is a fantastic fix. You have to clean away the paint with a wire wheel or sandpaper the area first. You then paint over the bare aluminum with self etching spray primer from Napa Auto and then paint to match your boat color. Does a professional job. Hope this helps with your winter repairs!!

Yep, that's some good stuff......I've put it through much testing on a jon boat. This stuff is as good:http://durafix.com/. It doesn't take much practice to get good at it........main thing though, it's critical that you clean the part to be welded with a stainless steel brush.......and move the heat away when you move the rod in on the work. Just follow the instructions. Again, good stuff, and tough as all getout.

[Cane Pole]

Can you apply this stuff without turning the boat over for solder flow? I got a ribar hole in my Jon (someone using ribar for stake bed) and I keep it patched with jb weld. Too much to turn Jon over to work on the bottom.

[luvjign]

Can you apply this stuff without turning the boat over for solder flow? I got a ribar hole in my Jon (someone using ribar for stake bed) and I keep it patched with jb weld. Too much to turn Jon over to work on the bottom.

It depends on the hole size, Tom. If you can get enough of the original material to mesh together to form a crack, yeah.....it'll flow on through and bond. If not you'll have to use a piece of filler to fill the void. Dude, at the boat show once, was demonstrating this stuff by poking holes in the bottom of coke cans with what looked like a pointed oversize ice pick. Put the heat on it for a few seconds, layed the rod around the hole till it melted.......filled that hole up........then took the pointed tool and tryed to drive though the weld.....and couldn't phase it......ended up crushing the can trying tear the repair up. He sold me (and many others) a bag of it that day. I call it a po man's heli-arc......

[Cane Pole]

It depends on the hole size, Tom. If you can get enough of the original material to mesh together to form a crack, yeah.....it'll flow on through and bond. If not you'll have to use a piece of filler to fill the void. Dude, at the boat show once, was demonstrating this stuff by poking holes in the bottom of coke cans with what looked like a pointed oversize ice pick. Put the heat on it for a few seconds, layed the rod around the hole till it melted.......filled that hole up........then took the pointed tool and tryed to drive though the weld.....and couldn't phase it......ended up crushing the can trying tear the repair up. He sold me (and many others) a bag of it that day. I call it a po man's heli-arc......

I got a 3/4 in hole from the ribar. I used an aluminum fender washer on the bottom and a 1/4 20 stainless screw /bolt, etc to hold it. I jb welded the crap out of it. I get cracks in the jb weld occasionally. I just keep patching it. Gets old.

[luvjign]

I got a 3/4 in hole from the ribar. I used an aluminum fender washer on the bottom and a 1/4 20 stainless screw /bolt, etc to hold it. I jb welded the crap out of it. I get cracks in the jb weld occasionally. I just keep patching it. Gets old.

This sounds like a perfect candidate for the stuff from Cabelas that Surfcaster mentioned. To be a stick of sumthin that just melts with a small torch, I highly recommend it. I patched probably 30-40 leaking rivets on a 14' Monark, and never had any more problems.....never.......and this boat rode up on many, many stumps in our big fishin pool. It's Tuff Stuff.

[Cane Pole]

This sounds like a perfect candidate for the stuff from Cabelas that Surfcaster mentioned. To be a stick of sumthin that just melts with a small torch, I highly recommend it. I patched probably 30-40 leaking rivets on a 14' Monark, and never had any more problems.....never.......and this boat rode up on many, many stumps in our big fishin pool. It's Tuff Stuff.

I got it on my Cabelas "to get" list.

I just got some of that fusion tape. Stretch it, wrap it, heat it a little, it fuses and holds good.

[FisherMike]

I use the a type of "Duraweld" I get from Tractor Supply. (really it's the same stuff and much much cheaper.) I did the beer can test and it works great.
The most important thing when using this is to make sure what your welding is CLEAN.
Another hint I can lend is to use a torch tip that is not too large. I find the smaller tip works the best.
Another plus is you don't get the stress cracks later like you get when you Helli-arc.

[surfcaster69]

I got a 3/4 in hole from the ribar. I used an aluminum fender washer on the bottom and a 1/4 20 stainless screw /bolt, etc to hold it. I jb welded the crap out of it. I get cracks in the jb weld occasionally. I just keep patching it. Gets old.

The reason your JB Weld keeps leaking is because it does not flex. Aluminum will flex/expand contract just sitting still with temp changes. Get a $5 stainless wire wheel from your hardware store. Chuck it in your drill and remove all the JB Weld. Then use the torch and Scotchkote stick over your screw. This will work and your leak problem will be gone. :D :D