Aluminum boat leak

[njdrt-rdr]

I'm working on an aluminum boat the front of the boat leaks. I had painted all the rivits with gluvit last summer (never used the boat though)
I filled up the inside with water today to check for leaks.
The keel in the front leaks down in the area that's painted gray. No rivits appear to be loose
If you look in the pics, you can see from inside the boat, it's 2 pieces of sheet metal with a keel strip riveted to it. Then in the upside down pic, you can see that red line along the keel, it looks like some kind of caulk, There's some cracks in that and water is dripping out. I don't know if I'm supposed to caulk it from the outside our try and run gluvit or something down between the panels from inside the boat.

Any suggestions.
Thanks,
Nick

 

[sutor623]

Re: Aluminum boat leak

Yes you need to dig or heat that sealant out and put in a new bead of marine sealant. Will work like a charm!

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Aluminum boat leak

Try rebucking your rivets in that area, then I'd wire brush the inside of the hull at the keel, wipe with acetone, and lay down a good heavy bead of 5200.

For me, goo never seems to stop a leak when applied to the exterior of the hull... and it always looks bad.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Aluminum boat leak

Actually that red/brown sealant was laid when the two pieces of alum were joined and riveted. So, there is no way in the world you'll be able to dig it all out. On my Jet Star project I removed what was visible just for aesthetics.

Grub has the right idea to try and fix your leak there. Kinda, sorta best to attack the problem from the inside

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Aluminum boat leak

I agree. I would try to seal it from the inside out, if at all possible. It may just need another/better coat of Gluvi-it applied, but if that doesn't do the trick, a bead of 5200 applied from the inside surely will. I would also suggest leak testing the boat by putting it on the water and loading some weigh into it rather than filling it with water. Keep us posted. Holler if you get stuck.

 

[sutor623]

Re: Aluminum boat leak

Actually that red/brown sealant was laid when the two pieces of alum were joined and riveted. So, there is no way in the world you'll be able to dig it all out.

I just trimmed off what I could and put a nice tight bead in there. Worked fine for me, but I never was leaking a whole ton of water either. I also didn't think it was necessary to pull the floor up on my boat at the time.

 

[sutor623]

Re: Aluminum boat leak

I agree. I would try to seal it from the inside out, if at all possible. It may just need another/better coat of Gluvi-it applied, but if that doesn't do the trick, a bead of 5200 applied from the inside surely will. I would also suggest leak testing the boat by putting it on the water and loading some weigh into it rather than filling it with water. Keep us posted. Holler if you get stuck.

Do you need to paint over gluvit when you use it? Or can you just put a coat of that on it and call it a day?

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Aluminum boat leak

Gluvit has no UV protection so yah, needs painting or something. 5200 as well (it will turn yellowish)

 

[njdrt-rdr]

Re: Aluminum boat leak

I would also suggest leak testing the boat by putting it on the water and loading some weigh into it rather than filling it with water. Keep us posted. Holler if you get stuck.

Filling the inside with water was just the first water test to keep me from wasting time going all the way to the lake and finding a leak. Once it holds water from the inside, I'll test at at the boat ramp.

The think with more gluvit is I have to figure out how to get it between those panels in the v. I'm thinking a bead of 5200 would me much easier to get in there and cheaper. The smallest size gluvit is a quart and it's $55. A full caulking size tube of 5200 is like $15.
I had also read about people having good luck with the aluminum patch sticks from cabels, but I wasn't sure I'm keen on heating up the outside of the boat to get it to flow in. Thought about doing that from the outside if I could get the red sealer out or out enough to flow this stuff in on top of it.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Aluminum boat leak

Bah, skip those welding rods.

I believe Gluvit or 5200 will work just fine for ya (from the inside).

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Aluminum boat leak

I don't want to be a downer Nick, but anything you do to the outside of the boat as far as trying to stop a leak with goo or welding stick or anything else that isn't aluminum is probably going to look like refried rat crap. If looks aren't that important to you, go for it... but that does look like a fairly decent looking boat like it is right now.

I'm pretty sure your leak is being caused by weak/loose rivets and that's where I would focus my attention, either tighten them up or replace them.

 

[Star]

Re: Aluminum boat leak

Gluvit will fail if you don't clean the metal before application. BE SURE YOU USE THE PROPER MIX RATIO. Small hand held sandblaster using beach sand worked well fo me, but it did make a mess. My repair has been good for 10 years on a 61 14'. Two thin coats are better than one heavy one with a small brush. Masking tape can help give you a clean edge but it must be removed befor it sets up completly.

 

[njdrt-rdr]

Re: Aluminum boat leak

Just an update, I didn't notice any loose rivets, but I hit each one a few times with hammer and dolly anyway, then I layed a bead of 5200 on the inside and the outside. I know the stuff will yellow, but I'm ok with that. The boat is ok, by no means any kind of show winner. First test of filling the boat with water showed no leaks this time. So I'll be testing it in the lake soon.
Thanks,
Nick

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Aluminum boat leak

Once the 5200 is completely cured, I'd give it a week or two, you can sand it and paint it with some aluminum paint and I bet it will be hardly noticeable.