aluminum boat patch

[PW1967]

just looking for some ideas how to finish this,(pics enclosed) The P/O jabed two holes each side of keel, and made these patches, leaked alot, I pulled patches and sealed patch plates with marine grade JB weld. and used 3M marine grade silicon on rivits. It still seeps a little water, maybe about a1/2 gallon an hour. I heard of glove it, but don't realty know it uses, Do they make anything that I can basically apply over the whole area, and maybe sand and paint? The patch on the keel is just from worn thin down metal and just a few small pin holes that sealed up ok, planning on just sanding that down, and maybe applying some aluminum paint. I don't have much access on inside of hull do to the sub floor and compartments, boat is an 87 bass tracker

 

[gm280]

PW1967, If I were faced with repairing that, I would see if I could access it from the inside and if I could, I would have a part made to fit exactly in the hole area and have it welded in place. Then I know for certain it will not leak and be as strong as the rest of the hull. But that is how I would do it. I am certain others will chime in with different ideas as well. That is just my opinion.

 

[PW1967]

I agree that an aluminum welded patch would be the best fix, and may do that in the near future. for the time being just looking for something temporary ( but not to temporary if you know what I meen). I'm sure thriers got to be some good epoxy or rubberized coatings that would help, I may take the floor deck out this weekend and look at sealing from the inside too.

 

[pckeen]

Ditto on the reccomendations for the welded patch. But if that isn't an option, the epoxy product is Gluvit - easy to apply, but it will degrade from UV light, so needs to be painted. The best way to apply would be from the inside. You could try it from the bottom up, but Gluvit will run, so it may not work well (unless you flip the boat upside down). The next quick and dirty solution is to scrape JB Weld all over it....

And the last option is to remove what is there, seal up the holes as best you can with jb weld, sand flat, then cut a piece of aluminum the same size as the large hole you have left, laminate that onto a larger piece of aluminum, then smear everything with JB Weld and glue/rivet it into place.

Looking at the wok and problems all those entail, it may be cheaper and easier to have someone weld it up for you....

 

[fishin98]

ALL the above answers are good solutions. As far as the short term, sand around all the edges of the patch, be liberal with the use of JB WELD, really work it in, let dry for at least a day then resand smooth, make sure you use enough hardener or it will never set up right.

 

[Chris1956]

Does the hull flex at all at the patch? If so, you will need a patch that flexes as well. If you can get to the inside, I would recommend you cut a piece of fiberglass cloth to overlap the patch by 1/2" on all sides, covering all rivits. Next mix up some epoxy putty like Marine-Tex and trowel a layer of the putty over the area to be patched, matching the size and shape of the FG cloth. Lay the cloth onto the putty and then trowel more putty over the cloth, working it into the cloth. Let her dry, and it should not leak a drop.

This repair could be made on the outside of the hull, but it would be unsightly and susceptible to wear and tear.

 

[Watermann]

just looking for some ideas how to finish this,(pics enclosed) The P/O jabed two holes each side of keel, and made these patches, leaked alot, I pulled patches and sealed patch plates with marine grade JB weld. and used 3M marine grade silicon on rivits. It still seeps a little water, maybe about a1/2 gallon an hour. I heard of glove it, but don't realty know it uses, Do they make anything that I can basically apply over the whole area, and maybe sand and paint? The patch on the keel is just from worn thin down metal and just a few small pin holes that sealed up ok, planning on just sanding that down, and maybe applying some aluminum paint. I don't have much access on inside of hull do to the sub floor and compartments, boat is an 87 bass tracker

There's no handy man in a can that will cover the area and make everything water tight.

Silicone is not a good product to use below the waterline on a boat and contains acid that will over time damage aluminum. How are those patches held on, are those 20+ blind rivets?

I would start by doing a leak test and mark where the leaks are. Then clean it back to bare AL and start over again where the leak is. If it's one of the blind rivets, drill it out and replace with a closed end blind with 3M 5200 to seal it. If it's around that patch then the whole thing might need to be removed and start over again.

It's easy to say just weld it and hit the post button but I know you would need to tear down your whole boat in order to do that and it might not be necessary if you can get a proper patch on there.

 

[gm280]

Rereading and again looking at the area in question, I have no idea how big the actual hole is under that patched section. It could be mere little separate holes or one larger hole. So it is hard to recommend any quality repair other then welding a correct size aluminum piece back in. Of course you can patch it up in a multitude of different ways. But I just offered my idea of what I would do if I owned the boat. You can use most any type sealer to stop the leak. And years later do that again as well. So the real choice of repairs is yours to select and try. On these boating forums, there are no right or wrong ideas. Only a lot of ideas for the owner to read and chose from. JMHO!

 

[PW1967]

thanks for the responces, I am going to go through the floor this weekend, and definitely re evaluate the condition and consider all responses.


Oh. and I believe the hole on each patch is about the size of two fingers, and I am sure it does get flexing. I think maybe glovit or fiberglass on inside, while sanding and painting both inside and outside maybe.

 

[Watermann]

Fiberglass doesn't adhere to aluminum well enough to do a below deck repair especially if there is some flexing or future impact in that location. If your planning on pulling up the decking to get at the inside you'll most likely find pour in foam to remove. A hole the size of 2 fingers should be double patched, one on the inside and one on the outside with 5200 back buttered on them to seal the patches to the hull. For fastening the patches I would use solid rivets but you may not have that sort of equipment. So you could use stainless machine screws and nyloc nuts rather than the solid rivets.

Gluvit is mainly used to seal up riveted boat seams and keels not patched hull repairs.