Boat Leaks a Little

[Andyfender]

Went out with my 14' Aluminum boat yesterday for about 5 hours on the water. I do have flooring down on the boat that is about 4" above the bottom. I noticed in the back of the boat there was water. I let it go until I was ready to come in to see how much water I was actually taking on. I turned on the bilge pump to drain it. It is an older boat. I plan on replacing the current drain plug.

1) What do I use to cover screw holes where the old fish finder was mounted? I used some marine silicone.

2) At the end of the season is there a method using fiberglass tape to seal the bottom?

Thanks,

Andy

 

[bear_69cuda]

Re: Boat Leaks a Little

1) What do I use to cover screw holes where the old fish finder was mounted? I used some marine silicone.

Try 3M 5200

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Boat Leaks a Little

You can fill the holes with an aluminum pop rivet and 3m5200 or a stainless steel nut and bolt and 3m5200.........

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Boat Leaks a Little

Seal those holes as described above. You can also buy aluminum machine screws and nuts. Used with the 3M 5200, they'll work to, and can't cause any galvanic reaction. Any good hardware store will have them.

If the problem ends up being seeping from rivets, you can reseat them after removing the floor. A product called "Gluvit" is very good at sealing tiny leaks in aluminum boats, but it's sort of expensive.

 

[lakefisherman]

Re: Boat Leaks a Little

Possibly JB weld from the auto parts store. It's inexpensive.
I used it on a crack in my jaccuzi that was under water.
It was for under water, high temp.

 

[thompy]

Re: Boat Leaks a Little

5200 is about as tough as you can get, good stuff