TO WELD OR NOT TO WELD

[bozza_boatie]

I own an old tinnie at my holiday house. There is however a leak in the hull. The boat will take on about 1 gallon of water a day. The dealer advised me to weld the leak. The problem is I Dont Now how to weld! Also i dont have a trailer to transport the hull to get it fixed.<br /><br />Is there any other simpler ways or products to fix a leak or should i buy a welder and weld away?<br /><br />Any advice would be much appreciated?

 

[petrolhead]

Re: TO WELD OR NOT TO WELD

What is it, a crack or a hole, and how big? If it's just a crack Technoweld will do it, you only need a good propane torch to use it. With a little practice it's not too difficult to repair quite large holes with it too.<br />Alternatively you could rivet a patch on the inside with a bit of sealant to make sure.

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: TO WELD OR NOT TO WELD

why cant you rivet the aluminum plate to the outside of the hull of the boat?<br /><br />i did mine with a small aluminum plate and a bunch of aluminum rivets and i covered the area under the plate, between the hull and plate, with LOTS AND LOTS of 3m 5200. just gobbed it all over. this lil jobber will probably outlast the rest of my boat

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: TO WELD OR NOT TO WELD

If you don't know how to weld aluminum I wouldn't just go out an and buy a welder. First of all a welder that can reliably weld aluminum will be expensive. Second of all you will need A LOT of practice to learn how to weld well.<br /><br />I am currently looking at the possibilty of buying a welder capable of doing aluminum myself. I have essentially no welding experience and therefore plan to take some classes before I make a purchase. However most things that I do I just learn in my own time so I may just make the plunge and learn myself.

 

[petrolhead]

Re: TO WELD OR NOT TO WELD

"why cant you rivet the aluminum plate to the outside of the hull of the boat?"<br /><br />Aesthetics mainly, a patch on the inside looks so much neater than one on the outside. With anything other than an aluminium boat you wouldn't even consider just slapping a patch on the outside, would you?

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: TO WELD OR NOT TO WELD

just curious, because thats what i did about an hour ago, a patch on the ouside of the boat, just directly beneath the back/drivers seat.<br /><br />used a square foot of thin aluminum plate and a box of 50 rivets and about 1/3 tube 5200<br /><br />im gonna cover the entire area with gluv-it and then prime and repaint to match the rest of the boat.<br /><br />sound cool?<br /><br />m ikey

 

[thejeepster02]

Re: TO WELD OR NOT TO WELD

Whats "gluv-it" ????

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: TO WELD OR NOT TO WELD

go to iboats.com and search their mega mall, or do a yahoo search.<br /><br /><br />its way more than i can tell.<br /><br />its a very thick, gooey, epoxy sealer that is brushed on and seals rivet holes and small cracks and leaks and such in aluminum and fiberglass boats

 

[bozza_boatie]

Re: TO WELD OR NOT TO WELD

I cant actually see the hole. So my 2 options are to buy Technoweld or 2 rivet. What does riveting actually involve? Do i just get some alluminium and rivet it down. Whats rivet?

 

[petrolhead]

Re: TO WELD OR NOT TO WELD

What's rivet?

You know, rivets, the things that hold the boat together, look a bit like nails, unless your boat is welded it'll have hundreds of them!<br />I think before we go any further we need to know if your boat is riveted or welded, and we need to know exactly where the hole is to know how to tackle it. It sounds like it may be as simple as using some sealant.

 

[Boilermaker]

Re: TO WELD OR NOT TO WELD

Sounds like some Marine-tex epoxy (gray) and Gluvit (thinner epoxy sealer) will work well. Both are made by the same company & the Gluvit is made for sealing leaky rivits & seams in tinnys>>>the marine-tex is an epoxy paste, that you can machine after it hardens>>>great for all metal repairs! And yes>>>I used it to patch my 18ft fiberglass boat

 

[ThomWV]

Re: TO WELD OR NOT TO WELD

Epoxy, be it Marine-Tex or any other kind, does not bond well to aluminum. It might hold for a year or two (in an area that doesn't flex) but beyond that someday its going to simply fall off. 5200, on the other hand, if put on freshly roughened (and cleaned with acetone) aluminum simply will not come off. By that I mean that you will not be able to get it off with anything short of a grinder, one year from now, two years from now, ten years from now, makes no difference. Oh, and needless to say, its not going to leak.<br /><br />Thom