I’ve got an old aluminum that has a few minor leaks. From what I can tell a couple of the rivets leak just a little. Has anyone ever used brazing rods designed for aluminum? I bought a small kit but can’t seem to get the aluminum hot enough to melt the solder! Any ideas?
Clifford,
I just called a dealer about the welded hull on my boat that leaks a little. I may be sending it in to the factory for a more permenant fix next fall, but he recommended a product called “seal-all”. He uses it with riveted boats, gas tanks, whatever leaks. It dries quickly and clear and he claimed it has never failed to work for him.
Anyway, I bought some at ACE hardware and put it on. The leak APPEARS to be gone. We’ll see how well it holds up through the season. Just an option you might try.
Scott
Thanks Scott, I’ll consider that as an option!
Hey Clifford!!!
You got the rocket!!!!
She sure is fast, huh!!!!!
That is Jake’s old boat……I bought it from him and sold it to Lip Ripper (Rob).
So, with that said, glad you are hear!!! Welcome to the IDA family and thanks for keeping the rocket in the family too!!!
Yep, she does leak a bit.
When I had it, I filled it with water and pounded a couple of the rivets down. Then I sprayed the bottom floor with tar.
Your best bet on it, would be to fill it again with water (just the hull base line) and mark what rivets leak. Then, go back and pound them down. That is the best technique, because taring or welding will not fill the void that the loose rivet is leaving. You need to “tighten up” that void by hammering the rivet.
How bad is she leaking??? Before I worked on it, it was about 5 gal/hour……
The other benifit to hammering down the rivets is that it will reduce the vibration/turbulance when you are flying 35mph!!!!!!
Repairing a riveted boat with areas that are also welded (from factory) is ok to do. A riveted only boat should be repaird like the it was manufactured. The heat from a torch will destroy the grain structure in the aluminum and will result in a very large hole. Good luck with your repair.
Hey!! Welcome New Exporer!
Or should I say…Welcome to posting!
Sounds like you work with al?
When you are pounding on the rivets, you should have someone on the bottom holding something like the head of a heavy hammer against the rivet while someone pounds on the other side. If you find that you have a small crack somewhere, you need to find the ends of the crack and drill a small hole this will stop the crack from expanding. I can’t think of the proper name, but most welding shops have a special type of welder just for fixing aluminum.
Yes!!!
When hammering the rivet, hammer on the “head” and hold a larger hammer on the “flattened” part. Just the opposite of what you think you should do. By hammering the head, it flattens out the post correctly.
Welding Aluminum requires a tig welder. TIG: Tungsten Innert Gas. It is an electrical charge and the gas keeps the metal from getting contaminated.
This probably won’t be much help, but maybe someone can add to my post. Bass Pro used to (maybe they still do) sell what’s called an aluminum boat repair kit. It comes with a stick of green “stuff” and a stiff wire brush. You wire brush all the paint off around the suspect rivet, then heat the hull with a propane torch and hold the stick of green stuff to the hot hull so it melts. I have no idea what the green stuff is/was, but it works like a charm. Maybe you can do some digging on the net and find some. It even works along seams.
Cabela’s still carries the stuff, try this link:
What I did on my old flat is drill out the rivets, then use machine bolts with the rubber washers. Fill her up with water, mark the ones that leak, and then drill them out and replace with screws. Pounding down the rivets also works, but with mine it only worked for about 2 months. Good Luck
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