small hole in aluminum boat

[bowhunter79]

Hi,
I have a small hole in my aluminum boat on the skin not on the seam. I saw online that you can patch these with marine sealant and a closed end aluminum rivet. I have looked everywhere and cant seem to find closed end rivets in quantites less than 500 anyone know if this method works and if so where does a guy get a small box of closed end rivets?

[chriscosta]

How much is five hundred rivots ? I bet theyd work I foxed a hole in my alluminum boat with a perfect sized nut and bolt and then cut the end of the nut off flush with the bolt and then cover with sealant of some kind its been leak free for 4 yrs ..I know one day itll fail but I dont mind if it lasred that long

[Red Bullets]

Duct tape on both sides.. Gotta gash in a aluminum canoe once and good old duct tape saved the trip down the river. About 25 cents worth of tape.


A local tin basher might have a few suggestions and rivets to spare.

[HunterDave]

Get it welded and be done with it.

[bowhunter79]

Hey HunterDave do you know of any welders I'm in the morniville area

[KevGuy]

Get it welded and be done with it.

I had an aluminum canoe that had some leaks. I tried the rivet method, nut and bolt method, they fail. The best solution is a weld.

[Putter1022]

I'm not too sure about duct tape, but if you get some aluminum repair tape that would be better. Make sure the area is smooth on both sides and tape over several layers. Smooth the tape with the rounded end of a screw driver between layers. Will last for years. If you really want to get crazy edge seal the tape.

[MK2750]

Many years ago someone shot my Sportspal canoe with a 22. I patched it with automotive bondo and it stayed until I sold the boat several years later.

[YeeHaw]

JB Weld

[dodger]

JB Weld

Yep!

[Halfton]

I had a small hole in the skin of a boat once..I used stuff called Liquid Aluminum to fix it...comes in a tube if the still make it. Held for over 15 years without ever leaking again. Just put tape on one side of the hole...filled it and sanded it down flush after it dried.

Jim

[jpohlic]

My 12' tinner, the SS Leaks-A-Little (More), has a 3" crack in the bottom. I used some roofing tar, a piece of tin and a dozen rivets. That was about 5 years ago and the patch has held and the crack hasn't spread.

[ATF]

I got a few from a fastener supply place on the southside years ago. I don't believe the company is still at the location I went to but I just popped in and talked to the counter guy and explained what I was trying to do.
He gave me a couple of the rivets you seek and I bought a tube of the liquid aluminum stuff to put on the outside to cover the head just in case. It was leak proof for many years and when I finally went to get a proper weld done the guy doing the work said that stuff was a real chore to remove. Edmonton fasteners and tools might be worth a try.

[trapshooter]

Use gluvit!

[ctd]

Go buy some sealant (I prefer sikaflex) a little piece of aluminum and some stainless steel screws with nylock nuts.
Cut the aluminum out to make a patch that will cover about an inch wider then the hole.
Then hold the patch over the hole centered securely, drill holes to correspond with your screw size in the four corners of the patch and 1 hole on each center edge. 6 holes total.
Then apply some sealant, affix the patch, fasten the screws. Let sit for a few hours and hole fixed.
We use to fix Plane floats similar to this.

I would recommend not welding the boat if it is a thin aluminum. It may make the hole worse. Plus weaken the area around it.

[winmag]

small holes or punctures hammer and dolly the hole flush sand inside and use marine grade 5 min type epoxy or high end Industrial all material adhesive[ it has to give a little] and a aluminum patch formed to fit then sand outside or use peening rivets and sealant [ practice on spare piece first] patch can be on inside or outside or go to HH and get the 25 pack 1/8 stainless rivets , [they may have small quantity packs of sealed rivets also not sure] and seal patch and rivet holes or best have a patch tig welded on , i have a local guy here that is amazing and reasonable prices but the material maybe too thin :) good luck

[HunterDave]

Hey HunterDave do you know of any welders I'm in the morniville area

I don't know anyone personally but there's a welding shop in the old industrial area in Morinville by the lake. A few years ago I needed a couple of studs taken out of an exhaust manifold and they did the small job for me for a small cash donation into their coffee fund. Take your boat and a bit of cash with you when you go to see them and they might take 15 minutes and do the job right away.

[calgarygringo]

On my old boat I had a couple different ways and this seem to work well. Instead of rivets use SS screws with washers and locknuts. For a hole drill several holes in boat and a piece of aluminum for patch with screws above and use 3m 5200 sealant. This sealant will last forever and is designed for water use. Make sure you allow several days to set as it takes forever but once done don't try to get it off as it is a nightmare to remove but will never leak.
As someone else mentioned Gluvit is a great product as well. I used it o the seams under the old boat and it never leaked a drop after that. Expensive product but do it once and done.

I now have had a fibreglass boat for many years now so no longer deal with it.

[elkdump]

JB Weld

x 3, clean area well with steel wool, wipe clean with alcohol or carb cleaner spray, apply JB Weld overlapping hole about 1 inch, do both sides of hole ,inside boat and outside, let stand over night, will NEVER leak ! cost you about $10 for JB Weld 2 part kit !

during my years guiding in the Rockies, I have repaired several aluminum bush-plane float pontoons using JB Weld and they worked for years, no problem ! :)

[Foxton Gundogs]

2 words MARINE EPOXY. I have patched many a small hole with it. The stuff is like iron sticks like chit to a blanket and will outlast the boat. Ruff up the surface inside and out, push it into the hole and lay a couple of loonie size layers inside and out, let it dry over night, forget about it and go fishing.

[Puma]

Yep!

x3, I put that sh@+ on everything !

[skywagon]

I livquite close and have a few solid aluminum rivets and tools to install them. If the hole is not too big and the material around the hole is sound it will make for a good repair.

[Sooner]

JB Weld



Fixed a hole in the bottom of our tinner 15 yrs ago. Right beside the drain plug. It has been bumped, flexed etc and hasn't let go.

[Pudelpointer]

X53 on the JB Weld.

Someone ran over the Jon boat I now own with a skidoo. The previous owner used JB Weld to fill and repair the gouges, filing them smooth after it cured. 10 years later they still work.

The transom seam had some leaks that someone had tried to fill with some sort of sealant - didn't work. I scraped all the sealant out and drizzled some JB weld on the inside. Since it is pretty much the same colour as the aluminum you can hardy see it. 2 years later it is still dry inside.

[Putter1022]

With that much advise we will definitely need closure! Before and after pics are required.

[jackrabbit000]

Accufast is where I buy my rivets. They carry all kinds of rivets and fasteners. They will sell you any amount you want. A few, they will probably give them to you for free.

Accufast Inc
7201 104 St NW, Edmonton, AB T6E 4B8

[ATF]

Accufast is where I buy my rivets. They carry all kinds of rivets and fasteners. They will sell you any amount you want. A few, they will probably give them to you for free.

Accufast Inc
7201 104 St NW, Edmonton, AB T6E 4B8

This is the place I went to years ago but I think they used to be a couple blocks south? I'm not sure you want to add more holes with screws and patches as some have suggested. The less perforating the better.

[Atex]

This place sells watertight rivets: http://www.boltdepot.com/Blind_rivets_Closed_end_%28sealed%29_Dome_head_Alu minum_-_Aluminum_mandrel.aspx Used it on my aluminum boat with success. :)

[Kim473]

If you need some alluminum plate to fix your hole, I can give you some free.

[bowhunter79]

Well tonnes of good suggestions and after all of them I've decided to go with JB marine weld I'll be doing it this week so I'll post some pics. Thanks a tonne to everyone for the advice and offers much appreciated

[silver]

There is good advice here. I would go with JB weld and a patch. I haven't fixed a boat or a pontoon with it, but I have fixed an air conditioning line with it. The one thing I would like to add is that aluminum starts to oxidize as soon as it is exposed to air. I scuffed the line with sandpaper, the patch, mixed the JB weld, scuffed the line one more time, spread the epoxy on it, scuffed the patch and clamped it over the line.

Yeah, I know, a bit anal, but that A/C line is under pressure and still doesn't leak.