Leaky boat

[Paule]

I have a 3 year old 18 ft Sylvan. I have 3 leaky rivets in the bow of my boat.(pin pointed these precisely by filling the boat with the water). I would like to repair them myself (warranty will take forever....) and do not want to lose the boat for 1-2 months. My question is to anyone that has repaired rivets in their aluminum boat.
What type of rivets?
Where in Calgary can I purchase them?/and a proper gun
Should I add a sealant(dip the rivet prior to putting in?

I've googled many fixes and it seems pretty cut and dry. Would like personal experiences and opinions from someone with more knowledge than myself.
Thank you in advance.

[npauls]

I would see if they can warranty it and fix it right at the dealership.

It would suck to have them void your hull warranty because the fix wasn't approved by the manufacturer.

[TJG]

X2.

Originally Posted by npauls

I would see if they can warranty it and fix it right at the dealership.

It would suck to have them void your hull warranty because the fix wasn't approved by the manufacturer.

[Paule]

That was my first thought. Their response was we ve never had to deal with a leaky aluminum here.......hmmm? Basically no help and no recommendations or approved warranty repair places that they know of. Long and short....boat back to Indiana......Or I suck it up and try to repair this my self.

[Chewbacca]

Indiana is long way from Calgary. Maybe a body shop could help. How about Outlaw marine in Red Deer. Someone should be able to do it or give an idea on where to get stuff for repairs.

[mikebossy]

find a good specialty rivet store in Calgary and tell them your problem, i just picked up a leaky 97' Starcraft Fishmaster 190 and replaced the keel rivets that leaked (and let the keel strip leak), upwards of 100 of the original rivets, replaced them with closed end rivets, mine were 3/16 inch and yours will probably be too, anyway drill out the leakers with a drill bit, 3/16 to start, be careful as you don't want to increase size of hole of original rivet, anyway drill it out, get a new 3/16 or proper sized rivet for hole, put a dab or e6100 or marine goop around the wide part of rivet, and put into hole, cinch up the rivet with rivet gun, let the adhesive/sealant set for a couple days, and hopefully voila no more leaks, has worked like a charm for me, simple and effective, btw i got my rivets and instruction from the fine people at Accufast in Edmonton, all you need is to buy a few closed end rivets, E6100 or similar adhesive/sealant, and a simple rivet gun(Cdn Tire or Princess auto, about $15)

[Kokanee9]

Before doing the work yourself, contact the manufacturer directly and explain the situation to them. You have a couple rivets that are leaking and a dealer that doesn't know how to fix them and what do they suggest? Have the name of the person at the dealer you talked to handy.

If I had a company, I wouldn't be shipping a boat back and forth to Indiana to do a $10 repair.

It sounds more like a dealer that may not want to bother with a minor repair when they can have other boats in there that need more major work. ($$$$)

[SimonB]

What i have done in the past with leaky rivets is: Once they are identified, have someone inside with something like a heavy sledge hammer hold it tight against the rivet then you from the outside bang on it once or twice firmly. It will cause the rivet to compress and expand therefore fixing the leak. Never had it fail ! But ive never had a nice boat under warranty.

Good luck.

[MrDave]

Originally Posted by SimonB

What i have done in the past with leaky rivets is: Once they are identified, have someone inside with something like a heavy sledge hammer hold it tight against the rivet then you from the outside bang on it once or twice firmly. It will cause the rivet to compress and expand therefore fixing the leak. Never had it fail ! But ive never had a nice boat under warranty.

Good luck.

That should fix them. Its the first step to do. As long as you can reach them.

[TROLLER]

Originally Posted by Paule

I have a 3 year old 18 ft Sylvan. I have 3 leaky rivets in the bow of my boat.(pin pointed these precisely by filling the boat with the water). I would like to repair them myself (warranty will take forever....) and do not want to lose the boat for 1-2 months. My question is to anyone that has repaired rivets in their aluminum boat.
What type of rivets?
Where in Calgary can I purchase them?/and a proper gun
Should I add a sealant(dip the rivet prior to putting in?

I've googled many fixes and it seems pretty cut and dry. Would like personal experiences and opinions from someone with more knowledge than myself.
Thank you in advance.

if some are leaking now after 3 yrs it is a good bet some more are going to show up.

Talk to the mfg maybe they have someone close by who can do the repair. Do it yourself and kiss your entire hull warranty bye bye.