leak sealing Q on alum hull

[catfishcarl99]

Ok i got a Q for the leak repair fellas. ok, sat night me and a buddie were fishing and long story short after 6-7 hrs on the water i had a few inches of water in my hull. i had recently repaired a hole with some 2 part epoxy while i was restoring floor. its holding strong. today i filled hull with water while it was dry. well good news is none of the 500 rivets are leaking. thought for sure thats what it was.

bad news. its this rib along keel.

the rear is welded along the stern. it runs the entire length up to the bow to tip of rubrail out of water line. mt Q is what do i do to stop the leaks? my best idea was to wait till end of season and give it a couple weeks to get good and dry and run a bead of the marine sealent along its entire course on each side. any better ideas asside from welding?

also this small crack. wish i had found that before i sealed the floor up. cant get to inside i dont believe. would have repaired that with the epoxy too inside and out.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: leak sealing Q on alum hull

Most of the "Tin Boat" guys seal their boats with a product called "Gluvit" or "Coat-It" Both epoxy based.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: leak sealing Q on alum hull

Yup, sealing the keel with Gluvit or Coat-it on the inside of the hull will be the best fix for the keel. The crack can be patched from the inside or outside, but patching from the inside looks better. Drill a small hole at each end of the crack to stop it from getting bigger.

You can try the marine sealant (3M 5200) on the outside of the hull, but this method doesn't usually work well or last long.

Instances like this are the main reason to fasten your decking down through the finish leaving your fasteners exposed so you can remove them if you should ever need to get below deck for repairs. This is the OEM for all aluminum boats nowadays.

 

[wlg]

Re: leak sealing Q on alum hull

JB Waterweld two part epoxy. I have used this product on the outside of three different boats I have owned and it has held up great.

I sold the ten foot jon boat to a fella I work with a couple of years ago and he still uses it. I sealed a large crack in my 14 ft. jon and no leaks.

Not everyone would agree with this type of repair but, it has worked for me.

 

[catfishcarl99]

Re: leak sealing Q on alum hull

ya i cannot get to the entire rib from the inside. i can at the back and alot of the midsection though. maybe the gulvit everywhere i can reach and the sealent on the outside too? i can get to the leaking areas from under the battery box and the storage compartment. but not under gas tank or after the bulk head at the front. but saw no water leaking in them areas.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: leak sealing Q on alum hull

The bad thing about keel leaks is that the water will "run" and you don't really know exactly where it's leaking.

Doing everything you can reach on the inside and all of the outside sounds like a plan.

Don't forget to "stop drill" that crack.

 

[catfishcarl99]

Re: leak sealing Q on alum hull

ya i learned that trick from a guy at work. the drilling the ends to stop the cracks, good idea. ya one problem with the j b water weld is i need to seal several feet on both sides. and yes the running can mean that its actually leaking 2-6" away from where its dripping. thats why my first thought was sealing its entire length. ill have to check in the day tomorrow if the crack is accessable from the inside. but i think its behind a bulkhead.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: leak sealing Q on alum hull

You do know that there is no real seam under that keel. The bottom of the hull is one piece and the keel is added on.

Okay the only way you will kill all the leaks is with gluvit applied from the inside of the hull. A good off season project

What would I do in the interim....... Make sure the bilge pump is in good working order AND if it really bugged me I would use 3m5200 and run a bead over all of the suspect spots and both sides of the keel. It would be the cheapest and fasted stop leak available. Since your hull is white on the bottom.....no one would ever notice.

Yes I would fix that crack too.

The 3m5200 will do a better job sealing then the water weld. Water weld would be good at the crack (with tiny holes drilled t stop the crack and then covered over with 5200

Oh yeah don't forget to wear gloves or you will be wearing 5200 for quite a long time.

 

[catfishcarl99]

Re: leak sealing Q on alum hull

i never paid attention to the bottom center when i re done the interior floor and stuff. but the gas tank the bottom of the storage compartment hides most of it. ya it will be an off season thing. i filled the boat with quite a bit of water and left it in there for 45 min or so. wonder whats happened under the rib. cracks? i assume? but the boat was good and dry and the water was dripping fairly steady from the three areas of the rib and the crack. ill do my best to get at everything under the floor. i can reach from the plug in rear to just under tha tank. thats 8" or so on either side of where the water was leaking at the rear spot. that would have been the last pic. and from under the storage compartment i should be able to get to the whole area that it was leaking behind my keel shield too. pic 1.