“Rebucking” the rivets may help. Otherwise you will have to live with it or replace the leaking rivets with new ones. If the leak is not very big (water in the boat is 2″ at the most after a day of use) you can do what I did to my aluminum boat: build a plywood floor that stays above the water and install a small bilge pump.
The biggest trick is finding the exact location of the leak. I have a 16 foot aluminum and it to has a leak, but to find it is the problem. I have repainted the underside in a thick coat of paint thinking that would stop the leak. Didn’t. Thinking, once you are in the water, the boat surface against the water with the body pressure causes certain movement in the metal. Now to find out where. And the patch has to be done on the outside of the boat. I would use silicone or gorilla glue.
A budy of mine took his boat to one of the shops that do custome bed liners for trucks. They have a smooth solution that they can spray on the underside of the boat that will water proof it and seal any leaks. Have them do it from the bottom to the top crossing over the top rails. this should seal it up completly and it should never leak again.
Well, Coach; Probably some red crud called, “Stag”. . that we can get from plumbing supplies here, in Oz-land.
I’d say, wire-brush each site on the OUTSIDE of the boat. . then stick a thick smear of Stag on it. . . Leave it in the sun, then probably paint over it -with aluminium silver paint
-( after about 36 hours after, might be best).
(Your problem is “electrolosis” -which speeds-up corrosion of the weaker metal).
I don’t know anything about boats but; I have this great stuff called ALUMALOI. I don’t know if you can still get it anywhere. It’s like an aluminum solder but almost as strong as a weld. You heat the area with a propane or Mapp torch then flow this stuff on like solder. Works great. You may want to see if you can still find it. It will easily fill cracks and holes and is a permenant fix.
My son used some gutter sealant on our crappy old row boat which had a crack in the hull. It sticks well to the aluminum as that is what it was designed for. This is another cheap and dirty method. Using the two hammer method is the preferred method, and even replacing bad rivets that won’t tighten as others have mentioned.
When aluminum rivets are applied, they generally swell from the middle of the rivet until it reaches the diameter of the hole. Only then will the tail begin to form a permanent connection. I thing solid rivets should work fine for sealing, unless the boat was repaired and the old rivets were drilled out, making the hole larger, so that when the new rivets were re-installed, there was a greater difference between the rivet diameter as compared to the hole diameter. The aluminum material would not swell enough to fill the hole and seal properly. Try, compressing the rivet more -or- drill out and replace the rivet again with a rivet diameter that is extremely close to the hole size (within . 010 max). Or, maybe the panels are worped or the hole is out of round. . . then I would suggested a rubber washer or a supertrifix rivet. go to www. rivet. com for details. 1-800-BUY-RIVET
First you must determine if the aluminum around the rivets is sound. If it is sound, then the best repair involves drilling out the rivets and re-bedding the seam with sealant, and then re-riveting the seam. This may be more trouble than the boat is worth. The other solutions so far listed are more of a band-aid approach, but that just might be the ticket!
i use a substance called ” seal all” it comes in a spray can like paint. . . . . . it is a gray primer looking stuff. . . . . . I buck the rivet and spray that on. . . It works for years. . . . and the best part it is relatively cheap. . . .
Try a great product called Rust Seal by KBS Coatings. It’ll seal them shut watertight. The KBS System Sampler is a best buy for $16. Comes with a cleaner, metal etch & sealer.
Being in the marine business for as long as I have, I’ve seen this a million times. If you want to find the leak, put the boat on the trailer and fill it with water, then look for the drip-drip-drip coming out of the hull. Then, once you find it, take a little 3M “5200 Wet-Dry Fast Cure” caulking and bead it all around the leak, then you should be all set. If you want to do it so that it’ll last forever, find the drip and weld it shut again.
There are two ways you can hand tap all bad rivets using two hammers or use a j b weld solution
“Rebucking” the rivets may help. Otherwise you will have to live with it or replace the leaking rivets with new ones. If the leak is not very big (water in the boat is 2″ at the most after a day of use) you can do what I did to my aluminum boat: build a plywood floor that stays above the water and install a small bilge pump.
Riveting:
http://www. vansairforce. net/articles/NotesOnRiveting/NotesOnRiveting. htm
Use clear silicon rubber caulk
The biggest trick is finding the exact location of the leak. I have a 16 foot aluminum and it to has a leak, but to find it is the problem. I have repainted the underside in a thick coat of paint thinking that would stop the leak. Didn’t. Thinking, once you are in the water, the boat surface against the water with the body pressure causes certain movement in the metal. Now to find out where. And the patch has to be done on the outside of the boat. I would use silicone or gorilla glue.
A budy of mine took his boat to one of the shops that do custome bed liners for trucks. They have a smooth solution that they can spray on the underside of the boat that will water proof it and seal any leaks. Have them do it from the bottom to the top crossing over the top rails. this should seal it up completly and it should never leak again.
Well, Coach; Probably some red crud called, “Stag”. . that we can get from plumbing supplies here, in Oz-land.
I’d say, wire-brush each site on the OUTSIDE of the boat. . then stick a thick smear of Stag on it. . . Leave it in the sun, then probably paint over it -with aluminium silver paint
-( after about 36 hours after, might be best).
(Your problem is “electrolosis” -which speeds-up corrosion of the weaker metal).
I don’t know anything about boats but; I have this great stuff called ALUMALOI. I don’t know if you can still get it anywhere. It’s like an aluminum solder but almost as strong as a weld. You heat the area with a propane or Mapp torch then flow this stuff on like solder. Works great. You may want to see if you can still find it. It will easily fill cracks and holes and is a permenant fix.
My son used some gutter sealant on our crappy old row boat which had a crack in the hull. It sticks well to the aluminum as that is what it was designed for. This is another cheap and dirty method. Using the two hammer method is the preferred method, and even replacing bad rivets that won’t tighten as others have mentioned.
When aluminum rivets are applied, they generally swell from the middle of the rivet until it reaches the diameter of the hole. Only then will the tail begin to form a permanent connection. I thing solid rivets should work fine for sealing, unless the boat was repaired and the old rivets were drilled out, making the hole larger, so that when the new rivets were re-installed, there was a greater difference between the rivet diameter as compared to the hole diameter. The aluminum material would not swell enough to fill the hole and seal properly. Try, compressing the rivet more -or- drill out and replace the rivet again with a rivet diameter that is extremely close to the hole size (within . 010 max). Or, maybe the panels are worped or the hole is out of round. . . then I would suggested a rubber washer or a supertrifix rivet. go to www. rivet. com for details. 1-800-BUY-RIVET
First you must determine if the aluminum around the rivets is sound. If it is sound, then the best repair involves drilling out the rivets and re-bedding the seam with sealant, and then re-riveting the seam. This may be more trouble than the boat is worth. The other solutions so far listed are more of a band-aid approach, but that just might be the ticket!
i use a substance called ” seal all” it comes in a spray can like paint. . . . . . it is a gray primer looking stuff. . . . . . I buck the rivet and spray that on. . . It works for years. . . . and the best part it is relatively cheap. . . .
Try a great product called Rust Seal by KBS Coatings. It’ll seal them shut watertight. The KBS System Sampler is a best buy for $16. Comes with a cleaner, metal etch & sealer.
Being in the marine business for as long as I have, I’ve seen this a million times. If you want to find the leak, put the boat on the trailer and fill it with water, then look for the drip-drip-drip coming out of the hull. Then, once you find it, take a little 3M “5200 Wet-Dry Fast Cure” caulking and bead it all around the leak, then you should be all set. If you want to do it so that it’ll last forever, find the drip and weld it shut again.