aluminum boat patch

[john48]

I just bought some boat patch from cabella's and was wondering if anyone has ever used it before? It's the kind that you heat up with a propane torch and melt over the rivets. I have to do it from underneath the boat is there a fire issue with catching the styrofoam on fire that is underneath the plywood and carpet?

[onemorecast56]

I just bought some boat patch from cabella's and was wondering if anyone has ever used it before? It's the kind that you heat up with a propane torch and melt over the rivets. I have to do it from underneath the boat is there a fire issue with catching the styrofoam on fire that is underneath the plywood and carpet?

OH YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just got done doing a bass tracker and when i took th efront deck off,,,there had been a fire where they tryed to weld a patch!,,,be very carefull

[birdstrike]

I tried the stuff, not pleased with the results. Very difficult to use, tends to slide off your target area while molten. I'd say practice on some scrap alluminum before you try your boat. Good luck.

[coombro]

I am curious about those patch rods myself. I have used the aluminum brazing type rods and boy howdy it takes some serious heat to get them to stick. That type patch u have is not a weld so I would't think it would take that much heat, just don't stay in one place to long with the propane and you should be okay. Key is getting that aluminum clean.

[sam8772]

I have used it with great success. As mentioned above having a clean area is critical. I used a brass brush to start then followed with 0-0-0 or 0-0-0-0 steel wool. Didn't want to use the wool becuase I thought there might be some residual rust, but in the end I have had no problem. The green sticks are an adhesive so I found getting the metal hot enough to melt the stick was not needed. I just cleaned the rivets or seams up really good and warmed them up to where the surface was hot to the touch, then I just used the torch to melt the end of the stick and dabbed it onto the rivets. Before the material would set I would go over it one more time with the torch to make sure it melted good around the seems. One word of caution with this method WATCH for dripping. If the melted sealent touches your skin it is like napalm. It will burn and burn and burn and leave A NASTY scar. So wear long sleaves and leather gloves when applying. Happy Dabbing

[coombro]

Kool man I'll give them a try.thanks. I know the aluminum brazing rods require some intense heat. Went to patch a pin hole and by the time i had the metal hot i had a hole the size of a quarter. The brazing rods are great and I highly recomend them but, anything close is going to burn.

[john48]

i finished up over the weekend with the boat patch. It seemed to work great. i still have to put it in the water to see how good it really is but it looks like it did the trick. thanks for your guy's input

[BurleyDog]

So how did you do it?

I am asking because I bought the same stuff for some leaky rivets.

Did you flip the boat over, heat the boat rivet, then stick the stick to it?

Thanks for help. Let us know how it does.
BurleyDog