holding water

[smuckey41]

I've been holding water can't find where the leak is. I have to pump the boat quite frequently to pump water out wile fishing. I was wondering about using some of the rhino liner stuff they put on truck beds on the bottom of the boat to fix this problem and any future nicks and dings. Would this work or has anybody done this and what would it coast to have it done.

Thanks
Chuck

[MagikSmallie]

If you put a rhino or line-x type liner on your boat it will add a tremendous amount of weight. I would crawl under the boat and spend some time trying to locate the leak and use a fiberglass resin or something similar to patch it. I don't think you want to use a spray on type liner, just my opinion.

[artcarney_agr]

Rhino liner is good on the inside of the boat - very popular among duck hunters - many aluminum boats are coming with it as a stock application, like the Tracker boats you see out in front of Bass Pro.

Some of the most common places to find a leak would be around any items installed below the waterline (like a transducer on the transom) and anything that might have screws that were too long and went all the way through the hull - I bought a used boat years ago, and it had a small leak somewhere; I found it by feelling around on the hull while swimming - found two screws that were holding a battery box down that had gone all the way through the hull, but weren't visible while sitting on the trailer since they were right where the bunks were located.

[roadrunner]

If this is an aluminum boat you could take out the carpet and spray liner in the boat I think it would keep water out. However if it is fiberglass I agree with magiksmallie you might put the boat on the trailer and flood the bottom with water and see if you can find the leak.. I would also look to make sure you do not have a connection leaking around your live well plumbing or your drain plug.

[Big T @ E.C.]

J.b.weld will work great. It's a 2 part mix that bonds to just about anything. If you can find the leak, it will fix it... Tr

[onemorecast56]

Or just bring me the boat and I`ll find and fix the leak right,,replace the rivets or weld it up,,,LOL

[coombro]

Or just bring me the boat and I`ll find and fix the leak right,,replace the rivets or weld it up,,,LOL

Agreed do it right or don't do it at all.

[Carter1]

I had some coming in where the transom mount bolts came through. My boat is over 20 years old. I took the bolts out and filled the holes with silicone caulk and put the bolts back in. That stopped the leak. I found the leak by looking in the transom as soon as I launched the boat while everything was still dry.

[Moveon]

If this is an aluminum boat you could take out the carpet and spray liner in the boat I think it would keep water out. However if it is fiberglass I agree with magiksmallie you might put the boat on the trailer and flood the bottom with water and see if you can find the leak.. I would also look to make sure you do not have a connection leaking around your live well plumbing or your drain plug.

I flooded the inside of my boat while it sat on the boat trailer on a dry concrete driveway. I could easily find the leaking rivet heads this way and sealed them with some JB Weld over the rivet head. If the Rivet Head is gone and there is a hole you may have to have it mig welded shut. I had three rivet heads pop off my boat and had to have all three holes welded shut. Once I didn't have time to take the boat to get it welded as I was heading out to Barkley Lake to do some camping with friends. We wanted to water ski and go tubing that weekend. So my next door neighbor showed me how JB weld worked. He mixed up a batch and put it over the hole where the rivet head had been. By the time it dried we were good to go. It's been covering up that rivet head hole in my aluminum boat since 1990. That JB Weld is good stuff and I use it for everything these days. They also make a two part putty that you mix together and I used that to fix the trailer tongue on my boat trailer where the metal has spilt from being jack knifed too many times. The trailer light wires were being cut by the slit in the side channel on the end of the trailer's 3 by 2 steel channel. I hammed the steel back into shape and covered the split part with some JB weld putty and let it sit for a day. Make sure that you clean the surfaces of oil and rust and get it down to bare metal before you apply the JB Weld.

You can remove the JB Weld with a torch by heating it up above it's critical temperature or grinding it back off the metal.

Any hole in an aluminum boat is best welded shut with either mig welding or heliarc welding.

Hope this helps.

[Duayne]

I had some coming in where the transom mount bolts came through. My boat is over 20 years old. I took the bolts out and filled the holes with silicone caulk and put the bolts back in. That stopped the leak. I found the leak by looking in the transom as soon as I launched the boat while everything was still dry.

^^^ This First. Then, if you still can't find it, get it done right. You can also turn on a really bright light inside the bilge at night and look for light to leak out if you can't find it right as you get in the water.

I had a leak through the top of a tie down U bolt one time. It took the right amount of weight in the back for the leak. I found it with the light method. Pulled the U bolt, siliconed the holes and reattached the U bolt. problem solved.