Finding a leak in a boat
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- čas přidán 15. 09. 2017
- In this video I go through the process of locating a leak in my boat.
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Great tips for finding leaks Stu. I had to chuckle when I saw the bilge pump spraying coolant and water all over. It looked as if the Green Machine was marking its territory!
Bad Green Machine. Baaaaad Green Machine. I did smack it on the nose with a rolled up newspaper but it didn't seem to help. ;)
Aeroplanes are riveted and glued together, I'm sure it works fine for a tinny. Epoxy putty like Knead.It or something similar is a really quick and easy way to repair an aluminium hull.
Hahaha I love the"footage" haha picture of stars lol
Yeah, but I couldn't pick which one was the black hole.
The antifreeze will seep through holes where water won't. ( lower surface tension) An ultra violet torch helps to pinpoint
the leak. It looks like that antifreeze has Fluorescin in it, so it will really show up. Keep up the good work!
Thanks mate, good tips. :)
Great job Stu!
Thanks Jim!
Thanks so much. Best video on this subject by far!
Glad it was helpful!
Stu great tip on leak repair sickaflex is a favorite for my old wood boat , i helped my father do the rivets repair and we always had a steel dolly one one side and the good ol ball pien hammer on the other lasted for years , cheers m8
Ah, the old school rivets, very nice. They certainly are stronger than blind rivets.
Excellent video of how to Stu. Seems you covered all the bases Buddy Thanks.....
Thanks mate. :)
Keeping it real stu :) love the bit where you decanted the coolant all over the floor with the bilge pump i think nearly everyone would have done the same .good on you for not editting it out . Anymore news on the hydro fins you were going to do a befor and after review ?
Thanks mate. If I edited out my mistakes the video would only be 43 seconds long. ;) Yep, those fins have arrived so I'll start filming the "before" footage this week.
I think I have a leak on mine as well so good video on how to check for them. I put water in the pump area awhile back to make sure the sump was working but didn't see any leaks on the transom side but need to check the underside yet. My chainsaw/weedeater video didn't come out that good. Will work on that again this week.
Hey Tim, some leaks certainly can be tricky to find, particularly on a boat with lots of equipment install in it. Good luck with the new take on the video, I certainly know that pain.
A light spray with a pressure cleaner worked for me and if it has a soap tank add food coloring and take a look on the bottom
FYI. I had to repair a bunch of pinholes in the bottom of an aluminum boat. I used a long strip of stainless steel bent into an "S" shape as a backer behind each hole as I tig welded it up. The aluminum filled in nicely with virtually no chance of blowing holes through since aluminum melts way before the stainless would. I think I used 18 gauge stainless and the strip was about 2 inches wide by 48 inches long. ( 5 cm by 1.2 meters approx)
Awesome video, thanks for the info
Thanks Brian!
nice work Stu!
Thanks Will, of course finding one leak doesn't mean you've found them all. Another important lesson! ;)
Very helpful information, thanks mate.
My pleasure!
Great videos! Just one suggestion. On patch repairs round your corners. As you know boats flex. Having sharp corners on your patches can wear a thin spot or even create a hole. You will always see on airplanes the panels and repairs will have rounded corners.
As for me I always use solid rivets provided I can get a bucking bar to the back side. JS!
Good tip! You can get closed rivets that are still blind rivets and don't require you to get to the back side of a patch. They are a little bit more expensive but good.
Love the Videos mate.Top weather for boating right now.Iv'e seen a few boats with cracked welds letting in water as well as where you mention.Hope your not getting the filthy bug going round,I had it for two weeks and would of rather pulled my own teeth out.
Thanks Fabian, was pretty crook all weekend but slowly on the mend now. Glad to get it out of the way before the boating weather comes!
Another great video from Dangar Marine! I've got an 18' Starcraft, riveted aluminum construction, so I'm aware of leaks :)
You know what the world needs? A fluid-based product that can seal leaks as it is exiting small holes. Sort of how an egg can be used to stop small leaks in a radiator. Just mix of a batch of this magic fluid, pour it into the hull, let it find and seal all the holes. Maybe the Sikaflex people can work on this...
That would be perfect!
it's called captain tollys creeping crack cure. i think it's more inended for windows, cabin or deck leaks. but ive done a car radiator and a cracked cast iron radiator.
I look forward to seeing the GRP version
Going to be doing quite a bit of glassing soon during the boat build.
Thanks for the video! I have an 1988 ranger 393x fiberglass bass boats. I recently bought it and redid the bilge, livewells, their va🎉lves And the overflow. Eveything great, today we went out and now that the bilge is in the correct spot, I noticed that now and then when I slowly get the bow up in the air before plane, I will get some bilge pump dribbles and if I run agress a few large waves. But it's not a lot nor a continuous flow. Now sure where it's getting in. If it's the rubber bumper around the boat, I hear those leaks. I have a very small drip from an old screw by the live well, but it would take days to built up enough. When I'm not running the boat I the bilge never picks anything up, just approaching plane
I did notice water on the wall (I think) but definitely if I remember right on one slide but not the other by the battery, so I'm wonder if something is getting in there when the back of the boat dips down
the solid rivets work even better, put some 5200 in there and it seals and adds strength. JB weld seems to work good I bought this train wreck of an aluminum boat and now it's pretty much leak free (for now). I think I made the trasom too big, it seems to resonate like a drum.
is it good to go over the existing solid rivets with the gun and bucking bar on an old boat or will that just cause problems?
I need to get me some of that sicoflex my boat is taking on more water this week at the rivets. You're like me I keep a boat until its completely used up.
Sikaflex is certainly certainly good stuff, a great way to seal up rivets.
Hi Stu. Any suggestions for lubricating the drain plug o ring. Specifically what is safe to use on the rubber. I've heard Vaseline is not good. I think the o ring rolls or pinches sometimes when it goes in cos sometimes I get quite a bit of water out of it after a day on the water and other times none to speak of. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Chris
Any auto parts store will be able to sell you rubber grease. www.ebay.com.au/p/Penrite-Red-Rubber-Grease-100-Gram-Tube-Brake-Hydraulic-Systems-Orings-Seals/719603703?iid=142824739114&chn=ps
hello, i have a similar situation, would HTS-2000 brazing rode or Durafix or Super alloy 5 work to seal the hole? i have a map/pro torch. the boat is 1 mm thick and has cracks (the widest is 5 mm). thank you so much. funny picture at 1:44 i jumped on my seat when i saw that. :-)
I've never really experimented with brazing rods, but something else I do a lot is rivet patches on like this: czcams.com/video/vzT-XY3i30A/video.html A lot of people seem to struggle to believe it works but I've had great success with it for decades. The only thing I do differently now is make the effort to source closed rivets.
Very timely...my old Quintrex seems to have a few litres in the bilge after 4-5 hours out fishing. It only started taking on some water after I bored out the old style bung housings and sikaflex some new nylon screw-in drain plugs...I'm thinking I need more sikaflex or maybe to start again ??
Because we are on the internet and people are listening in, I would say remove it and re-seal it again, but if we were at the pub I would say squeeze a bit more Sikaflex on and see what happens. It's not going to sink given you are just out for a day's fishing, but if it a glass on timber boat you don't the timber getting wet and rotting.
Great minds think alike....naaa no fibreglass for me. Tinnies all the way mate. And yes it's older than the Green Machine !
I had a leak showing up behind my throttle that I thought was coming through the rub rail. After shearing my upper shift rod and while getting tow back to shore, I was able to look and found out the leak was coming through a hole in the tubing for the speedometer.
Ah, that's a sneaky one! Good point though that if it is disconnected then the water will just flow through when the boat is underway.
You make concise excellent informative videos. I am enjoying viewing them and learning. In fact, this is my first youtube comment.
Question, I don't have a welding machine, so I was thinking of using JB WELD MARINE.
It seems easy and quick to use. just sand and spread.
What do you think, will it hold long term?
thanks!
The big problem with anything hard is that it can crack as the hull flexes. This is while I like Sikaflex patches because it replaces flexible. czcams.com/video/vzT-XY3i30A/video.html
How many of the Dangar Alloy boats are fitted with anodes? Have you fitted any anodes to the green machine? If you have fitted them, which sort did you use? Zink or Alloy? I'm going to fit some to the Kawau boat as it is new.
By the way, Im naming the boat "Fillfee"
I normally go with a zinc anode bolted through the keel.
I had so much pain with my tinny trying to tig up some holes. the hull is thinner than a coke can and the previous owner has put truck bed liner on the inside to seal up all the pinholes. Even tig on 9 amps is too hot and the metal just burns away. I have also tried the duralloy to try to braze it without success. I'll be trying some sika/rivet patches now. Any tricks to getting around the clinkers? or is it simply a matter of bending the patch and flattening the clinkers where needed?
Ben, a trick if you can get access is to put a steel plate on the other side of weld spot as a backing plate/heat sink. And then weld from the top side only so that gravity will cause and drops of weld to sit against the steel and not just drip to floor. But I am with Stu, plate/sealant/rivets are the way to go .
It is tough when the metal is that thin. Ron's suggestion about using a heat sink is a good one. I also just add heaps of filler rod, by laying it flat and melting the rod onto the hull first to add metal before blending them into each other. Here is a video on doing those patches if it helps czcams.com/video/vzT-XY3i30A/video.html
Nice job, Stu - I have a 40 year-old tinny as well that's been hauled over all sorts of inhospitable landscape and not surprisingly has developed a crack in the hull right where the bow halves meet at the waterline. Tried some roofing tar on the outside with no luck. Any suggestions? I'm hoping I can seal the crack as I don't know how to weld...or even rivet, for that matter...😬
motorv8N maybe try those aluminum repair rods that you can heat with a propane torch or some silver solder?
Those brazing rods are a good option, but if the metal has worn very thin you might not have much luck. Here is the video on doing the patch repairs, just don't comment that I need a new fire alarm battery! ;) czcams.com/video/vzT-XY3i30A/video.html
Liked that video
Thanks mate.
Hey. Do you have any experience with 40hp Yamaha autolubes? Just cleaned my carbs and its very smokey since. Is there a way to adjust the flow of 2 stroke?
That's a good question. I have certainly seen some where there is an adjustable linkage that connects the automix pump to the throttle so it knows how much oil to add, but I'd need to see the service manual for your specific motor to check the details.
Dangar Marine I have to say IG learned a lot since finding your channel. And your very responsive to comments. I'm going to change the plugs tomorrow and if that doesn't help I will get the model number for you and see if you have any ideas
Drilling a small hole at either end of crack, before welding, stops crack spreading.
Hi Stu, Another great vid. I had to laugh at the Bilge pump moment. I was washing the inside of my boat on Saturday and gave my mate who was working on the trailer a shower when the pimp kicked in - he was not exactly impressed.
I hope it was a warm day! ;)
thx
Mate as a welder you’re a great grinder. Lol. Seriously, if it works, who care if Bream laughs at it?
+ 1 for fiberglass repairs video. Other than that, would highly recommend the Boat Works Today channel.
Cool, I'll check that channel out.
7:13 Groundhog day!!
They don't weld holes or cracks on planes due to the issues of the alloy becoming a much harder version of the alloy and causing stress cracks at the edges of the weld. Even pressurised compartments are sealed/plated (known as 'doublers'). That will always happen on a boat as well because the hull skin flex's when hitting waves.With cracks always drill the ends of the cracks to stop the crack progressing - at least a 5mm/ 1/4" drill. Patching aluminium as you have done with a decent plate, a sealant and a rivet every 30mm or so is the way to go. The only thing I found with mast fittings on my old RL24 was that alloy mandrel blind rivets lasted longer than the steel mandrel ones. Painting aluminium is also a pain as it oxidises so fast. You need to use an etch and paint immediately, but miss one tiny bit and you may as well not do any of it. As for the that flu- it is a nasty one this year. If you get flu like for 2 days, then come good for 2 days , be ready for the next bit! A day of nearly dizziness/blackout is on the way. Then about week or so of feeling terrible and then 3 weeks of coughs that will not go away.
I saw a good video on welding aluminium cracks a while ago where they used special dyes to see the true limit of the crack before drilling the ends, it's amazing how much further it went than the eye could see without the dye. I agree though, welds do end up cracking right next to them, and so far I've never had a riveted patch fail. I hope this cold doesn't go that way, I'm slowly starting to feel better!
Can't you change the metal strength by tempering it a specific way after welding? I wouldn't think aluminum would be any different than steel in that respect.
You can temper aluminium but it is dicey to do right. The temp difference between annealing and melting is only about 50 deg C !The issue is that by welding you are changing the thickness of the metal - and aluminium work hardens very quickly. On a boat hull the metal moves every time you hit a wave, so the line between the weld and the normal metal becomes a focal point for stress. Grinding a weld doesn't help, it in fact makes things worse. Every grind line is another metal thickness difference and so every grind line becomes a focal point, and therefore a potential crack.
Ron Powell it seems like you're a aircraft mechanic. As for your drill bit size for stop drilling I feel it's a bit on the large size. A small crack should only need a #30 bit.
I fix a whole boat with blind open rivets! I need to replace about A 20% of the rivets. Even by logic they are non water proof, in the practice around 8 out of 10 rivets doesent leak. The pain in the butt is removing the seats for inspect a leaking rivet from the bottom of the hull....... I have to take away de seats twice because of that.
Neve the less I didn´t use close rivets simply because I was out of cash..... Probably for the next year they will be replaced.
Excellent ideas!
Open rivets are surprisingly watertight. Put some sealant on the tips and they'll be fine. If the boat doesn't live in the water full time I wouldn't both replacing them at all. You'll hardly take a litre of water after a day on the water.
What is the best way to secure the motor on the boat so that it a thief can't steal it?
boat buddy Buy a Mercury... as a Merc owner, I'm allowed to make that joke ;)
If it's a little one, I like this technique czcams.com/video/nDWqZe8cvI0/video.html If its larger, you can peen the ends of the mounting bolts so the nuts can't be taken off easily.
I readily admit that I have zero experience welding with aluminum, but that crack reminds me of a few steel welds I fortified back in the day just using oxy-acetylene, simply heating up to a nice bright orange color and pushing the puddle along. Also, I don't ever recall having done it over my head, so that could be a challenge :) Is anyone out there an expert in welding aluminum? Can it be done - heating up and pushing the puddle (right-side up, of course... ) a-la oxy-acetylene method?
Hey Stan, I'm not sure about melting Aluminium with oxy-acetylene. I do often just use the TIG torch without any filler rod to do a similar blending technique. Unfortunately aluminium doesn't glow like steel so it looks normal until it runs onto the floor in a puddle...
I have a 52 foot aluminum hull Three Buoyys houseboat that has a leak in the aluminum hull
I do not have a full service Marina that can haul it out of the water. There is a channel on the starboard side that is holding about 20 gallons of water a day, so I’m at the point where this needs to be fixed quick.
Aside from going below deck, which is a bitch, and pumping the water and towel and a dry and looking for a leak, does anyone have any suggestions on how I might find where I’m pulling in 20 gallons of water a day? Thanks so much!!!
One technique I've heard about it swimming under the boat near the suspected leak with a handfull of fine sawdust or something and seeing if you can see it being sucked into the boat.
@@DangarMarine I should’ve tried that in the summer when the water was 90°. 😃
It occurred to me that there is no point in filling your boat with water deeper than she sits in the water !
Would you ever consider doing like a "how-to" for welding? I'm sure myself and others would appreciate it.
-Jack
I'm happy to give it a shot, but I'm no expert. One reason I would be tempted to do it is because sometimes when you are new to learning yourself you can remember what it was like to have things going wrong a lot, so that can be a good thing too.
Dangar Marine cheers mate. I will look forward to the video.
-Jack
How to tig the underside of a boat lmao.. im struggling af even with all the practice and perfect beads i can lay on a bench
The incredible Hull k
I had to listen a couple of times to get what you were saying. It's not pronounced ah-loo-min-E-um..... its aluminum! Useful info. G'day!
Cheeky bugger! ;) It's interesting, I knew that there is a different UK / US pronunciation but I didn't know the full story until I saw this article www.worldwidewords.org/articles/aluminium.htm
damn , i knew the sky was full of holes...New Marine Physics . Earth as well , just too many holes, and we,re sinking i feel.....
Even one is too many!
don't let your dog near spilt coolant!
Don't put yourself down muka . Welding really old aluminum thats been welded before , and upside down . I'd say its done the job , TOP JOB!.(unfortunate that it wasn't possible to put boat on its side for better accses tho) ?
Thanks mate. I was going to say that I should really tip it up but I was being lazy. When I did all the original hull repairs I had the motor off and the boat turned completely upside down and that luxury!
Stars makes me think there is a dome over us that is leaking in light from outside the dome.
Awesome Stu....First
I did the same thing.. Weld a test plate. Ah yeah not bad.. Weld under the boat upside down.. Fuck that's shit
Flotation foam makes leak finding a miserable SOB of a job.
Too right. I've worked on plenty of boats where the bilge is full of that stuff. Nightmare!
A nightmare until you need it I suppose (let’s hope we never need it)! 🤷🏻♂️
No one is called a sealed rivet
looks like a few double takes of the same thing got edited in.
Thanks Robert, I'm not surprised. With that cold I had to say everything multiple times before it made any sense and then I sat in bed with a fever to do the editing. I'm amazing it makes any sense at all!
Yeah it does, but what better way to really drive a point home? He might have been interrupted while recording the segment, and missed seeing the duplication if things were tight for time when editing and publishing. Or, maybe he did it on purpose :)
I thought there was a glitch in the matrix lol.
just drill another hole to let the water out Stu.
Then I could have done a rivet demo. ;)
Dangar Marine now always thinking Stu.keep up the good work.best regards
If the boat is or was owned previously by a keen fisherman, chances are that a lost sinker or two or ten are long forgotten and as always is in accordance with doing its periodic tables best to melt a hole thru parent material, a up turned boat in broad daylight is like Lucy in the stars with diamonds, yeah Elton might be gay but he’s upturned, what would he know ?
Nack
J-B Weld will fix anything
Kinda...
There's a leek in the boat!
czcams.com/video/jbNvPoumEVU/video.html
Gold! I'm going to carry a leek all the time now. ;)
Use epoxy, better than welding
Stu keep it real. ME.com are not what sell your tubes. A beer a f*** up here and there is what makes you normal. Stop trying to do a Hollywood production. Your a sound Marine Engineer and you put it across well. FYI I am now a.bonafida.Meecury engineer to Verado 350 and that my friend is cos YOU inspired me. I knew shite till I watched DangarStu thanks mate I owe u
I'm not sure we've hit Hollywood production stage yet. MarineEngine.com certainly help make the vids possible though. Without their support I would need to do other jobs that would mean there wouldn't be time to do the vids. Glad You've been enjoying the vids and learning from them. One thing I spoke to ME about is not doing a series of false product reviews. I've seen channels start doing that and it's certainly the point where I started tuning out. :)
Dangar Marine ok m8 glad.you have a handle on it.
Could you have put a marine sealant over the hole instead of welding it?
Possibly, on the bottom of a boat like that the sealant would be quite prone to rubbing off though.
6metre fiberglass runabout ,, i just put 3 new bungs in ,, sealed the plates and screws ,,, bugga me ,,the screw in bungs leak ,, cheap ebay crap I will stick some good quality bungs in this week
OH And thanks to the arsehole at shoalhaven heads boat ramp that stole my bearing buddys ,,,,
Must be a shoalhaven river thing.I had buddies pilfered at Nowra boat ramp.Fisherman need to save money too you know.Arseholes.
Don't you love it when you go to all the effort to install something brand new and it still leaks. Very annoying about your bearing buddys. I had everything stollen out of the panniers on my motorbike a few weekends ago. Even things like spare inner tubes that would only fit that bike. WTF?
Hey Fabian just had a mate call and tell me his trailer was unhooked from the towball ,,, looks like yesterday was a day someone was looking for a new trailer ?.
I have never even thought of checking mine at the ramp will be now ,,,
Anyhow STU great Vid buddy ,
Dangar Marine i cant think what i would do if i saw someone going through the bags on my harley .
If people put as much effort into earing a dollar instead of stealing the world would be a better place
robert tilbury there's some real scum around mate.Check everything before you retrieve your boat as I know people that have had whole trailers stolen,lights taken,rollers knocked off,wheels,number plates,etc,etc all around Brooklyn,Sydney,wollongong,Nowra,port Stephens etc.No where is safe.A mate had a front bullbar with winch and spotties and rear towbar including boat trailer stolen from his Ranger ute at a popular Sydney ramp and nobody saw a thing.What a joke!We as waterway users need to look out for one another.
Much talking