Ducker leaks

Mark W

Mark W

Well-known member
Put it in the water for the first time and have a couple of leaks. Disappointing but better than I expected. I have a couple of very slow leaks around three rivets and I have 1 pinhole leak near where a rivet should be.

I have read online of all the possible ways to fix. Because of where they are I can't rebuck them. I've read about gluvit and various other coatings. I see cabelas sells an epoxy stick where you heat the surface around the rivet and then touch the stick to to the hot spot and it flows into the cracks. I've also hear that JB Weld would work great here.

Like I said earlier these are very minor leaks. Drilling out the rivets and putting in new ones I think will cause more problems than what I'm trying to fix. All insight is welcome.

Mark w
 
Last edited:
The epoxy stick works great, ive used it on numerous duckboats have also used it on a tub in my bathroom 8 yrs ago and was going strong till we just remodeled the bathroom last month.
 
Anyone know of retail/local stores that sell these epoxy sticks? Seems to be a general consensus these work well

Mark w
 
Mark,
I bought an old V hull years ago and the owner used epoxy, not sure what type to repair the leaking rivets. It worked for a couple of years and then started leaking again. The G-Flex looks promising, but why not just take the boat to a welder or an auto body shop and have the rivets welded and be done with once and for all. I'm sure it would cost you less the $100 to have three rivets welded.

Good luck and please post up some pictures of you Ducker. I was set to buy one last year then my employer said they might start lay-offs so had to hold off on it. May start looking again. So many boats so little time......

Zane
 
I agree with the post suggesting having the rivets welded, assuming the welder is experienced in old aluminum. This sounds like the best solution I have read.

However, here is another solution I used on a Lake Michigan salmon trolling boat. I had little money and needed to fix leaking rivets in an old aluminum V-hull I was transforming into a salmon boat. I drilled out the leaking rivets, then replaced them with stainless steel machine screws, lock washers, and nuts which had the same diameter as the rivets. I bathed the bolt, lock washer, hole, and nut in liquid rubber, then had a helper inside tightening the nut while I held the head of the screw in place with the slot of the screw in line with the keel (this was a powerboat with a 50 hp motor). The liquid rubber prevented galvanic action, glued the nut and lock washer in place, and filled any imperfections in the drilled hole (like egging). Worked like a dream and held up for years.

Since you only have three leaking rivets, this might be the most permanent solution for the cheapest price. Glues and coatings do not solve the problem of the flex and movement where the loose rivet is. Replacing the rivet does. I had no way to replace rivets at the time with rivets, so this was my solution, and it worked well, even at high speeds, pounding waves, and the vibration of prolonged trolling. Issues your ducker probably won't have to contend with.
 
Val Oil it works great we had an old boat leaked all the time. I brush painted the bottom with Val oil in a last attemp for saving the old boat to my suprise it worked NO LEAKS!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top