Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

So, I have a leak in one of my logs. I had it pulled from the water (where it had been since early May); taking out the drain plug about 15 gallons of water (best guess) came out. I pressure tested it and found two cracks, both towards the front of the log. One is just above the waterline when it is sitting in the water. The other is on the bottom of the 'keel' in the very front. They are both about 3" long, they are very thin.

Should I get them welded or can I use JB weld (or similar epoxy)? Do these cracks need to be patches over just welded?

It is kept in a slip (brackish water) for abut 7-8 months of the year.

The top pic is the side crack, the bottom pic is on the bottom. The side crack is difficult to see, but it definitely is leaking.

I am a JB Weld guy and I have done some amazing patches with it, even a high pressure (400 PSI) fix that lasted 20+ years.

BUT, it looks a thinning of the aluminum in the second picture in particular. I would get some more opinions from folks who have dealt with pontoon leaks!

I had cracks on my logs and also on the keels. Jb didn't work for keel leaks so for years I had a stainless screw with a rubber washer to drain my log. I finally said enough and took it to a good welder I know. He laid a heavy bead on keel for protection, found 2 leaks I didn't know about. IMO take it to a welder and get it fixed right.

FLEX SEAL!!! j/k

I'd think JB Weld wouldn't hold up due to the hull flexing. It's pretty brittle when cured. Works great on some stuff though. Probably plenty mobile welders around that could tig a patch on that for not much cash. You can stick weld aluminum with a DC machine and some practice and close attention to cleaning it up but tig is the way to go. Looks like the antifouling paint could use a touch up....

Thanks for the responses. Typical guy thing to do would be to ignore the three similar responses.

I will go the welding route. Just need to find someone will to work on aluminum.

Speaking of the anti-fouling paint, my other option was to just let barnacles grow in that area and seal it. Whatever glue they produce to stick on the hull is amazing!

Thanks!

My .02?

W/O bottom paint, the thinning/pitting looks like maybe galvanic corrosion.

Are you hooked to power in slip? If so, check grounding between boat and pole. Make sure pontoons are grounded also, they may be isolated from your plug in source/battery charger/whatever is on boat

Also check nearby slips for leakage of electrons...

If it is too thin, then patch it with a pc of aluminum shaped like a cigar/submarine etc

After light grinding to smooth out, then jb weld can be used to dress up leading edges for water slippage

bansil wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 16, 2019 9:24 am

My .02?

W/O bottom paint, the thinning/pitting looks like maybe galvanic corrosion.

Are you hooked to power in slip? If so, check grounding between boat and pole. Make sure pontoons are grounded also, they may be isolated from your plug in source/battery charger/whatever is on boat

Also check nearby slips for leakage of electrons...

Good call! I saw the pitting and thought it looked thin, but did not make that connection and I should have. In my business, I sell a LOT of batteries for cathodic protection systems on oil and gas pipelines. My boat is suspended on slings so I would have never thought of that.