I bought some of the Harbor Freight rods (supposed to be the same thing).... and patched around some rivets.... I was a little skeptical so I went ahead and added some 5200 on the outside of the patch, sanded it down then painted it. No leaks, but I cannot attribute it to only the rods. I tried to do the same test they do on their website where they braise the "T" and then bend it all crazy, I got it to "take" and I could get it to bend like they did in the video, but as soon as you try to bend it back the other way.... it all popped loose (back into 2 pieces). I realize nothing would really have that kind of stress on it, but the stuff is kind of hard to get it to really stick to the aluminum. It definitely took some practice..... I ended up having a split along a joint in my Aluminum boat from breaking some ice duck hunting and got the boat welded by a professional. I also drilled a hole in some scrap aluminum and filled it in with the rods and it didn’t take a lot of force (hit a screw driver with my hand on the hole and it popped right out)... FYI
I would recommend the bigger cetaline(sp) torch tip they sell/use.... it’s worth the extra $$.... if you're dead set on trying it
But my over all assessment is 40% yes / 60% no. it’s not a real replacement for welding anything, but it can be use to patch leaky rivets and what not.
