Which way to go to stop a small leak

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JMichael

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I put my boat in the river today to do some carb adjustments and to see what effect removing the water logged foam and raising the motor 1" had. The good news is I gained some speed as it tops out at 27.5 mph now. The bad news is that I discovered a leak. It's leaking where the floor meets the transom. Right on the weld. I guess I'm getting lazy as I'm debating whether to clean the area and apply some 5200 inside and outside or take the motor off and haul it 30 miles to get it welded. I was on the river for about 30 minutes and had about a pint of water in the boat so it's a pretty slow leak. What would you guys do?
 
It all would depend on the size of the hole and weather you think it will keep spreading unless it is welded. If it is a crack like hole that is going to spread then I wouldn't just throw 5200 over it. And if it is right at the seem as it sounds it may be then I would have it fixed correctly. Lots of stress on seems. That my 2 cents anyway

What size boat and motor are you running Jmichael?
 
It's a 15/38 with a 20hp on it. It doesn't look like a crack. It looks like the weld just didn't connect the transom to the floor properly in that one tiny spot.
 
I've seen that before.You could put 5200 on it but if it spreads your making it tough for the welder to clean it to weld. [-X
 
When you have a small leak in a non-critical area, such as on the floor, or the transom, 5200 is acceptable. But, when you're dealing with an issue like a stress crack in a weld seam, 5200 is only a band-aid, temporarily masking the problem until the crack propagates and opens up more, causing an even bigger leak, or worse.

And on a seam such as where the transom meets the floor, or the floor meets a gunwale, there are a lot of stresses at work.

Best course of action (at least this is how I do it when people bring boats to me for welding)

I use the torch, and slightly heat up the area of the crack, heat will cause expansion and will show the full extent of a crack. It's easy to miss a hairline crack propagating outwards from the main area, and that hairline crack will eventually cause an issue. Also, heating, and CAREFULLY hitting the oxygen lever on the torch a few times, will burn off and oxidize any contamination that has crept into the seam, especially in an area like the transom/bilge. Failing to do this will allow those impurities to contaminate the weld.

Stop-drill either end of the crack with a small drill bit, OR, using a cut wheel on a grinder, vee out the crack with about a 60 degree bevel, making the cut deepest at either end, and going at least 80% of the depth of the material, this allows for a good solid weld.
 
Pull the motor, use a new stainless brush to clean up the area really well, and spend a Saturday morning taking it to the welder ..... you'll be glad you did.
 
i agree - get it welded especially because you a running in a river - a good rock hit in the wrong place and you are pumping!
 

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