3M 5200 Question

Can I use 3M 5200 to seal around rivets and other holes the hull and transom have from the previous owner?

Thanks,
Aaron

It has been done.

Would you say this is the prefered method? If not, what is?

A lot of people use Gluvit to seal a large area, like the bottom of the boat...

I used 5200 - I had it on hand and it is a combination sealant and adhesive, so it will do the job.

There are products that are marketed specifically for sealing and are not also an adhesive - some will recommend those over 5200. I personally think it is a good choice because it meant I only had to buy one product and not a couple different ones. One of the caulking gun sized tubes was enough for all the seams, transom holes, sealing nuts and bolts and any rivets below the water line...

Thank you Sir.

I would use 5200 for any leaks you could see light through, for the pin holes that are impossible to find I would Glu-Vit the hull. For sealing up holes in the transom and stuff like that I like the JB Weld Marine.

Not bad advise if someone has the cash for Gluvit...it is a good product. Personally I don't have the extra to blow on sealing pinhole leaks...I'm not overly concerned of those for myself but if I had the free flow of cash I can't say I wouldn't invest in it.

check out this video from ship shape tv, gluvit really works well

https://www.westsystem.com/ss/aluminum-boat-rivet-repairs/

I had 2 different type of leaks on my boat. First were 2 pin holes in the welds that were recently done to the boat, second was some rivets that were seeping water. Rather than stripping the boat down and hauling it on a long drive back to the welder, I drilled each pinhole with a 1/16th bit to expose clean metal on all sides of the hole. Then I forced some 5200 into the hole and let it cure. There were 15 rivets that were seeping. It was very slight seeping (approx ½ qt in 4 hours) but very annoying to lay something in the bottom of the boat and have it get wet. I re bucked 11 of the leaking rivets and stopped all of them. I have to remove a section of flooring to get to the others to re buck them but I'm very pleased with the results so far. After 7 hours on the water one day last week, I only had slight traces of water in the boat. I've already talked to my welder and made plans to take my boat back to him during our off season (winter) and let him put a more permanent fix on the pin holes.

Jdholmes said:

Not bad advise if someone has the cash for Gluvit...it is a good product. Personally I don't have the extra to blow on sealing pinhole leaks...I'm not overly concerned of those for myself but if I had the free flow of cash I can't say I wouldn't invest in it.

Click to expand...

Glu-Vit is spendy for sure but the smallest can is plenty big for even the biggest Jon. You only need to do the rivets and seams of a welded boat, I would think any corrosion bad enough to leak would be pretty obvious. As far as whether its worth sealing pinholes really depends on if you have a deck and foam or just a bare bones boat. My boat gets left in the water a lot so pinholes can become troublesome.

I had seems only leaking on my boat, and I 5200 them about a year ago and still no leaks...it's a great product that said rivets I hit with the welder then hit with 5200 for an extra layer or protection if this helps?

As always tight lines, cold beer, and Go Gators!

my build https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=25183

I ended up going with the 5200 fast cure. I got it from Home Depot. They didn't have it in the cauld tubes but they did have it in the toothpaste style container. That worked out though, because it ended up being enough. Thanks for everyone's help!