Aluminum boat leaking

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by kati, Oct 20, 2007.

  1. kati
    Joined: Oct 2007
    Posts: 1
    Likes: 0, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 10
    Location: New Berlin, WI

    kati New Member

    :( I have three years old 16f aluminum fishing boat. This summer I noticed that every time I lifted the boat to the trailer and open a the plug there was a lot of water coming out.

    To investigat where the water had come I started filling the boat with water when it was on the trailer. After a while I noticed that there five small cracks ot the hull where the water was seeping out.

    The cracks were in various parts of the hull andthere were no sign on the paint that some external forces would have created the cracks. As far as I could see all the cracks were close by the weldings (not the seams but weldings for some internal structures.

    Is this typical that that three years old boat starts to leak?
    The hull has five years warranty. Does the warranty cover this kind of damamge?:eek:

    What should I do?
     
  2. bbsboat
    Joined: May 2006
    Posts: 42
    Likes: 0, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: -10
    Location: us

    bbsboat Junior Member

    You can ask builder for help..
     
  3. Ike
    Joined: Apr 2006
    Posts: 2,677
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    Location: Washington

    Ike Senior Member

    Yes your hull warranty should cover cracks in the hull. Contact the builder, or if you bought it through a dealer take it to the dealer.
     

  4. lazeyjack

    lazeyjack Guest

    once the boats crack, which is caused by flexing, you are stuffed totally
    the reasons are these
    1 not enough structure in the hull framework,
    2 plating too light
    3 not likely but possibly bad plate
    some try weld from outside, but IF the crack has salt ingress, the weld will just blow apart as it goes in
    power boats pound like mad, especially i fthe boat has poor shape in the landing zone
    You can not fix this problem by just welding, the thing will crack again, you have to either open up to see the structure inside and add more by way of girdars, or well usually these boats are thrown away
    I give 5 years warranty on all my hulls, you may look at my gallery, Aluminium is my speciality
    I don't know if you have warranty on the boat, but you should have
    good luck, I feel mad as heck for you
     
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