I knocked a small hole in my jon boat the other day..... I have patched it with marine sealant, it is a good watertight seal but, I want to make it permanent. My question is...... has anyone used those "alumiweld" sticks and torch? Besides professional welding, what can the aerage Joe do to make a good permanent metal repair?

Thanks in advance!

Yes, I have used them. If I remember correctly, there were two slightly different brands (types) though. Anyway, I was given an aluminum jon that had a few holes and gashes in it. The holes were about 1/8 - 1/4 inch diameter and the gashes were about 4 inches long and 1/8" wide.

The welding rods worked GREAT. I suggest practicing with a couple rods on another piece of aluminum first though. Keep the rods moving when heating/melting. Don't keep your propane torch burning in one spot continuously or you will melt that part of the boat :, keep it moving.

The patches I made with the rods are stronger than the boat itself.  I was VERY pleased with the results.  I've had the boat kept in the water for 8 months with ZERO leaks.

Ok..... Thanks, That is one good opinion. I have looked it up on google with some bad results.... But this is a sort of a peer group for me so I trust you guys. Your opinion sounded like a salesman..... You don't own the company do you.....? LOL

I bought the HTS-1000 on the recommendation of a member here. It took practice to get decent at it.

Couple things, I started practicing on aluminum cans and while it worked, it was much different than the gauge of aluminum in the hull. If you can find a scrap piece to play with that is roughly the same thickness.

You need to heat the aluminum good (but not too good) or the stuff will not even bond to the hull. Found a couple good youtube vids on Aluminum brazing that helped get me started, after that it was trial and error screwing up my scraps. Once I got it though, it was a great hold and patch job.

It was next to impossible to find a welder here that would work with aluminum that thin so I had no choice.