how thin of aluminum can we weld

[www]

The welder I am looking at so far is the PowerPRO 205. One project for this welder is repairing a freinds Riveted Aluminum Boat. It is leaking. Not sure on what type of Alum or the guage of Alum. I will find that out before embarking on this one but curious if anyone else has tried to repair an alumumim boat that has had leaky rivots.
Also curious as to how thin a person can go with trying to weld alumimum with this unit?....thanks wayne

[performance]

Ummm...Coke cans for some...that depends mostly upon the WELDOR and not the WELDER...lol

[geezer]

I have used an air chisel modified to have a cupped end to simulate the rivet head, used a body dolly for the support on the other side and just tightened them up, noisy but effective.

[Rodsmachineshop]

I work on boats at my shop and found what works good on aluminum boats to seal is bed liner stuff you use for truck beds from autozone. clean the inside of boat good with wire brush and dawn soap let dry and do a bedliner coat will be a permanent fix and makes it nice since boat wont be slippery when standing in boat .

[Rodsmachineshop]

On my flat bottom john boat i coated the outside with bed liner also since it protects the hull on rocks and stuff at the river in parker az since i use a mud motor on my boat and run in low water in the back areas

[Rodsmachineshop]

miller cans are easer to weld lol but make sure there empty hahahaha

[www]

I have since found out my friends boat has a fair bit of electrolosis that has set in over the years. Someone told me not to bother trying to weld aluminum that has electrolosis problems. Has anyone welded an older boat that has had this problem? Sounds like it might not be worth trying.
What we have done so far is cleaned one of the sites that is leaking with acetone and then applied epoxy resin and then sanded that wet epoxy into the area to be repaired...(the idea here is not to sand with out the wet out of epoxy as the aluminum will oxidize before the resin has a chance to cleanly key into it) this is the advise I got from the epoxy tech and it seems to work ok.When you sand the wet epoxy into the area the resin stops the oxidation that would occur without the epoxy covering and protecting as you sand. Then we used fiber glass mat and covered with more aluminum. Time will tell but I think we have a solution for this boat in its current state. However I am still curious on the electrolosis issue....thanks wayne

[geezer]

I have since found out my friends boat has a fair bit of electrolosis that has set in over the years. Someone told me not to bother trying to weld aluminum that has electrolosis problems. Has anyone welded an older boat that has had this problem? Sounds like it might not be worth trying.
What we have done so far is cleaned one of the sites that is leaking with acetone and then applied epoxy resin and then sanded that wet epoxy into the area to be repaired...(the idea here is not to sand with out the wet out of epoxy as the aluminum will oxidize before the resin has a chance to cleanly key into it) this is the advise I got from the epoxy tech and it seems to work ok.When you sand the wet epoxy into the area the resin stops the oxidation that would occur without the epoxy covering and protecting as you sand. Then we used fiber glass mat and covered with more aluminum. Time will tell but I think we have a solution for this boat in its current state. However I am still curious on the electrolosis issue....thanks wayne

Use DURAFIX and a small propane torch for that type of welding and forget the electrolosis issue

[Longlasting]

You can get a tool for tightening rivets at a mack of kenworth dealership, it is a dolly with a divet cut into it and an air chisel blade if I recall right.

[Gary]

It is really tough to get an old aluminum boat clean enough to weld on. Especially since it is leaking on the seams.Most of them are rolled or folded so you cant get them clean at all under the seams.Try the undercoating , I have found it in different colors instead of black from different suppliers and maybe the local auto store can order differnt colors as well.
My 2 Cents worth
Gary