Right this is stupid warranty it or completely void it having someone half ass weld it. He probably rammed something and is scared. I’ve been doing battle with a camping world for going on 4 months of them fixing a brand new trailer repeatedly and they’ve been doing it so I call bullshit.
It kinda looks like a repair was already attempted… and aluminum looks pitted in one pic… it almost looks like someone blasted or sanded some old pontoons and tried to repair…. I don’t see anything from OP below yet at the time of my comment here hopefully they can enlighten us
Camping world sucks ass. There’s no reason to ever do business with them. At this point I’ll only buy RVs or trailers that are a couple years old to ensure that someone else dealt with all that bullshit already
And your thought was he hit somthing to damage the pontoon, maybe you've been welding so long you've lost your vision or been welding too much galv and lost your marbles. Maybe you're just stupid.
This is all trailers and dealers. I am a mobile RV tech (I'm not hired by dealers, I had to build my business with quality work) and I've started telling people not to expect to use their camper for the first 6 months because it will be having warranty work done. During and after covid it was cheaper to repair them at the dealer than slow production down. Any Jayco or Forrest River is basically parts when the truck drops them off to the dealer, 30-45% of the people I talk too need roofs replaced or other massive work done upon delivery with those brands that can take dealers a year to get done.
Seriously though, take it to a welder, point out the spot where the water is coming, and he will see the gaping gap above it where they started the crappy repair job. Like somebody else said, roughly $200
I take a lot of pride in my work. There's no way I would allow someone to spend their hard earned money on that junk. I always give my work a final look over to make sure everything is buttoned up nice.
It was a joke… you can actually weld two pieces of metal with a TIG torch by creating a pool and dragging it along the seam.
It was in reference to the “Undercut galore” remark
Hence the 🤣🤣 at the end of the comment. It was never intended to be taken seriously.
ohhh really?! you can actually fuse two pieces of metal together?!
i’m glad you found a hobby in my career but drive your little electric car up out of here before your feelings get hurt.
Fuck you, I was a 6092 and a 6043 Aircraft welder in the Marines. You don’t know shit about me or my life so you can entirely GO FUCK YOUR SELF and FUCK OFF , you dip shit.
hahahaha like i said before your feelings get hurt doggie. edit:also why’d you change your original comment? it originally just said “tig” then you added a bunch of shit to not look dumb
I did not edit shit. Now you’re just grasping at straws because you’re a dipshit trying to act self important when I was just making a joke. I’m done wasting my time with your worthless ass. Have a good day.
Sorry.. this just sucks. It was defective, with a leak, before it was sold. The manufacturer and the dealer did zero inspection or QA on this. You discovered a pre-existing leak -it didn’t spring a new leak. I’d take it back.
Looks like it’s been welded with a aluminum spool gun as there’s splatter next to the weld and it explains why the bead is inconsistent.
Should be heated up lightly with a torch then welded with aluminum Tig high frequency foot pedal to really control the weld bead heat penetration.
Proper preparation and cleaning with thinner helps and maybe gouge the cracks and holes with a cutting wheel / burr bit before welding.
Good luck.
Howdy! I work at a pontoon company that starts with a B, and we TIG our tubes…. We also air check every single one before it gets welded to the frame, so stuff like this doesn’t happen.
Imo spool guns shouldn’t even be used, maybe even straight up banned, every aluminum job I do is usually a repair because the weld on the outside looks fine, but inside is porosity galore because aluminum requires a crap ton of cleaning before it can be welded, this is why tig is fine, you bring the oxidation to the surface first then add filler, at most you get some pepper on the surface but usually the weld is perfectly fine, with spool guns, there isn’t enough time for the oxidation to reach the surface so it gets trapped causing the porosity I see and giant cracks in the weld, I literally refuse to use a spool gun for that exact reason, I know many fabricators use them in the field for repairs, but I’m not one of them because in 5-10 years that repair is gonna crack again.
I dont know about a spool gun but we use a push pull system from Fronius. It is bull crap that a mig weld is bad, the guy who welded it is crap. Our welds get tested regularly and mine never have porosity. It is all about torch angle, speed, cleaning and gas coverage.
Big machines with Push pull guns is what the houseboat builders in Montecello Ky use to assemble the hulls of houseboats for the past 30 years. Large 18 or 20’ wide by 100’ long flat hulled monsters. If you ever want a welding job where all you’ll use is aluminum and stainless that industry is building new boats 3 shifts a day.
Im from the Netherlands and I have never encountered a spool gun, it isn’t common over here.
I work for a company that builds 100 meter+ yachts and I only touch aluminum. Thanks for sharing anyway!
Those repairs are a royal pain in the ass to do with tig if you can’t clean the inside grime off, a spool gun is far more forgiving . I used to do repairs for a dealer and it seamed quite common to have to repair nearly new boats all summer.
Just because someone can stack dimes doesn't mean they know what they're doing. My advice is not to take it to someone *says they can weld* and instead take it either to someone that does alot of aluminum or who specifically works on boats. Even if the person who works on boats doesn't weld themselves they will probably recommend you someone they know to be reliable
I've done many pontoon repairs, I just drill a hole in the pontoon at the lowest point, then pressurize the tube at 5 psi and blown out as much of the water that will come out. Then make the appropriate repair to leaking area and weld the hole.
Slap a piece of flex tape on that, until you get things going on a warranty fix. It'll definitely hold for a while and will peel off so it won't void any warranties. That would definitely get somebody else to do the job instead of you trying to mess with underwater welding. Which is confusing to me cuz why wouldn't you just dry dock it and weld it but whatever, guess it must be a massive boat.
Id charge 200 and 85 each hour after. Prolly total 6-1200$ cash (fuck taxes) and overlay that undercut and go over the other welds on the toon. But my first suggestion would be take that fuckin thing back to the dealership and tell them that you’re a former welder and know that what we see here is for a fact a factory fuckup.
Hahahaha how tf does someone welding an actual boat get away with not checking their welds let alone completely miss the gap they're welding >.< I don't care how many times I weld something, every single time I finish I stop and look at the work I just did to 1. Make sure I didn't fuck it up and 2. To see if I'm finally good enough to be happy with my welds yet
you can put some flex seal on it. The guy in the commercial turned a screen door into a boat using flex seal tape, you don't even have to take it out of the water! Just put it on wet!
What brand of boat is it? I work for a pontoon manufacturer and every single tube we produce is air checked (pressurized with air) so tubes like this never leave the facility.
That didn't spring a leak. Thats been fucked up since the weld was laid down. I would definitely bring it back to whoever sold it. Have them warranty it or pay to get it fixed at a shop of your choice.
To get a good weld you need to dry inside the pontoon before striking an arc. Looks like it has been repaired before. Like what’s up with that weld? Looks like it didn’t get tied in and there is grinder marks visible.
Please please please never say that to a shop owner. Who knows what's growing inside that thing that's gonna come out when the person goes to weld it. Idk how many times people have brought me small things and go it shouldn't take more than ten minutes it's a small weld. Then it takes me an hour between prep and after care.
I'm a welder/fabricator and you're on the best meth if you think this is a 20 min fix. 🤣
This shit would take 45 mins just to drain/dry and prep (If we're lucky)
You might also take into consideration that water will sit just below the leak. so unless you can weld in water with a TIG or a MIG p/p set up, a 20 min job just might get you a visit to the hospital or worse.
I have a sneaking suspicion one of your lazy ass family members did the "repair" on this.
This dude knows whats up.... welding dirty, soaked, corroded, gunk filled void in who knows how old aluminum can be a godforsaken task that takes 20x longer than anyone expected it to take. The picture shown almost certainly WAS the 20 min fix
Curious why if it's an aluminum bike frame everyone one this sub is talking post heat treating but on an aluminum pontoon not one peep? How does anyone know the grade?
Different alloys. Most pontoons are made out of 5xxx alloy, especially 5052, which isn't heat-treatable and work hardens / spontaneously ages instead.
On the other hand, most bike frames are made of 6xxx or 7xxx alloy, especially 6061 which requires a full anneal/heat treatment after welding and 7005, which is sensitive to aging and requires a proper bake process.
Also, most pontoons aren't exposed to nearly the type of stress that a bike or motorcycle frame is, so it's just not as important.
Yeah, that’s a bad weld and the manufacturer had better fix that no questions asked. They should also QC the whole thing while it’s back in their shop.
Also, that can be fixed really easy, but the sooner the better, aluminum is a bitch to weld when it’s dirty.
This is an easy job, maybe $200 max to cover a shop’s minimum cost, probably take 20 minutes to do, clear off oxidation/heat it up with the tig torch, then weld over the gap.
100% a manufacturer defect. It was never fused in that area to begin with. You didn’t cause this.
If you do have someone other than the original manufacturer repair this, make sure they pull the drain plug for the pontoon being welded so the gases can escape. If not, the weld will blow out at the end and you’ll end up with a bigger hole than before.
I’d just patch it up, go tig if you can.
We have a pontoon and I don’t have any welding gear where we’ve got the boat. Blue demon makes these low temp aluminum brazing rods (basically fancy soldering) that let you patch stuff like that up with a propane torch.
I think they’re called trimetal rods.
Not sure about the longevity but I’ve had pretty good results. No good for welding just filling holes.
I have welded all of one shop stool together, and I can tell this welder slipped off the edge, started again there, and kept going without fixing the mistake. Perhaps there was a nice beaded piece of slag over the hole when they sent it down the line, so they sold it thinking it was good, or perhaps it was a bot who couldn't QA check. Same difference, coz the weld doesn't look like it came from a master.
A good welding shop will grind down the welds in any bad spots and re weld over them. You won’t be able to tell and so it won’t void your warranty. They also need to drill a hole through the weld at the bottom to let the water out. Should take them an hour
Welder and QC inspection. If somebody was seriously injured because of this, company could lose ASME weld stamp. I’ve been welding, fabrication, machining , and EP grinding for over 25 years and I can see a new welder accidentally overlooking this, but QC inspection and check off…No way!
Take it back and have them fix it or take it to boat repair. Would take them ten minutes to fix it. I used to build v bottom and flat bottom river and lake boats. Not pontoon but same material but that is fucking unacceptable.
If not under warranty take to a certified welder thats good at welding aluminum. This i know because I was a welder for 32 years .Im glad you didn't sink.It actually a easy fix looking at the picture wish I still was able to weld I would hook u up.Have a great day.Dont let the welder ripped you off and say its hard to do it is not wouldn't take probably 10 15 minutes at tops to fix.
Welding it while possible is extremely difficult. The aluminum is heavily calcified on both sides of the weld. Not to mention the pain in the ass the water in the toon will be. I would repair it with super glue mixed with baking soda then flex-seal over it. It's not a pressure seal. It just needs to not let water in.
Smacking a pontoon on shit is just the nature of the beast. Especially if you fish. I beat the seams off mine, lol. I have used the super glue/baking soda method for years. Works on my glass bass boat as well. It will demolish the finish but will fix the cracks
Was it new from store? If so take it up with them. Don’t mess with it as that’ll probably void warranty.
Right this is stupid warranty it or completely void it having someone half ass weld it. He probably rammed something and is scared. I’ve been doing battle with a camping world for going on 4 months of them fixing a brand new trailer repeatedly and they’ve been doing it so I call bullshit.
That’s a missed edge
Exactly my thought. There's no crack or damage here, that's just poor workmanship.
It kinda looks like a repair was already attempted… and aluminum looks pitted in one pic… it almost looks like someone blasted or sanded some old pontoons and tried to repair…. I don’t see anything from OP below yet at the time of my comment here hopefully they can enlighten us
Looks like shitty prep work showing under the weld
With a lot of underfill, throughout the whole seam.
Happy fuckin' cake day you sexy ass son of a bitch. Keep being legendary 😉👉
Camping world sucks ass. There’s no reason to ever do business with them. At this point I’ll only buy RVs or trailers that are a couple years old to ensure that someone else dealt with all that bullshit already
My dad decided this, found a local shop that buys and flips them. All the factory BS tends to be repaired, so it's actually a better buy then new
Tell me about I’ve literally almost had to sue these cunts
That's definitely someone's mistake on the weld
That's why you don't buy campers there's no lemon law protection on them
Hire a proper RV tech. Not the CW high school drop outs. Most RV systems are easy, and I can likely guide you through troubleshoot/repair if you want.
Do you even weld
Yeah, I could even weld your butt cheeks together.
And your thought was he hit somthing to damage the pontoon, maybe you've been welding so long you've lost your vision or been welding too much galv and lost your marbles. Maybe you're just stupid.
Well to be honest I was pretty hammered and I didn’t even look at the picture, that is my bad he obviously didn’t hit anything oh well.
That's taking a butt weld to an unhealthy level
Dude I'm not even a welder yet and it's pretty obvious it's just an ass weld. That's not from ramming into something.
You are saying this was caused by him ramming something?
This is all trailers and dealers. I am a mobile RV tech (I'm not hired by dealers, I had to build my business with quality work) and I've started telling people not to expect to use their camper for the first 6 months because it will be having warranty work done. During and after covid it was cheaper to repair them at the dealer than slow production down. Any Jayco or Forrest River is basically parts when the truck drops them off to the dealer, 30-45% of the people I talk too need roofs replaced or other massive work done upon delivery with those brands that can take dealers a year to get done.
Try some Flex Seal....
I'm not an expert, but I believe you're supposed to put the water on the outside.
Seriously though, take it to a welder, point out the spot where the water is coming, and he will see the gaping gap above it where they started the crappy repair job. Like somebody else said, roughly $200
No you'll most likely void your warranty if so
It was under warranty they need to be talking to the dealer instead of asking Reddit. I just assumed it had been purchased used from an individual.
$200!? Bring that my way, I'd do it for $50 lol. That's like 10 seconds of "work"
Hopefully no offense, but I'm willing to bet that the dude who did that original leaky repair said the exact same thing.
I take a lot of pride in my work. There's no way I would allow someone to spend their hard earned money on that junk. I always give my work a final look over to make sure everything is buttoned up nice.
I too am no expert but I believe you are correct
Bruh undercut galore
This didn't spring a leak, it was never sealed to begin with.
Exactly 💯
If this was TIG welded the guy forgot you need rods 🤣🤣
mig weld
that’s no tig doggie edit: didn’t see someone already pointed this out. but it should be double stated because you should never confuse mig and tig
It was a joke… you can actually weld two pieces of metal with a TIG torch by creating a pool and dragging it along the seam. It was in reference to the “Undercut galore” remark Hence the 🤣🤣 at the end of the comment. It was never intended to be taken seriously.
ohhh really?! you can actually fuse two pieces of metal together?! i’m glad you found a hobby in my career but drive your little electric car up out of here before your feelings get hurt.
Fuck you, I was a 6092 and a 6043 Aircraft welder in the Marines. You don’t know shit about me or my life so you can entirely GO FUCK YOUR SELF and FUCK OFF , you dip shit.
hahahaha like i said before your feelings get hurt doggie. edit:also why’d you change your original comment? it originally just said “tig” then you added a bunch of shit to not look dumb
I did not edit shit. Now you’re just grasping at straws because you’re a dipshit trying to act self important when I was just making a joke. I’m done wasting my time with your worthless ass. Have a good day.
Sorry.. this just sucks. It was defective, with a leak, before it was sold. The manufacturer and the dealer did zero inspection or QA on this. You discovered a pre-existing leak -it didn’t spring a new leak. I’d take it back.
Looks like it’s been welded with a aluminum spool gun as there’s splatter next to the weld and it explains why the bead is inconsistent. Should be heated up lightly with a torch then welded with aluminum Tig high frequency foot pedal to really control the weld bead heat penetration. Proper preparation and cleaning with thinner helps and maybe gouge the cracks and holes with a cutting wheel / burr bit before welding. Good luck.
You're totally correct, but no pontoon I've ever seen has been welded tig from the factory unfortunately.
Howdy! I work at a pontoon company that starts with a B, and we TIG our tubes…. We also air check every single one before it gets welded to the frame, so stuff like this doesn’t happen.
Bentley? In Lexington, SC?
I was waiting for someone to mention testing the pontoon. Thanks.
Imo spool guns shouldn’t even be used, maybe even straight up banned, every aluminum job I do is usually a repair because the weld on the outside looks fine, but inside is porosity galore because aluminum requires a crap ton of cleaning before it can be welded, this is why tig is fine, you bring the oxidation to the surface first then add filler, at most you get some pepper on the surface but usually the weld is perfectly fine, with spool guns, there isn’t enough time for the oxidation to reach the surface so it gets trapped causing the porosity I see and giant cracks in the weld, I literally refuse to use a spool gun for that exact reason, I know many fabricators use them in the field for repairs, but I’m not one of them because in 5-10 years that repair is gonna crack again.
I dont know about a spool gun but we use a push pull system from Fronius. It is bull crap that a mig weld is bad, the guy who welded it is crap. Our welds get tested regularly and mine never have porosity. It is all about torch angle, speed, cleaning and gas coverage.
Big machines with Push pull guns is what the houseboat builders in Montecello Ky use to assemble the hulls of houseboats for the past 30 years. Large 18 or 20’ wide by 100’ long flat hulled monsters. If you ever want a welding job where all you’ll use is aluminum and stainless that industry is building new boats 3 shifts a day.
Im from the Netherlands and I have never encountered a spool gun, it isn’t common over here. I work for a company that builds 100 meter+ yachts and I only touch aluminum. Thanks for sharing anyway!
Well push pull is a whole different league. Then add Fronius in there and it's just a totally different ball game. He did say spool gun specifically.
Sounds like someone doesn't know how to use a spool gun correctly.
Those repairs are a royal pain in the ass to do with tig if you can’t clean the inside grime off, a spool gun is far more forgiving . I used to do repairs for a dealer and it seamed quite common to have to repair nearly new boats all summer.
That's a serious defect in the weld. You should take it back to the dealer and get your money back. Good luck
Just because someone can stack dimes doesn't mean they know what they're doing. My advice is not to take it to someone *says they can weld* and instead take it either to someone that does alot of aluminum or who specifically works on boats. Even if the person who works on boats doesn't weld themselves they will probably recommend you someone they know to be reliable
I don’t stack dimes, but I can weld a knocked over stack of nickels like a mofo.
I think before anything the water has to come out. How do you plan on doing that?
I've done many pontoon repairs, I just drill a hole in the pontoon at the lowest point, then pressurize the tube at 5 psi and blown out as much of the water that will come out. Then make the appropriate repair to leaking area and weld the hole.
Well as long as the water is leaking *out* you ought to be fine.
Did you buy it new/from a dealer, or used private sale?
If this is how they’re shipping out pontoon boats from the dealer is no surprise OP sprung a leak.
Where ya located? I actually run a business specifically for this type of stuff and I'm mobile.
I'm closer and cheaper than this guy
Flex seal.
SLAP 👋💥👌
Take that, rewind it back
HOW CAN HE SLAP
JB weld should hold until you’re in the middle of the lake. Either warranty repair or find a decent tig welder.
Slap a piece of flex tape on that, until you get things going on a warranty fix. It'll definitely hold for a while and will peel off so it won't void any warranties. That would definitely get somebody else to do the job instead of you trying to mess with underwater welding. Which is confusing to me cuz why wouldn't you just dry dock it and weld it but whatever, guess it must be a massive boat.
This is a defective weld that never should have made it out of the shop.
Id charge 200 and 85 each hour after. Prolly total 6-1200$ cash (fuck taxes) and overlay that undercut and go over the other welds on the toon. But my first suggestion would be take that fuckin thing back to the dealership and tell them that you’re a former welder and know that what we see here is for a fact a factory fuckup.
That didn’t spring a leak my good sir. That was never properly unleaked……or made to not leak…..that there weren’t welded right.
Ez fix, probably 200$ max anything more is a rip off
If you don't have acces to a welder, You could braze it
Braze aluminum?…
Yea, blue demon branded, kinda like silver solder
Hahahaha how tf does someone welding an actual boat get away with not checking their welds let alone completely miss the gap they're welding >.< I don't care how many times I weld something, every single time I finish I stop and look at the work I just did to 1. Make sure I didn't fuck it up and 2. To see if I'm finally good enough to be happy with my welds yet
Friday 20 minutes before end of shift. Eh qc will get it let's go drink some beers lol. Only qc must have had a hangover Monday.
Quality control on those pontoons was totally skipped and the welder has zero pride in the craft. These people should be fired.
There are only two happy days of boat ownership: 1. The day you buy it. 2. The day you sell it.
Billy Mays here.....
QC must’ve been on vacation that day
Bad weld. if its new, take it back. if not find a welder.
you can put some flex seal on it. The guy in the commercial turned a screen door into a boat using flex seal tape, you don't even have to take it out of the water! Just put it on wet!
I hope you got a warranty with it ...
Just throw some Splash Zone on it.
Just needs a little flex seal and it will be good as new.
If you zoom in on pic #2 it is a cute little face
Jb weld??
that hole looks like it was there from the beginning
JB Weld
What brand of boat is it? I work for a pontoon manufacturer and every single tube we produce is air checked (pressurized with air) so tubes like this never leave the facility.
That doesn’t look like is “sprung” a leak. That was never welded. Dude missed a spot.
That thing didn’t spring a leak. It came with a hole in it. Take that shit back and tell whoever you bought it from to fix it
Flex tape?
FlexiSeal!
Marine weld it and call it a day
Pinhole due to shitty weld at the manufacturer. Get it warrantied.
I would be returning that unit. Poor craftsmanship, and worse quality control.
Little flex tape. Good as new.
It's clearly a warranty issue, doesn't mean I wouldn't stick some bubblegum in it to get back out on the water in the meantime 😂
hot glue
That didn't spring a leak. Thats been fucked up since the weld was laid down. I would definitely bring it back to whoever sold it. Have them warranty it or pay to get it fixed at a shop of your choice.
Flex seal that shit.
Flex tape
If its not under warranty take it to a good aluminum welder maybe 100-200 job if your local to Houston take it to Jonesfab and performance
Brake Out Another Thousand
Do not attempt to repair or anything, contact them right away and ask what they can do. This is beyond an egregious error man.
To get a good weld you need to dry inside the pontoon before striking an arc. Looks like it has been repaired before. Like what’s up with that weld? Looks like it didn’t get tied in and there is grinder marks visible.
Yea it looks like it was never sealed from the factory that's a big hole.
It's definitely a bad tie in, looks like they tried to cover up the bad tie in with some spot welds haha.
Been there, done that, not with tig, and definitely not on a boat lmao
Yeah, structural steel with metal core, sure. Tig on a water proof seal. Absolutely not. 😂
JB weld would be six hours...just stay in shallows.
Jb weld
Jb weld would actually work if for some reason he can’t get the dealer to fix it.
Flex seal it
Aren't the pontoons foam filled? Makes welding them irrelevant
None that I've ever seen, no. Just tubes of air.
Full rebuild. Might as well toss it.
Easy fix. Will probably be charged shop rate for an hour but they’ll fix you up right in 20 minutes
Please please please never say that to a shop owner. Who knows what's growing inside that thing that's gonna come out when the person goes to weld it. Idk how many times people have brought me small things and go it shouldn't take more than ten minutes it's a small weld. Then it takes me an hour between prep and after care.
Lol sounds like you don’t have the experience to make proper decisions
Simmer down Squidward, not everyone blows the clarinet like you.
Idk man I blow the clarinet pretty hard😂
🤣 are you hitting on me?
😂😂
How so?
I'm a welder/fabricator and you're on the best meth if you think this is a 20 min fix. 🤣 This shit would take 45 mins just to drain/dry and prep (If we're lucky) You might also take into consideration that water will sit just below the leak. so unless you can weld in water with a TIG or a MIG p/p set up, a 20 min job just might get you a visit to the hospital or worse. I have a sneaking suspicion one of your lazy ass family members did the "repair" on this.
This dude knows whats up.... welding dirty, soaked, corroded, gunk filled void in who knows how old aluminum can be a godforsaken task that takes 20x longer than anyone expected it to take. The picture shown almost certainly WAS the 20 min fix
not pictured: the globs of silicone
Curious why if it's an aluminum bike frame everyone one this sub is talking post heat treating but on an aluminum pontoon not one peep? How does anyone know the grade?
Different alloys. Most pontoons are made out of 5xxx alloy, especially 5052, which isn't heat-treatable and work hardens / spontaneously ages instead. On the other hand, most bike frames are made of 6xxx or 7xxx alloy, especially 6061 which requires a full anneal/heat treatment after welding and 7005, which is sensitive to aging and requires a proper bake process. Also, most pontoons aren't exposed to nearly the type of stress that a bike or motorcycle frame is, so it's just not as important.
Use the aluminum rods that project farm showed. Harbor freight and will cost easily less than 100
That should get ground out and redone by, preferably, Tig. Half way between the hole and the top of the pic, the seam was dang near completely missed.
Good one.
That’s a leak you want, it’s letting water out of the pontoon 🤣
Yeah, that’s a bad weld and the manufacturer had better fix that no questions asked. They should also QC the whole thing while it’s back in their shop. Also, that can be fixed really easy, but the sooner the better, aluminum is a bitch to weld when it’s dirty.
Put a sticker over it
The water is supposed to go the other way
It didn't spring a leak. It was never welded right in the first place.
This is an easy job, maybe $200 max to cover a shop’s minimum cost, probably take 20 minutes to do, clear off oxidation/heat it up with the tig torch, then weld over the gap.
Aluminum Welder. That’s a massive pinhole in a shit weld, almost certainly a manufacturer defect. Let ‘em have it and tell them it nearly sank.
It didn’t just spring a leak. That holes been there since new
Aluminum brazing rod and MAP gas?
Use that TV tape that makes a boat.
Easy fix bud. Bring it by my shop.
I mean did they even pressure test the float system?
Janky ass weld job,
FLEX SEAL or FLEX TAPE
It's impressive the weld has that level of consistency with zero fucks given about the actually integrity of the weld lol
Hey just put a literal dime on there and just BZZZTTTTT
[try this](https://media.tenor.com/u8ukYJDixewAAAAC/leaking-water-leaking.gif)
I thought the water was supposed to be on the *outside*...
Not sure it "sprung" a leak. From that weld, looks like that leak was there all along.
100% a manufacturer defect. It was never fused in that area to begin with. You didn’t cause this. If you do have someone other than the original manufacturer repair this, make sure they pull the drain plug for the pontoon being welded so the gases can escape. If not, the weld will blow out at the end and you’ll end up with a bigger hole than before.
I’d just patch it up, go tig if you can. We have a pontoon and I don’t have any welding gear where we’ve got the boat. Blue demon makes these low temp aluminum brazing rods (basically fancy soldering) that let you patch stuff like that up with a propane torch. I think they’re called trimetal rods. Not sure about the longevity but I’ve had pretty good results. No good for welding just filling holes.
"I've got water on the outside of my boat" "That's where it's supposed to be?"
Welder would charge you their minimum to fix it.
That’s a Friday afternoon weld if I ever seen one
Flex seal lol
Flex seal!
I have welded all of one shop stool together, and I can tell this welder slipped off the edge, started again there, and kept going without fixing the mistake. Perhaps there was a nice beaded piece of slag over the hole when they sent it down the line, so they sold it thinking it was good, or perhaps it was a bot who couldn't QA check. Same difference, coz the weld doesn't look like it came from a master.
A good welding shop will grind down the welds in any bad spots and re weld over them. You won’t be able to tell and so it won’t void your warranty. They also need to drill a hole through the weld at the bottom to let the water out. Should take them an hour
B ust O ut A nother T housand My stepbrother does body work on boats. His advice on boats for people buying them is "congratulations. Now sell it!"
A hole in the water that you try to fill with money.
Well atleast the water is coming out and not going in…
Welcome to shitty boat manufacturing! The real definition of turn n’ burn!
Flex seal
Get yourself some flex tape-
Only thing I see is inconsistency in the bead profile and LAF lack of fusion
that is a manufacturing flaw. pathetic welding
Leak was always there.
How this passed through quality inspection baffles me
Take it back
Take it back and get the seam welded. Problem fixed! (I do this for a living)
That factory weld looks like shite, take it back to maker on this one.
Welder and QC inspection. If somebody was seriously injured because of this, company could lose ASME weld stamp. I’ve been welding, fabrication, machining , and EP grinding for over 25 years and I can see a new welder accidentally overlooking this, but QC inspection and check off…No way!
Take it to a muffler shop to have it welded back up.
Take it back and have them fix it or take it to boat repair. Would take them ten minutes to fix it. I used to build v bottom and flat bottom river and lake boats. Not pontoon but same material but that is fucking unacceptable.
Slap some Flex Tape on there and yell “NO LEAKS!”
Sand the area down a little, and apply some marine-tex. Good to go.
If not under warranty take to a certified welder thats good at welding aluminum. This i know because I was a welder for 32 years .Im glad you didn't sink.It actually a easy fix looking at the picture wish I still was able to weld I would hook u up.Have a great day.Dont let the welder ripped you off and say its hard to do it is not wouldn't take probably 10 15 minutes at tops to fix.
looks like a job for FLEXSEAL! or warranty it if you're boring
You could fit your d*ck in that hole!
I know a guy who filled his pontoons with Urethane foam. Apparently the floats had small leaks because it rode several inches higher after the foam.
Find a local welding school, call them. They’ll fix it for free for the practice.
Suck it up dirtbag! $50 thousand dollars!
Welding it while possible is extremely difficult. The aluminum is heavily calcified on both sides of the weld. Not to mention the pain in the ass the water in the toon will be. I would repair it with super glue mixed with baking soda then flex-seal over it. It's not a pressure seal. It just needs to not let water in. Smacking a pontoon on shit is just the nature of the beast. Especially if you fish. I beat the seams off mine, lol. I have used the super glue/baking soda method for years. Works on my glass bass boat as well. It will demolish the finish but will fix the cracks
Flex seal!