# Welding aluminum



## havasu (Jul 31, 2010)

I have a Sun Tracker pontoon boat, which has the pontoons welded to the frame of the boat. The last day out on it, I saw I was "listing" to the left. We pulled the boat out of the water, and heard lots of water slushing in the left tube. There are small plastic plugs on the top of the tubes, and managed to siphon out about 60 gallons of water. 

Since there are no obvious holes in the tubes, and have left it in the water throughout the previous summers, all I can think of that I have developed small stress fractures where the tubes are welded to the frame.

My question is....is it possible to "weld" a small bung hole into the aluminum, so I could install a plug in order to drain the water? The hole would be in the rear of the tube, below the water line, but could be easily drained rather than using a 1/4" plastic tube from the top and siphoning?

I don't know the thickness of the tubes, but pretty sure it is very thin. I am afraid if it is not done correctly, I will burn a big hole that will look bad and probably sink the boat!


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## rustywrangler (Aug 1, 2010)

IF you have never welded aluminum before, you need to find a shop to do it.      IT is worth the money for someone weld in a bung for you.    Do the prep yourself, drill the hole, get the bung etc and just find a welding shop or welder near you that can weld aluminum.


Joe dillard on JF is a good guy in SO Cal and he should know a place that can take care of you.  heck, he may be able to do it.


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## rustywrangler (Aug 2, 2010)

I looked into it some more, mostly because I want to get into aluminum welding at some point.  For my millermatic 180 or my 210, it is gonna run me another $400 after all is said and done to get set up for welding AL.  

I know you were looking into a small welder before, but I still think this is gonna be an outsourcing job.  I know it can be done and as I said before, contact the person and get a rate just for the welding.  Do all of your fitment/ prep first.


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## havasu (Aug 2, 2010)

Thanks! I agree, this is something I would never attempt myself. I'm certain I could melt a hole in seconds that would be hard to repair. For the life of me, I just can't understand why this manufacturer wouldn't have added one in the first place, like other boat builders.


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