Sealing holes in roof

[BrenMyster]

Hey folks

 

it was a previous owners great idea to screw some tiny little solar panels to my boats roof. I'm installing a new array and will be getting rid of these old panels, which will leave four nice holes in my roof. They are pretty small since it was just a few little screws but obviously i want to sort them out.

 

Whats the best way to seal these up? Shall i look in to getting them welded shut? or just use some kinda sealer glue stuff.

 

Cheers

B

 

[1agos]

Just use a car panel filler, leave it proud of the holes until dry then sand of flush and paint

[IDS]

Seconded, with the addition of a dab of any rust converter that you already have (eg Kurust or similar) in the hole first

[BrenMyster]

amazing, cheers guys

[Guest]

'Milliput' is very good too. Once hardened can be sanded and painted, is resistant to frost, heat and solvents.

[WotEver]

'Milliput' is very good too. Once hardened can be sanded and painted, is resistant to frost, heat and solvents.

And all the little tiny people will help you use it.

[Guest]

By Gulliver how did you guess my nickname for it .....

[wullie]

Personally i would rather get a few new screws, sealer on threads screw into holes leave heads slightly proud cut off heads dress up filler applied,sand,prime and paint, jobs a good un.

[bizzard]

Countersink the holes first if using body filler, it will seal and sand down much better.

[DHutch]

Personally I would have them welded in the long-term. Or plug with a self tappers and small machine screw if covered by the new pannels.

 

Certainly while a smaller hole may fair better I found bonding a backing disk inside and filling externally did not provide a long-term water tight seal for a similarly redundant 8mm dia hole, due to the amount the roof flexes causing the filler to fail after a few years.

 

Deck head leaks are notorious and a pita.

 

 

Daniel

[cuthound]

Personally i would rather get a few new screws, sealer on threads screw into holes leave heads slightly proud cut off heads dress up filler applied,sand,prime and paint, jobs a good un.

This, put Sikaflex on the threads to seal them and again on top of the countersunk screws. When dry Sikaflex can be sanded and over painted.

[Tom Richmond]

Another vote for milliput.

[matty40s]

Tap the hole, put a stainless steel or brass bolt in, with an acrylic sealant not silicone.

Knock or grind the bolt head off and prime, topcoat when the sealant has gone off.

[Neil2]

No-one has mentioned Belzona yet. Far better than car body filler or Milliput IMHO but much more expensive then again you won't need much.

[Sea Dog]

Put the original (presumably watertight) screws back in. Then, when you find there's something else you wish to anchor to your roof, you won't need to agonise about drilling a hole in it.

[ditchcrawler]

No-one has mentioned Belzona yet. Far better than car body filler or Milliput IMHO but much more expensive then again you won't need much.

I remember repairing a car carburetor bowl with that stuff in my younger days like the 70s, Molecular metal I think it was called.

[Neil2]

I remember repairing a car carburetor bowl with that stuff in my younger days like the 70s, Molecular metal I think it was called.

 

It's funny, a lot of folk remember it from bygone days but think it no longer exists. Probably because most applications these days are large scale industrial uses and it's not widely available in small quantities. But it's wonderful stuff I've used it for all sorts of applications where you would normally employ a welder but as I can't weld... Chemically i think it is metal loaded epoxy.

[Athy]

No suggestions yet from a boat-owning forum member in the Skipton area?

[blackrose]

This, put Sikaflex on the threads to seal them and again on top of the countersunk screws. When dry Sikaflex can be sanded and over painted.

 

And other similar (and cheaper) polyurethane sealants include Marineflex and Stixall from Toolstation.

 

Whatever you use it should be flexible. Milliput epoxy putty and most other fillers aren't flexible enough to cope with the temperature expansion and contraction of steel over time. They may have worked in some cases but they're not the right products for the job in my opinion.

Edited February 22, 2017 by blackrose