Sealing up holes in a water tray

[Simko]

I am in the final stretch of getting my table running... I know, I have been saying that for like 8 months.. but this time it is for real.

I had to drill through the water tray and into the frame below it in order to get some of the bow out of the pan.

Anyone know any neat tricks or special sealing washers that would make me feel better about just taking a perfectly good water tight tray and putting a bunch of holes in it.

My original thought was: bolt -> steel washer -> silicone -> neoprene or rubber washer -> silicone -> tray bottom

After it was tightened down, I was going to take some silicone and put around the head of the bolt and the perimeter of the washer.

I would feel better if I could find a purpose built fastener made to create a water tight seal, but after searching McMaster Carr and Grainger, I could not find anything made specifically for this.

What about that stuff in a can that you can make a screen door into a boat with...

I ended up drilling and tapping 3/8"-16. Hopefully if someone does know of a special fastener, it is available in this size.

Any ideas are appreciated.

[SeanP]

I had to do just the same on mine, used stainless dome head and a good coating of neoprene sealant, that was 4 yrs ago, no problems since.

[Old Iron]

Self tapping steel building screws have a rubber washer under the head that makes a water tight seal with no additional sealant.
If you get the ridge stitch screws, they are shorter and hold more.

[Paint Chip]

I used PC-11 marine epoxy on mine. No leaks but only been a couple months.

[urbnsr]

I used JB Weld to seal a drain port in the bottom of a water tray. It's been underwater most of the time and no leaks. I repositioned the drain sometime back (unrelated reason) and found that cleanup is as easy as a wire wheel. Second time has been, maybe, two years. Just guessing, but it had been a long time.

[KKesner]

You can use 3M marine sealant 4200 or 5200 to over seal the head of the bolt once installed. Just clean with acetone and cover, easy to remove after cure if needed.

[Simko]

Thanks for the ideas. I got a bunch of button head cap screws and I will probably end up just using silicone or the 3M marine sealant. I had never heard of it, but after doing some searches on it and reading on different boating forums, it's seems to be some really good stuff.

[Simko]

OK.. just a quick follow up for the record. I did some searching on the 3M 4200/5200 and found that it supposedly doesn't bond metal->metal well without priming and even then, they recommend you test the adhesion. It seems to be made more for wood, fiberglass, gelcoat, etc used on boats. The 4200/5200 is a polyurethane adhesive/sealant.

After doing some searching, I found a Loctite product called PL Marine which is a polyether adhesive/sealant. It has a good metal->metal bond and is paintable.

Both the 3M 5200 and the Loctite PL Marine are available at Home Depot. I ended up buying the Loctite. I guess I'll find out shortly how well it works.

[Steambike]

Hi Simko, please let us know how it works for you......i have a concealed 4' long seam & a drain close by and a leak I haven't yet been able to accurately locate:(
I bought some "leak sealer" in a spray can (home depot too) but i don't feel that it is the best way to fix my leak so haven't applied it yet!
Thanks !

[alanmccabe]

Hi guys so I am in the same situation as the folk above I have a 4x4 water tray thats welded and a slight bow. Would it be better to try and weld in some box section as straighteners or bolt and seal to the frame. Thanks in advance Alan

[TJS]

Get some bolts and cut the heads off. Get a piece of angle that will span the width of your cross members. Mine were 2" wide. Drill 2 holes for the studs in one leg of the angle so it the are close to each edge of your crossmember. Now get nuts to lock the studs(head of bolts cut off). Now tack weld the studs to the bottom of the sheet metal (under the table) on each side of the crossmember. Now you made a puller to pull the bow out of the sheet by tighening the nuts. I had to make quite a few of these to get the bow out. I did it this way and would never drill holes and try to seal them up. My build like might show these brackets.

[alanmccabe]

ahhh good idea I cant see the pics though

[adbuch]

Hi guys so I am in the same situation as the folk above I have a 4x4 water tray thats welded and a slight bow. Would it be better to try and weld in some box section as straighteners or bolt and seal to the frame. Thanks in advance Alan

Alan - will the bow affect the functionality of the water tray/pan? I assume you mean the bottom is bowed up in the middle. I built mine about 5 years ago from 11 ga. steel. 4 x 4 x about 5" deep, and mine did bow up in the center of the bottom due to the welding. For me - it works fine as is. Your mounting arrangement may be a different situation. If I were to do it over again, I might consider having it bent up from 16 ga. SS and only welding the corners.

David


You can see a slideshow of the entire build here.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/h8LHufi6frttfGNQA

water tray bow in bottom.jpg

[alanmccabe]

your build is amazing David very professional makes mine look like a toy lol I did get some ideas though thanks for the reply

[adbuch]

your build is amazing David very professional makes mine look like a toy lol I did get some ideas though thanks for the reply

Happy to share! I'm glad you got some ideas from the photos. It's always fun to see how some of the others do things.
David

[SRdesign]

When my water pan bowed after welding I got one of my cheap metal bar clamps from harbor freight, cut one end off, welded it under the pan near a cross member, then ran the clamp down onto the cross member to pull the pan down to the cross member, welded the pan to the cross member, then loosen the clamp and cut the clamp off of the bottom of the pan. You can then reuse the clamp again wherever you need to pull the pan down.

[TJS]

I will see if I can get some pics of my brackets. I eventually want to find some stainless sheet and have it cut and bent (bend up corners) and just weld the corners. Hopefully I can find a piece without re-financing my house.

[Larry83301]

If your pan bowed when you welded it together I suggest using something like this rather than putting holes in your tank.
Just my 2 cents

Larry

[plasmanewbie]

Cool video, great info! Thanks Larry