Hts 2000

[Jeff Miller]

I just got a 1985 Starcraft 16ft C/C. It needs to have quite a few holes patched.

Found a product called HTS 2000. Looks to good to be true. Has anyone tried it and how did it work ?

Thanks
Jeff

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Hts 2000

Welcome to iboats.

IMO forget the hts garbage. We have not had a single good feedback on it's use and quite a few disasters. The melting point of aluminum is low and a regular propane torch will melt away an aluminum hull in an untrained hand.

The absolute majority of people here re-buck the rivets and use gluvit for all their aluminum repairs and leaks. the only thing better seems to be professional welding mig/tig.

 

[south_ga_boy_1970]

Re: Hts 2000

well this is what i found i researched hts-2000 and durafix (basically same products) and basically i narrowed it down to durafix due to price. all the specs were pretty close as far as tensile strength and shear strength. i just got the durafix about a week ago and ill say it holds true to every test i put ith though even the welding of a pepsi can. it has worked well for me, but i will say this i have a LITTLE experience in welding and brazing, and ill say its the easiest brazing rod i have used. just do what it says and youll be fine DONT heat the rod...heat the metal so the metal melts the rod. good luck

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Hts 2000

Pepsi cans are cheap ..... about five cents a piece so if you screw one up who cares....... change the structure of an aluminum hull by making it brittle or soft and it could create a bigger problem.

I consider hts 2000 and durafix band aid repairs so do them at your own risk. I can clearly see that I have no idea of what I am talking about here. I will resign myself to offering any future advice here.

Bases on my 8 plus years here no one has been able to stand behind a repair or prove that it works right.

Weigh out your advice and think carefully.

 

[south_ga_boy_1970]

Re: Hts 2000

first off...nobody is questioning YOUR advice or knowledge. im new to boat repair myself. i read the post and i told what i found with the product, not once did i say buy it. i thought thats what threads were for...getting opinions well atleast every where else i have researched topics...mybe not at iboats..

 

[vegasphotoman]

Re: Hts 2000

Bob and South Ga boy
your posts were 1 minute apart, obviously you were both writing at the same time....in replying to the original post by Jeff Miller

Im sure that its all a mis-understanding that said....Lets have a BEER!

 

[south_ga_boy_1970]

Re: Hts 2000

BEST advise i have had all day Vegas...lol

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Hts 2000

Tip of a propane torch is 3600 + degrees aluminum melts at 1200 and yes hts is lower but how do you regulate the temperature?

It's not for the hull. Fix any aluminum doo-dad with it...... but the hull which takes the pounding is best left to proven products. For every "claim" the manufacturer makes so the product will sell there are hundreds of people whi have done repairs the right way ...... right here on iboats. Step outside the box and take a careful look at what iboats members have done to repair hulls....... use the search function Durafix has 44 results and hts 2000 has 18 results...... gluvit only showed 500 results which is the limit of the search function.

Vegasphotoman ........ I drink Heineken ...... on tap...... and I have found it tastes best when in the Netherlands ..... in a local bar!

Ga boy save your money on this one.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Hts 2000

I agree with Bob, for for hull repairs it's not the best solution. Difficult to work with on a boat and don't know how it would affect the hull, repair too strong, not strong enough... If you are using it like in the video's, that's easy, but there are a lot of applications where it can (will?) be difficult.

I've used Durafix and thought it was a bit difficult to work with, for what I was doing. You have to SS wire brush the pieces, which wasn't possible for my intended repair so I couldn't use it for that.

I was able to braze some zinc plated nuts onto an aluminum fishing rod holder base (backing nut) which I thought was pretty cool, but I had my fair share of problems doing it, mainly keeping the piece perfectly level so the melted rod wouldn't flow down hill. The stuff runs like water once it melts, then goes immediately to a solid while it cools, very little temp range between liquid and solid. Try to braze something vertical and the stuff will run off, even if at a bit of an angle it will flow down hill.

I don't know if it will "wick" into joints, but from the work I did, it didn't. To braze the nut>aluminum plate I had to pre-tin (if that's the right word) the mating surfaces, then melt them together. Kind of a bummer there isn't some type of flux that will clean and help pull the material into the repair.