I just took off an old transducer of my 22 whaler and need to fill in the 4 old screw holes. I have heard that 3m 5200 will work, but is that the best thing to use? Any suggestions would help. Thanks

Thats what I would use!

I would use epoxy. If the holes are large I would coat wooden dowels with the epoxy and hammer them in, making sure that they do not protrude above the surface. Once the epoxy sets you can put another coat on the patch to seal it. You can also put a small peice of wax paper over the final coat to make it lie fair.

I've dealt with this issue quite a bit. 5200 tends to run, and it takes a long time to set up. However, it's pretty much a permanent fix when it does.

Epoxy putty is a good bet, but it can also be a problem in these temperatures as it takes a long time to cure.

An option I would consider is to seat stainless screws in either 5200 or a good marine silicone (or epoxy as suggested above). Silicone has the advantage of allowing you to remove the screws if necessary. With 5200, they are pretty much there for the life of the boat.

Keith

I am not a fan of rtv for marine sealing or bedding, I just don't trust it. I would consider it to be of great importance to possitively seal the holes. If the holes are not properly sealed,and water penetrates, the fiberglass could delaminate from the foam, bad thing! 5200 would probably do the job, I don't believe it to be a quality repair. good luck

MarineTex
I have used this product for a variety of repairs over the years.Temporary repairs on heat exchangers, holes in hulls and thread repairs when I did not have the right size heli-coil available.

http://www.marinetex.com/PRODUCT%20PAGE_files/All%20MarineTex%20Putty/marinetex%20prod%20info.htm

another vote for marine tex!

I will add my support to the MarineTex. Twenty some odd years of mechanics work, I've used it for everything from repairing broken transmission cases where the pan sealing lip was destroyed, to filling a badly busted up fiberglass hull on a Boston Whaler. There were a couple of engine block repairs as well. The stuff in tough. Sandable, paintable, waterproof.....great, in my opinion.

PC-11 is another option. From PC epoxies - you can find it in about any hardware store. It's a two part epoxy that noncured is a paste, so it wont run or sag.

Steve

Do it right. pick up a bottle of micro ballons at TAP plastics $5. Get a small tube of slow cure Epoxy from lowes or any where else $3. mix the epoxy with enough microballons to give it a real thick peanut butter consistancy. Fill the holes and cover with either wax paper or saran wrap and shap it to your hull. let it cure then lightly sand it. The ballons should make the color close to your gel coat color if its white. If you want it perfect pick up some gel coat repair at TAP while you are there.

Unless you are going to re-do the gel coat for total concealment, I would just remove the screws, fill the holes with 5200 and replace the screws.

You might stop by the local auto body shop. Have them stick a little fusor in the holes. It is used to glue these new plastic and glass auto parts together. They will proabably set you up for free.

Just another option.

Steve

Oh sure! Just another case where the body shop guy is going to do something for free!
Try asking your dentist to fill a hole for free, see where that gets you. Those catalyzed adhesives are around $25 a tube. Blah, blah, blah.

Ya I'd do it for free, just making a point

thanks for all the opinions! Now that the temperatures have finally started to become somewhat normal I can start working on this.

That sounds like the best method.But I would go with the gelcoat paste filler.Did it on my boat and you have a hard time finding to old holes.