Thru Hull Leaking 94 24' Explorer

[hinmo]

Hi - it appears one or more of my thru hulls are leaking. Its the Port side. Boat sits on a mooring and I noticed water in bilge I have never seen. Every other possible thru hull is dry, other than that area. Its either the deck drains or live-well. I am hoping its the hoses, and not the plastic thru hulls.

The hoses look tough enough to replace.
Anybody got tips in replacing the hoses and/or thru hulls?

Looks like a b*tch to get at !

thx

 

[Tuna Man]

Could it be the inpection plates screwed to the deck? I am referring to those roughly 6" diameter plastic plates. Often times the caulk that was used at the factory goes bad over time and water is allowed to seep in. Also, I have heard that the o-rings are sometimes missing or dry rotted.

Just trying to save you a potential headache. Good luck.

 

[capt chris]

Could it be the inpection plates screwed to the deck? I am referring to those roughly 6" diameter plastic plates. Often times the caulk that was used at the factory goes bad over time and water is allowed to seep in. Also, I have heard that the o-rings are sometimes missing or dry rotted.

Just trying to save you a potential headache. Good luck.

Tuna Man,
I was a little disappointed when I got my new Grady-White to discover that they dont use screw in inspection plates in the deck rather than the O ring type. I wouldn't think it would be much more expensive and would definitely be more water tight over time. Has anyone ever gotten an explanation for this?

 

[BobP]

More likely to be plastic thruhulls vs. hoses connected to them.

Place your bets!

Pull on the hose conected to thruhull, only at a time when boat can't sink if it breaks off.

 

[hinmo]

doubt its the inspection plates, theres been zero rain here (believe it or not.....every one of those thunderstorms in the NE have missed us). The boats on the hard in my driveway now, I pulled it last nite. I'm going to put a hose to each drain from the boat and plug the egress, and we'll see what happens. I will analyze closely b4 I proceed.

Meanwhile, has anyone replaced the thru hulls? Are they easy to get the SS ones or are they Grady particular? How tough to remove and replace?

Thanks

 

[Tuna Man]

Capt. Chris, not sure why Grady uses the 'pop out' style vs. the screw in. Oddly on mymarlin, there is one screw in type for the three sea cocks?

Hinmo, I did two of them over the years. Not that bad, just need a little patience and some flexible arms. I stayed with plastic (marlon I think). I figured if they lasted ten or fifteen years, I was satisfied. The guy I just sold my 92 Explorer to found one of the thru hulls was leaking. All it needed was to be re-bedded. He decided to replace it instead, as it was original (sixteen years old).

Hardest problem for me was getting the hose off the barbed fitting (thru hull). Ended up getting a little creative and cutting the thru hull into three pieces. Used a hack saw that had the ability to hold the rear of the blade while four inches of the blade projected out of the front of the saw. Basically the blade (12" I think) is supported by the handle for 8" and sticks out of the end 4". You make two cutsinside the thru hull from the outside, one at 12 o'clock and one at 3 o'clock (being careful not to cut the hull or the hose). You then grab the small piece (upper right quarter) and remove it. You now can easily remove the hose and the rest of the thru hull. I suppose a dremel tool could also be used. By the way I used a Lennox brand hack saw.

 

[Seahunter]

All the screw outs I've seen have recesses in the covers to facilitate removal.
I would imagine Grady used the pry-outs on the floor is so there are not "holes" in the floor of the cockpit.

 

[BobP]

If you can reach the hose on the thru hull at least with one hand, try pointing a hair dryer at it set to full power for a while, the hose will soften and be more pliable to wiggle off, after you first twist it to break free. Some of these hoses are very hard but take nicely to some heat. If the clamp is not accessible, use dremel cutting disk, will cut right thru clamp like butter, as was mentioned.

Do the same with hose end when reinstalling, or with new hose, then push it straight on all the way. You can get a driver with a long flexible extension & tape on a socket for the clamp bolt, use two clamps below water line. Tape all the pieces together so they are not lost forever if dropped.

Suggest you have one of those telescoping antenna magnetic pickups and one of these flexible spring pickups that have the claw on the end that comes out and expands, both have saved the day many times for me.

 

[hinmo]

thx folks. Got it done. Used a heat gun to soften hoses prior to taking off, and used my filet gloves (mesh steel) to get a grip. About 4 hrs into it and just about done. The plastic thru hulls snapped in my hands....surely the cause of the leaks,but I replaced the hoses too.

What a pain!

 

[BobP]

I don't think the twist out style deck plate seals better than the pry out type, both use O ring and seal at O ring.

Reasons - ?

1. You need a tool to work pryout, not so with twist out.
2. Can stub bare toe on pry out, especially kids toes.
3. Pebble finish or diamond finish pry out of my Tempress ones similar to Grady's diamond pattern gelcoat deck.
4. Since more convenient needing no tool to work pry-out, I replaced bilge cover pry out to get to SW washdown valve, each trip it is used. Plan to do te hsame for macerator outlet valve in cabin floor. On long list.
5. Left gas tank cover ones alone, since only open once annually.
6. If you overtighten twist out, you will need tool to get it open, so that's a negative.
7. For emergency access to shut off valves just in case boat starts taking on water, no need to scramble to find pry out tool, kids may have adopted for play time.

 

[Brad1]

Could it be the inpection plates screwed to the deck? I am referring to those roughly 6" diameter plastic plates. Often times the caulk that was used at the factory goes bad over time and water is allowed to seep in. Also, I have heard that the o-rings are sometimes missing or dry rotted.

Just trying to save you a potential headache. Good luck.

Tuna Man,
I was a little disappointed when I got my new Grady-White to discover that they dont use screw in inspection plates in the deck rather than the O ring type. I wouldn't think it would be much more expensive and would definitely be more water tight over time. Has anyone ever gotten an explanation for this?

My 226 has the pryouts throughout the boat. The pryouts have a diamond pattern which matches the diamond pattern on the floor non-skid. I suspect that is a reason Grady choose to use that style on the floor.

Pryouts were also used in the splashwell. The splashwell inspection covers are used for access to the seacock. I thought it was poor design to use pryouts in that location since (in the event of an emergency which required shutting the valve), one would not want to spend time looking for a tool or object to pryout a deck plate with. So I replaced those two pryout inspection plates with the screw in type. Since the glass in that location is smooth, they actually look better too.

 

[Seahunter]

thx folks. Got it done. Used a heat gun to soften hoses prior to taking off, and used my filet gloves (mesh steel) to get a grip. About 4 hrs into it and just about done. The plastic thru hulls snapped in my hands....surely the cause of the leaks,but I replaced the hoses too.

What a pain!

If you have to replace anymore of the plastic fittings in future just snap the heads on the outside of the boat. You can then pull the hose back through the access hatch to complete the removal of the fitting.

 

[REEL THING]

Water leak.............

Lets face it, that much water coming onboard is no leaking from above the water line. Your plastic Thru hull fittings needs replacing. Put a garden hose to the fitting under full preasure and with a flash light looking at the fittings from the inside, you will find the leak. You don't see the leak because the weight of the water sinks the bow and raises the crack in the rear fittings above the water line.

 

[Fishtales]

for the deck plates, you can go to beckson marine. they make them for gw. they offer screw-in ones in the same color and they can be smooth or have the diamond plate or even round bumps.

I'd replace the ones in the motor well with the screw in model to be safe. They also sell replacement o rings if needed.