Thru Hull replacement

[BigI]

I'm going to replace my thru hull fittings this spring. I noticed a bit of water is leaking into the boat and suspect they're the cause. I've read that stainless is the way to go. My 1987 overnighter's plastic thru hulls lasted 23 years. Is it worth the extra money to go stainless? Is the issue w/ plastic it's longevity due to UV or are there premature failures as well. I'm not so sure this boat will be in commission in 23 more years

 

[Seahunter]

My 1987 overnighter's plastic thru hulls lasted 23 years.

My 1997 lasted 11 years. Can't see spending the time to put inferoir parts back on, no matter how long I plan on owning the boat.

 

[BigI]

That's premature. Then your right. Did you have to bond the SS thru hulls? By that I mean wire them to a single anode. I've read that some have had bronze thru hulls corrode due to electrolysis. They switched to marleon (something like that).

 

[Got Grady?]

Good question about the anode. I will be interested in the answer to that one too.

 

[BobP]

Use bronze below the water line, no need to bond.

If at least 5 inches up out of the water, go Plastic like the Perkos. Plastic for deck drains. Always use new hoses. Never use white vinyl sanitation hoses, except for sanitation.

Above the water line but under 5 inches up, if you don't like the look of bonze go stainless or Marelon.

If it's the large transom scuppers, it will be difficult to find straight bronze, use stainless. Attwood makes a very nice and low cost scupper with replaceabe flapper seal.

 

[uncljohn]

They also sell chrome plated bronze thru-hulls for the nice above-the-waterline look. BUT don't be fooled by the "chromed plastic" ones that look nice and mettallic but are actually just plastic

 

[JUMPNJACK]

Box Full!

Hi gang! Just bought a box full of Marelons for JUMPNJACK. Installing them all over the next couple of weekends. Grouper season reopens for us on April 1st. My Sailfish has no shortage of thruhull fittings. Five below the water line(actually seven if you count the two bronze sea water intake strainers) and Six above the water line. And the transom drain makes an even 14! The plastics are all original and seem very solid and serviceable but for safetys sake they have got to go! 8)

 

[BobP]

Chrome on bronze is nice, chrome is more brilliant than stainless.

Nice until it peels off.
That's why Grady went Stainless.

 

[Pete1313]

Hey JUMPNJACK - where did you order your marelons from? I need to replace some thru-hulls...

thanks,

Pete

 

[82seafarer]

thru-hull fittings

My 82 Seafarer original plastic thru-hulls started to crack about 10 years ago so I started replacing them with chromed-bronze thru-hulls.
Thru-hulls do NOT have to be below the water-line to start taking on water ! Sitting at the dock they may not be a problem but when your out at sea and they are getting splashed and going in-and-out of the water they can SURELY cause a serious problem if they fail ! Many boats have SUNK that way.
The only problem I found was that when I bought all my new thru-hulls back then I could NOT find exact replacements that would fit BOTH the thru-hull hole and the hose for the deck/box drains. What I did was buy ones that fit the hose and were just a TAD smaller then the thru-hull hole.
Then I used that evercote fiberglass filler/paste to take up the little space around the old hole. It is still small enough to stay under the outside flange and I used a big washer inside the hull. The two I did already lasted 10 years so far.

 

[JUMPNJACK]

Marine Supplier

Pete1313, hello from NW FL! I purchased all my Marelon fittings online from Defender Marine in Waterford Conn. (defendermarine.com) They are an old time company and I found their pricing to be significantly less than the West Marine folks (about 2/3 the cost for the same stuff) I intend to continue to use them. 8)

 

[Pete1313]

Thanks for the info!

I ended up tearing into the boat today-- the first full day I had her (my birthday too!). The two plastic thru-hulls that had visible cracks inside broke off with little force. One was the aft bilge (the hose was awfully weak too) and one was for the starboard fishbox drain.

I'm replacing the one down by the waterline with some nice bronze thru-hulls and the bilge up higher with a stainless. Replacing the hoses with upgraded stuff.

The scuppers were in good shape-- only the outer portions of the flaps were really UV damaged...but from teh inside, we could stand on them without any flex....and the hoses are in good shape. Thank God for that one!

Replacing the washdown hose and check valve-- pump is in good shape.

Had the best day tinkering on the boat, pulling stuff apart and then going and getting new parts! Now, to just install them.

 

[Pete1313]

Also - why should I not use the white sanitation hose for other purposes-- such as a bilge pump? The only other hose available for the bilge pump was the same corrugated crap that was in there and had crumbled.....

 

[82seafarer]

inferior bilge hose

Pete, that hard plastic corregated bilge hose is about the worst stuff you can use for bilge hose. Many places used to sell it for that but it is slowly disappearing off the boating shelves cuz it sucks ! It gets brittle and breaks in almost NO time whatsoever. Especially if it is exposed to sun. Your lucky to get a year out of it. And it will break with usually NO notice. I use the thick corrugated stuff now that is clear and colored. It is like fish-tank hose but corrugated and colored too. Plus it has a metal wire in it sometimes. You can cut it with a sharp razor. It lasts a LONG time. Even in direct sunlight it will last a few years. It will turn brown and start to show signs way before it fails in sunlight too. Mine is in the GW bilge and it is 10 years old and still looks great !

 

[BigI]

Thanks!

Thanks for all the great feedback.

I emailed Grady White customer service and they sent me all the part #'s and drawings so I can order the correct replacements.

Like others have said, great service!

 

[JUMPNJACK]

Almost Done! (Done!)

Hi Gang, Thru Hull replacements are almost complete on JUMPNJACK. Will share the details after the job is finished. Quite an ordeal! Those are'nt scars, they're stories! 8) Done! Five easy! Two quite a challenge! 8)

 

[JUMPNJACK]

Minor Stuff!

Wow after reading all the friendly discussion on the Grady Beef thread, it really made my little thru hull adventure seem like minor stuff. I think that possibly boat manufacturing is certainly not a perfect world! A couple of issues that I faced during the thruhull fittings job did make me say "Dadgum!" It seems that two of the below the waterline fittings on the starboard side of my old Sailfish were not installed with any thought of them ever having to be replaced. True there is a Four inch "inspection plate" there about 18" forward of the fittings. It is just that because a double jointed spider monkey could not work thru that little hole. There is now a nice 6"x10" access panel located in this area. (crawling in there was a true pleasure as well!) Also the original one and a half inch hose was the old #140 high quality stuff that was hard as a rock. The cool part was that the other end of the hose which handles the bait well overflow was not even visible much less accessible. Creativity resulted in the installation of a deck plate to facilitate replacement of this hose. Also the 90 degree hose fitting at the bait well overflow drain had never been tightened during the manufacturing process (it was started a couple of threads and that was it!) and had been the source of a very elusive leak. You don't just simply tighten it up either as the fitting is far too long to rotate. I know it left the assembly line like this because that same little spider monkey would had to have to been used here as well. Think I'll work on the rear deck now while all my Grady cuts scratches and bruises heal! 8)