How Many of this have one of these at the back of our Mac?
http://www.pcmarinesurveys.com/Stoopid% ... tricks.htm This cheap plastic throughull is 1" above the water line and seriously UV degraded. It could be picked apart by my fingernail. The caulking shows that an attempt had been made to stop it leaking. Should this be impacted by floating debris, the bilge pump will not be able to keep up with the incoming water. Cheap plastic throughulls near the the waterline are more prevalent on powerboats for some reason.
I think I need to find a Stainless steel one to replace mine.
At least yours is above the water line IMO those are the weak link (in the M's anyways). Mines not that far gone but I'm planning on doing mine this fall but going to install a second one so I have one dedicated to the transom drain and one for the sink (both ss) Finished off with a couple of seacocks for good measure.
I've seen the same plastic ones at Canadian tire here in Canada, theyre called thru hulls http://ca.binnacle.com/mobile/index.php?cPath=31_265 this is what I've been looking at replacing ours with. Got to make sure you seal the cut FG before you install it on top of embedding it (just put some in the open hole and smear it around then install). Just in case water does make it it so it doesn't rot the transom out.
If you have what you think is a through hull that would be vulnerable to impact failure, it would be a good idea to have something in your on-board tool kit that is capable of either plugging it, or at least reducing the flow (eg. rag and screwdriver handle) so your bilge pump could at least keep up to it.
Neo wrote:
I think I need to find a Stainless steel one to replace mine.
No you don't. Stainless steel is not a good solution for thru hulls in a salt water environment. Yes, I know that the rigging is SS, but that is not permanently in contact with salt water. The solution comes from New Zealand, so look here: http://www.trudesignplastics.com/marine/products
I used a pair of those BELOW the waterline for our new marine toilet and the quality is absolutely superb.
Neo wrote:
Yes but the rudder steering brackets are.
I know, I was surprised too when I read that SS thru hulls are less suitable for salt water. I should add that in my case the thru hulls are permanently submerged. I learned about it on the internet when I was collecting information for the marine toilet installation. If you want metal thru hulls in a salt water environment, they should be bronze. Anyhow, the Trudesign catalog offered a perfect solution.
Didn't know that about SS but was leaning towards bronze anyways. Ours sits empty just on/at the waterline but if it went and water started getting in, it wouldn't be long until it was under. Still 5 months off from replacing thanks for the info.
I installed a marelon thru hull for bilge pump outlet. Much stronger and durable material than the cheap-o plastic ones. It's the non-metal alternative to bronze in through-hull fittings.
It is a safe assumption that this is a standard type part. I recommend getting access to this on the inside of the hull and disconnecting. Take the old fitting to the store and match with a new on. I recommend the Marelon type as the most durable and corrosion resistant material.
