Category Archives: Thru-Hulls

Thru-Hulls

Hose Removal

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Removing hoses has always been a pain.  Here is a suggestion from Kevin aboard Kairos:

After struggling with hoses I bought a hose removal tool from Amazon, OTC 4521 $9, you could probably bend a thick awl or pick, but this does work great.

Others have suggested using a heat gun to soften the hose prior to removal.

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Thru-Hulls

Servicing Thru-Hulls with Boat in the Water

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The original question was how to service and lube a thru-hull with the boat in the water.  What would happen if you took out the four screws on the inside part of the thru-hull? Warren’s response was something I’d never heard before.  The thru-hull comes with a plug that can be used to plug up the thru-hull from the outside.
From post by Warren Elliott:
For disassembly while afloat (those 4 screws), there is a small “plug” extending out from the center of the handle.  Pull this out (which reveals the handle’s securing screw)…..it is made to fit snugly in the fitting from the outside of the boat, thus avoiding a gusher. (This does require a slight bit of swimming!).
An additional feature of that plug is its closed circle handle; tie a several foot long string to that handle, securing the other end to a lifeline. Then, when the

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Engine, Thru-Hulls

Blowing out raw water line and strainer

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Editor:  A discussion ensued on finding a top for the raw water strainer where you could hook up a garden hose to blow out blockages.  Warren provided the following interesting approach:

I took another approach..found a special “expandable” plumbing fixture that works great…and is “dirt cheap”.

It’s called a “Mechanical Test Plug, with By-Pass”.  This is essentially a short pice of steel pipe [maybe a foot long] with a rubber “donut” attached to and surrounding the pipe, and has a large wing nut; the latter squeezes the rubber so that it expands, filling and sealing whatever its inserted into.

This is made in many sizes/diameters.  Our ID of top of strainer is 2″, so I bought test plug rated for 1.5 to 2.25″.,

Got mine from McMaster-Carr, p/n 2644K21, $8.17.     nj.sales@mcmaster.com is shown on p.o., but website available.

To make it easier to pour in a bucket or bottle of

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Leaks, Repair/Replace/Maintain, Thru-Hulls

Leaking Marelon Valves and Thru’Hulls

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Just to share our experience on these;

Shortly after purchasing our 380, I found the galley “thruhull” to be leaking near the base. A quick haul, yard replacement, and $1K later, I realized this might not have been so serious. The PO had serviced the valve and stripped some threads on some of the stainless screws that hold the body together. The thru hull was not leaking, the valve body was. We could have used the plug that comes in the handle to close off the outside opening (from the water), screwed off the body, and screwed on a new one. Lessons – ascertain what is leaking; in my view its very unlikely that its the thru hull. If you take apart a valve to service, be very careful when putting back together.

This past winter I replaced the engine cooling water thru hull and valve – it had been

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2004, Repair/Replace/Maintain, Thru-Hulls

Check Those Thru Hulls

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Check Those Thru Hulls
Randy Camp
8/1/2004
Hull #: 92

Check those Thru-Hulls!

Checking on things under the galley sink, I accidentally bumped the drain hose connected to the sink thru-hull when a semi-eruption of water (sea/lake) came forth. It did not matter whether the valve was open or shut. I checked to see if the bolts (4) were tight, and found that only one bolt was tight … the other three were loose and could be removed by hand. Apparently, the one bolt holding the whole valve assembly together was long enough (5-1/4) to reach the base of the valve assembly whereas the others (4-1/2) were not. I was able to correct the problem by installing three new 5-/1/4 machine bolts. Perhaps my past inspections didn’t catch this problem because some seating material was holding the screws, and has since loosened.<br> In any event, the valve was improperly installed

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2001, Mainsheet, Repair/Replace/Maintain, Thru-Hulls

Forespar Seacocks

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Forespar Seacocks
Warren Elliott
8/1/2001
Hull #: 44

Our 380-390’s come with eight seacocks [aka: thru-hulls]; these are, of course, critical to the operation and safety of our boats. Mishandling or severe damage to any thru-hull could allow flooding which our bilge pump may not be able to handle – not a happy situation! While we could add more pump capacity [see Scott’s write-up in the previous issue], “an ounce of prevention….”. So this is an important topic; it is also very relevant, as at least two captains have had a “problem”, me being one of them! But I’ll get into that later.

The Forespar seacocks are made of Marelon, a particularly tough plastic which, in normal use, will probably outlast much of our equipment. Many of you are probably aware of the controversy over seacock material: bronze vs. plastic. I’m sure this discussion will go on well past my

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