Darn thru hulls

[rainmaker]

I'm in the process of changing out all of the plastic ,marelon, or nylon thru hulls on my boat. Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures when my hands heal. Darn what a job . I have all of the ones at the waterline out and am ready to order them. Does anyone have a good source for chrome over bronze or stainless steel ones?

I worked today for 3 1/2 hours today to remove the 5 that are along the waterline. Two of them were real bears! Now i know why i have put this off for so long!!!

The other 4 will be a piece of cake tommorow .

I've looked at west marine and boaters world , just looking for a better deal on them.

[8 is enough]

Walmart just redid their boating section. They had the Attwood Stainless Steel 1 1/8 thru-hulls reduced from $22 to $4. They also had a smaller size, I believe 7/8, reduced to the same price. Most stores I visited had them reduced. Other goodies too.

[carbo]

If you have a Grady your lucky....hard to get to them but you CAN. Some other boats put them in place with no way to get to them.

[Raybo Marine NY]

check the stainless before you buy them all, alot of times they dont fill the old hole from plastic or bronze fittings

they are usually smaller im thinking because they are thinner.

[DWS]

I replaced several of mine (I'll finish the job this summer) and it was a piece of cake and mine were brass...all I needed was the flaring tool and off I went! Besides the bar stock...if I can do it, anyone can!

[Raybo Marine NY]

DWS- your talking brass tubes using a flanging tool, not the thru-hulls he is referring to.

[76GMC1500]

Don't use stainless below the waterline. Crevice corrosion can cause rapid and unexpected failures.

[lushes too]

Try GEM Products you can buy them direct online.

[Doug in Bermuda]

I've found a good 'nuts & bolts' type marine supplier to be www.defender.com Been into the place once. Much more fun than the big box marine supply stores.

[offshore3144]

I Feel for you, I just removed a Thru-Hull transducer that was factory installed. It was quite a job. Took about 2hours and 7 roto zip bits. I just followed the edge of the transducer with a roto zip and knocked it out from the inside of the hull. I would hate to remove one from a boat without the room I have. My access is aprox 24"X20". One good thing is that the new transducer is larger but going in the same location.After the removal the installation should be a breeze!!!....Mark

[billh1963]

Go with bronze or chrome over bronze.

[Workdog1]

Good deals can be had on e-bay for the chrome over bronze and stainless. I got seven chrome/bronze 1 1/8" thru hulls for $15 ea, and one 1 1/2" for $24 last year for my Gulfstream. Stainless were a lot less.

Workdog

[JP56]

Use only 316 L (low carbon) stainless steel below the waterline in saltwater..or bronze

[76GMC1500]

I personally wouldn't use any stainless as they are all subject to crevice corrosion. A through-hull makes a perfect setup for crevice corrosion to happen with the bottom dipped in salt water and the mid in an oxygen deprived environment.

[Flot]

LOL I'm amused at all the people replacing their dangerous brittle plastic thru hulls and then finding out that it takes them hours to remove them, intentionally, with tools.

Maybe the plastic ones aren't so dangerous after all?

[Megabyte]

Nothing to it. Here is the old through-hull.



The plastic ones can be broken intentionally to get them out.
Saves wear and tear on the knuckles...





Replaced with chrome over bronze.

[ccat]

Why are you replacing them are they failing

[76GMC1500]

The plastic ones do break very easily, there is a very good reason to replace them. Real Maralon is pretty tough, though. The plastic ones look like crap after sitting in the sun for a while. Again, real Maralon is better. You could replace your plastic ones with Maralon, but I think you'll find that it costs more than bronze or chrome on bronze and the metal are tougher still and look better still.

[rainmaker]

Well I got the other 4 out today. This time it only took about 1 hr. Although these 4 were the easy ones to get to. 1 of them broke off when I grabbed ahold of it . It was the aft bilge about 6" above the waterline.
As far as why I'm replacing them , they look terrible to me and most were cracked in the usual places. They are always in the back of my mind when I'm offshore and hopefully now they won't be.
I'm trying to add a photo but I can't seem to find the add photo / attachment icon.

Megabyte, that broken thru hull looks real familiar!

[sea_slueth]

Rainmaker,

I am sure you know this, and am not sure if someone else posted it yet, but be sure to double clamp the hose fittings when you can.

Also, since you are there, try to replace the hoses.

I have a 24 Grady offshore and replaced my thru hulls two years ago. I replaced the hoses where I could but was unable to replace the hoses or elbows under the fish boxes.

I need to replace the thru hull/scupppers in the transom. I'd like to get them in bronze but have yet to really look for them.

Any Grady guys replace those recently?