H-27 (1984) thru hulls

[amcmahon]

Hello Everyone, This fall, I'm planning to pull my 1984 H-27 to paint the bottom and I'm planning to replace all 4 thru hull fittings and valves. The two for the toilette and the one for the kitchen sink seem straight foreward. The forth provides cooling water to the engine and this one may be a problem. As you probably know, there is a 'false floor' under the engine to collect oil before it get to the bildge. The threaded nipple of the existing thru hull appears to come through this false floor. There is no obvious blocking above the false floor and the brass elbow attached to the threaded nipple is very close to the false floor. There is no way to get or see below the false floor. There is also about a 1/4 inch threaded bolt with nut which appeard to act as an allignment point for the strainer thruhull.
Has anyone replaced this thru hull? Will the new threaded nipple (2.5 inch)be long enough? Is there a nut and blocking below the false floor. I'm planning to use Marelon fittings which are not widely available and I need to have the new stuff onhand when I do this. Any info and help would be greatly appreciated. Tony

 

[Guest]

Through hull vents

Hi Tony, what is the material of the existing through hull fittings, bronze? How about the sea cocks? If they still work, why do you feel the need to replace them?

When we settled on a price for our 1991 P42 in 2002 it was contingent on the owner replacing three frozen sea cocks, which they did under protest. All the others worked fine at the time and remain so today.

Terry Cox

 

[Ed Schenck]

H27 thru-hulls

If the thru-hulls are original they are bronze. But they are also 1/2" and probably have gate valves. Those definitely need replaced. The problem is that only ball-valves will fit. As far as I know no one makes seacocks for 1/2" thru-hulls.

The knock on ball-valves is that they have tapered threads where the thru-hull is straight. So you only get three or four threads. But I lived with ball-valves for a couple of years with no problems, better than gate valves. Then I put in 3/4" thru-hulls so that I could use real seacocks.

Having a thru-hull come through the hull AND the engine pan sounds like a real problem. Something done by a previous owner maybe? I cannot imagine that Hunter would do that.

 

[amcmahon@ec.rr.com]

h-27 thru hulls

Ed and Terry, Thanks for the thoughts. All of the existing thru hulls are brass. In the 27, space is very limited and Hunter put the engine cooling thru hull under the engine comming thru the pan. Two years ago, while winterizing the engine, I closed the gate valve for the engine cooling. It essentially disintegrated in my hand. I was able to keep the parts together by wrapping the valve with some 1/8" cord. It continued to leak but my bildge could handle. This was a Sunday and my boat is moored about 3 miles from a marina with a lift. Since the valve was closed, I could not motor to the marina, but was able to sail (after frantic calls to the marina that agreed to pull the boat on a Sunday) the 3 miles and prevent a disaster.
The boat is 25 years old, the thru hulls have never been connected to any zinc. I feel like I'm on borrowed time already, just hoping to find someone who has already delt with this. Tony