This valve with white hose is, I believe, the fresh water intake to the Yanmar engine. My question is the "flange" between the bulkhead and the valve. I "scraped" the flange and it feels like rusted iron (iron oxide). Is this the normal material for a freshwater intake flange? What is the normal or OEM material?
1987 Hunter 285 - Freshwater Valve Manifold
- Thread starter Stay The Course
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Whatever that is, replace it asap. Bronze or brass don’t rust and someone connected that sorry excuse for a thruhull to a hose with some plumbing fitting similar to a screw-on PVC pipe connector. Did a surveyor ever look at that?
Are you certain that isn’t the thru hull fitting for the holding tank discharge? Just curious, because I had a 88 Hunter 33.5 that had a gate valve for the holding tank waste discharge; all of the remaining thru hull assemblies had bronze ball valves. I don’t have a clue as to why Hunter used gate valves for the holding tank, other than reduced costs. General knowledge that gate valves are not a good idea for marine thru hull applications. Seeing your gate valve setup leads me to believe that it is probably original to the boat; 39 years. Needless to say, it is past time to replace the entire assembly preferably with a bronze seacock or at least with bronze ball valves. I replaced all of my Hunter thru hull fittings, valves, & tailpieces with bronze & fabricated new backing plates as the plywood plates that Hunter used were rotting. Definitely ditch the pvc/hose fitting & use a bronze tailpiece with double clamps on the hose. Must have been a plumber who did that repair! Don’t know what other maintenance / repairs are planned; however, this requires immediate attention.
BTW, welcome to the forum; you will find lots of opinions & advice here. In addition to posting new inquiries, there is a wealth of information in the forum archives. Also suggest reading @Maine Sail ’s (a well known member) excellent article that pertains to thru hull fittings at his website MarineHowTo.com
BTW, welcome to the forum; you will find lots of opinions & advice here. In addition to posting new inquiries, there is a wealth of information in the forum archives. Also suggest reading @Maine Sail ’s (a well known member) excellent article that pertains to thru hull fittings at his website MarineHowTo.com
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I agree with all of the above - the thru-hull, valve, and hose all look very non-marine, and due for replacement.
One note on the terminology to keep things clear if you talk to others about it - you’re on a lake so the water is fresh, but the general way to refer to that plumbing is the “raw” water circuit. The “fresh” water circuit in an engine is the closed antifreeze/coolant loop. Also, the pictured item is a thru-hull, and it goes through the hull itself. A bulkhead is a divider usually separating parts of the cabin and attached to the hull.
One note on the terminology to keep things clear if you talk to others about it - you’re on a lake so the water is fresh, but the general way to refer to that plumbing is the “raw” water circuit. The “fresh” water circuit in an engine is the closed antifreeze/coolant loop. Also, the pictured item is a thru-hull, and it goes through the hull itself. A bulkhead is a divider usually separating parts of the cabin and attached to the hull.
Out of curiosity I went to Lowes.com and entered the SKU#, the hose is 1 1/4" Flexible Spa hose.
While there are places on a boat where using non-marine grade parts are OK, especially on a freshwater boat, it is foolish to use anything but marine grade when the consequences of it failing are extreme, like sinking or setting the boat on fire. Sure, the marine stuff may cost a few bucks more, but isn't it worth it to keep the boat afloat.
To add to @Davidasailor26's comment, "fresh water system" usually refers to the drinking water system. Raw water or Sea water intakes and systems refer to water taken in from the lake, river, or ocean. I tend to use the term sea water as it is quite specific.
While there are places on a boat where using non-marine grade parts are OK, especially on a freshwater boat, it is foolish to use anything but marine grade when the consequences of it failing are extreme, like sinking or setting the boat on fire. Sure, the marine stuff may cost a few bucks more, but isn't it worth it to keep the boat afloat.
To add to @Davidasailor26's comment, "fresh water system" usually refers to the drinking water system. Raw water or Sea water intakes and systems refer to water taken in from the lake, river, or ocean. I tend to use the term sea water as it is quite specific.
- Thanks for all your replies. Alas, this non-salty dog has a lot of learning to do.
This photo was taken in a storage locker directly beneath the two-burner alcohol stove.
- Don S/V ILLusion
- No. No surveyor was involved in this purchase.
- BigEasy
- I plan on pulling the boat in Spring-2027 to remove and reapply new ablative paint. Replacing the entire assembly preferably with a bronze seacock or at least with bronze ball valves will be on the task list.
- Please see Hunter 285 - Shaft Bilge - Raw Water Intake - It appears this fitting, also, has been secured with a wood flange. I assume this flange item should be replaced when I remove Stay The Course from the water in Spring-2027?
- Davidasailor26
- Thanks for correcting me to "raw water" versus "fresh water". Why did I use bulkhead? I know better. Rookie mistake. Thanks for correcting me!
- ALL
- I've added three (3) additional photos.
- Hunter 285 - Shaft Bilge - Speed Sensor - I assume this is the speed sensor, versus depth detector, for this boat. Is this an item that could/should be replaced also? I, again, assume this is OEM and therefore 40-years old.
- Hunter 285 - Shaft Bilge - It appears this white non-marine hose is possibly connected to the engine
- Hunter 285 - Shaft Bilge - Raw Water Intake - This is what I believe to be my raw water intake valve. While the valve appears to be an OEM gate valve, and the hose is secured by two (2) hose clamps, I have asked the marine to replace the hose due to its aged appearance.
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Maybe, can't tell the difference from inside the boat. Look outside for a paddlewheel.
Can't tell from the photo. Find the end of the hose. Is this the same hose in the first photo?
What is of concern in the photo is the stuffing box where the prop shaft exits. Are those plastic fittings? The clamps look to be quite rusted and the black hose is looking kind of tired. This is an a place to not skip on quality marine gear.
This is really a DIY job. If you have to pay a marina $125+ per hour to fix easy problems like this you'll be broke real soon. Unless of course you were a Mega Lotto winner.
If your depth sensor works then I would probably not prioritize transducer replacement. If the transducers are 40 years old then replacing them could mean replacing the displays too, which will get expensive quick. On a lake without current speed through water isn’t critical; GPS speed from a phone could be good enough for now. Use the boat, see what you like, fix the other safety-critical things, then decide on what you need for electronics.
Possibly. Usually the engine will have one raw water intake from the thru-hull or strainer to the raw water pump, one hose from pump to heat exchanger, one from heat exchanger to exhaust elbow, and a larger hose for the exhaust. Any other hoses around the engine could be fresh water / coolant. Hard to tell from the picture where the white hose is running and how it might be involved. You’ll probably need to trace it from end to end to find out.
It does look like that could be a raw water intake hose, and yes it definitely looks past its prime. I agree with @dlochner though - that’s an easy DIY project and probably a good one to learn from. It’s probably 1 or 2 out of 10 on the DIY difficulty scale. The gate valves should probably be replaced with proper ball valves or seacocks too, though that’s a little more advance of a project.
To be fair I think Hunter used plastic stuffing box components as OEM around that vintage. When I was a kid I heard a story from a guy in our marina who’d just had an “experience” with that. Yes, it was pretty much exactly the type of “experience” you’d expect with plastic parts charged with keeping out the ocean, near a hot engine holding a metal shaft spinning at a few hundred RPM’s.
well said! If I had to pay a boatyard to perform all maintenance on my boat, I wouldn’t be able to afford the boat. In addition to saving lots of money, you will become intuitively knowledgeable about the systems on board. You will immediately, without thought, know what thru hull assemblies & hoses connect to. Unfortunately, when buying a used boat, that is almost 40 years old, you have to establish a baseline for future maintenance. That means replacing EVERY thru hull assembly ( thru hull, valve, tailpiece, backer block, & hose) with proper bronze fittings, marine grade hoses & clamps. I replaced all on my Hunter 33.5 when they were approximately 15 years old. Grind off the mushroom portion of the thru hull fitting on the exterior of the hull & pull/remove the remaining assembly from inside the boat….easy peazy! Chisel off the old wood backer & fabricate new ones using G10 fiber or plywood donuts soaked in epoxy.This is really a DIY job. If you have to pay a marina $125+ per hour to fix easy problems like this you'll be broke real soon. Unless of course you were a Mega Lotto winner.
The raw water intake assembly (shown next to the raw water strainer), is a disaster waiting for a time & place to happen. The original hose appears cracked & rotted; when it fails, your boat sinks. Keep a set of conical wood plugs to plug the hole in an emergency. Also, keep the valve closed until you replace the hose. Good habit is to close all thru hull valves when you’re not onboard.
Photo #2 shows the plastic shaft stuffing box & hose assembly. My Hunter had the same configuration. The old hose & flax packing should be replaced, better yet, convert to a Volvo shaft seal that eliminates the plastic fittings, hose, & packing.
I personally wouldn‘t be concerned about the plastic speed/depth transducer yet.
All of this probably seems a bit overwhelming & yes, expensive; however, if you tackle one system at a time, you will become an ”expert” like everyone else on the forum! Don’t hesitate to ask questions when you need answers.
One final thought & bit of advice about learning to do repairs yourself. I can’t count the number of repairs that boatyards have done, that I have had to go back & fix myself either for poor workmanship or use of inferior materials. Learn to do these maintenance tasks yourself when possible.
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Oh the stories I could tell of boatyard failures and the personal and financial cost. They ain't pretty. And I've only used a boatyard for repairs a few times out of convenience.