Old through hull fittings, keep or replace?

[noswellplease]

I recently bought an old Trintella 11 and I'm presently upgrading. I wonder if anyone might have some advice in deciding which through hull fittings to replace over the Winter. I guess if they are solid brass they should be ok but some galvanised ones look a bit iffy. Ay words of wisdom on this would be appreciated. I guess the same holds true for a disused debth transponder should it be pulled and glassed over? If removing do you simply attack from outside with anglegrinder and replace with similar sized fitting? Any help would be great,

 

[bobgosling]

Brass ? I don't think so !

Bronze skin fittings only belwo the waterline surely ?

 

[Guest]

Bronze or Marleon. Nothing else in my experience is worth it. I got quite a few weeks work out of a ~$1M yacht that had 2 brass skin fittings fitted in the bilge pump outlets. They were just under the water with a antisiphon breaks before them. The yacht sank to half way up its engines before anyone noticed!

The only way to get real Bronze is from a known manufacturer. There is so much brass passed off as bronze that it is getting dangerous.

Getting the old ones out is fun as they very rarely unscrew. One method is to cut into the big nut on the back with a dremel and then split it with a chisel. Cutting the mushroom off the outside takes a lot of care to avoid damage to the hull.

 

[savageseadog]

If you don't know the quality and age of them, just fit new ones. It's not worth messing about, replace all the hoses and clips as well.
Your insurance company may not pay a claim if the they are knackered and/or you may not get insurance anyway.

 

[Roach1948]

How can you tell the difference between brass and bronze? I bought a couple of skin fittings on e-bay that were advertised as Bronze, but this thread has got me thinking!

 

[savageseadog]

The other thing to bear in mind is that there are literally thousands of bronze alloys although there are only perhaps 10-20 basic types.