thru hull

skipper681

skipper681

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not wanting to hijack this thread http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?387558-Hose-for-cockpit-drains it's got me thinking... My cockpit drain thru hull is in pretty bad shape, time to replace the thru hull fittings. Its a 19ft Hurley and seacocks are pretty expensive at £80 each, what's the best way to do it? I wont scrimp on money over safety but I'm not rich so suggestions plz. Thanks
 
added to favourites, one question, did you go for brass, bronze or dzr (never heard of that) or stainless... I'm guessing plastic is no good for drains but I stand to be corrected if I'm wrong. :)
 
What is DZR? and thanks alahol2 for the link, is there a connection to put hose on that, thank goodness this is my only maintenance this season but it's a pretty important one so I'd like to do it right.
 
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skipper681 said:
added to favourites, one question, did you go for brass, bronze or dzr (never heard of that) or stainless... I'm guessing plastic is no good for drains but I stand to be corrected if I'm wrong. :)
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I did what Bill told me to do

I think it was DZR

although I have no idea why plastic would not be perfectly safe

I have to say that the solent forumites have come up trumps on this project

this is an astonishing place

D
 
skipper681 said:
What is DZR? and thanks alahol2 for the link, is there a connection to put hose on that, thank goodness this is my only maintenance this season but it's a pretty important one so I'd like to do it right.
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DZR is DeZincification Resistant brass. If you use 'normal' brass in seawater it can lose the zinc from the alloy and become brittle. There are lots of threads on here discussing it.
The connection for the hose would be a 'male hose tail' of the correct thread and hose i.d.
 
skipper681 said:
What is DZR?
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Dezincification resistant brass. A perfectly acceptable and slightly cheaper alternative to bronze


Good quality reinforced plastic such as Forespar Marelon is a serious contender. Some will argue and even better choice for a small boat instead of bronze or DZR brass.

For what its worth my 36 year old 19ft Sea Wych has plastic skin fittings with no valves or seacocks for cockpit drains and sink drain.
 
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alahol2 said:
Not sure how big your boat is but make sure you have enough 'height' under the cockpit to fix a stack like that. It can be quite tall.
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it's only 19ft, there aren't seacocks and the hoses aren't crossed, when i bought it there was a load of mastic (still there) in the thru hull fittings, it is watertight but just something Im not comfortable with so I will replace them this year. That link you posted is perfect, thank you.
 
VicS said:
Dezincification resistant brass. A perfectly acceptable and slightly cheaper alternative to bronze


Good quality reinforced plastic such as Forespar Marelon is a serious contender. Some will argue and even better choice for a small boat instead of bronze or DZR brass.

For what its worth my 36 year old 19ft Sea Wych has plastic skin fittings with no valves or seacocks for cockpit drains and sink drain.
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I'm gonna second guess myself here and say my bung is plastic so I can't see why not use a plastic thru hull but as I've mentioned I dont want to risk safety over money.

Edit to add... in the original post the link I posted someone mentioned cockpit drain pipes coming out above the waterline, is that viable on a 19ft boat?
 
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skipper681 said:
I'm gonna second guess myself here and say my bung is plastic so I can't see why not use a plastic thru hull but as I've mentioned I dont want to risk safety over money.

Edit to add... in the original post the link I posted someone mentioned the pipes coming out above the waterline, is that viable on a 19ft boat?
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Its rare I would think to find cockpit drain outlets that are always above the water line at least on small boats. It would not be possible on mine.

My sink drain is well below the waterline but I have known people fit them above and have a small hand pump to pump the water out.

The Westerly 31 i have sailed a lot has the sink drain very close to the water line. When sailing along briskly it gurgles .. it makes me feel sick when off watch below... I usually stick the sink plug in.

I bought a plastic skin fitting for my bilge pump outlet 36 years ago... still not fitted it
 
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john_morris_uk said:
Interesting comment on sinks gurgling. I find the sound quite comforting.
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I agree, and once used to the boat one can judge speed by it!

On racing dinghies the self bailers usually make a sucking, gurgling noise when the boat is really going well.

I manage to avoid any skin fittings at all on my boat, the sink pumps out into the well as do the bilge pumps, cockpit drains straight into it and outboard engine there looks after itself re in & outlets - but if I had through hull fittings I'd want seacocks on them in case of a pipe becoming damaged or giving up through age, general sods' law, etc.
 
While playing with thru hull fittings and seacocks its a good idea to get a tapered bung to fit the hole if anything ever breaks. Tape the correct sized bung to each pipe. Compulsary on charter coded boats for sensible reasons.
 
Sailfree said:
While playing with thru hull fittings and seacocks its a good idea to get a tapered bung to fit the hole if anything ever breaks. Tape the correct sized bung to each pipe. Compulsary on charter coded boats for sensible reasons.
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never understood this

having looked at the valves I am not sure where you expect it to break and where you intend shoving the bung

what the chances of the bung being the correct size

has anyone ever had a valve failure that requires the successful deployment of a bung

a plastic bag with a sponge inside makes excellent bung and does not require a perfectly round hole

D
 
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