Water Inlet Through Hull

[carterskemp]

ok. i have an easy one for you guys. how do i remove this through hull? it is the raw water inlet for the atomic four on my newly acquired pearson trition #345. the basket on the exterior had just one tiny little screw that cam out easily. but then i can spin the flanged nut on the inside, but i don't really see that the flanged nut has anywhere to go. does the large flanged part spin free of the threads that the flanged nut are using to tighten it to the hull?

i hope that made sense.

through hull

i have discovered a rather large shell has grown on the inside of the basket!

[georgefmys]

You lost me a little bit at the end there, but I think you have a valve body with female threads in the lower half that was screwed onto the male-threaded part that incldes the strainer on outside of hull. If turning valve counter-clockwise does not unscrew,then maybe strainer is covering thru-hull [male part] that is turning also....i can solve this problem in 8 letters: Sawszall

[Tim]

Can you post pictures of the outside too?

[sscoll]

Either start taking it apart further up working toward the hull, where it will explain itself to you, or go with the "sawzall" solution.

You might want those parts some day. That "basket" assembly is a very neat piece of work. Get some penetrating oil and larger wrenches.

Steve

[Tim]

Is this one of those weird sort-of-one-piece strainer/throughull assemblies that I have seen on several other Tritons and removed with pleasure and abandon?

What are your plans? In other words, are you removing this through hull because you are eliminating it, or servicing it, or replacing it? Don't waste your time saving stuff that you have no intention of reusing, but if you find the old fitting valuable for whatever reason, it will greatly change your removal approach.

[Figment]

ah, fuzzy memory.
Yes, I think the large "cap" is supposed to spin free of the top of the barrel so that you can get the hull compression flange off and send the barrel out through the bottom of the hull.

BUT,

It's been on there for-friggin-ever. It will not surrender easily.
You really should have a proper seacock there anyway.

Sawzall.

[carterskemp]

hey. sorry for the slow reply. i forgot to check the notify me option.

here is a pic of the outside basket.

Also, here is a quick drawing of what i can see of it so far:

are the 'THREADS' and 'BASKET' one item that are then screwed into the 'BODY'?

i was thinking to remove the whole through hull because the full sized shell that had grown inside the basket made me think that i wanted to fully check the whole thing out carefully. having slight second thoughts now. could have just pulverized the shell through the basket. maybe.

my first option is always to reuse to save money and materials and the like, but i am not adverse to making the decision to just go with the sawzall option and installing new.

thanks again,

carter

[Rachel]

I have certainly seen new ones where the basket and the threads are one piece (and the body is separate). If it is that type then the basket and (male) threads went in from the outside, and the body (with female threads) went on from inside.

When I redid the engine intake seacock on my A-30, I put in new stuff. I upped it from 1/2" to 3/4" (since I was changing things anyway), and I also removed the strainer entirely from the outside, and just went with a regular through hull. I was adding an inside strainer (the tall type with a glass cylindrical body with a screen inside) and I figured I'd rather be dealing with any clogs inside the boat at that strainer vs. outside and halfway down the keel. By the way, the inside strainer was separate from the seacock and across the way (I've seen some that are part of the seacock but that seems like way too much potential leverage if something falls against it, so they don't appeal to me).

I think if I were going with an outside strainer, I'd consider one of the ones that you can hinge open for cleaning.

(I think the no-strainer-on-the-outside thing is not a universally accepted best way, I feel that I should mention.)

Oh, and that is a really nice drawing! How did you do that?

Rachel

[Tim]

Here is a photo (attached below) of one thing you might find beneath the basket, which I was trying to describe above. This is another Triton.

The external strainer comes off with several screws, revealing this little plate that is an integral part of the through hull fitting/threads, as it were. If yours is original, it may well be one like this. (It may not, too.)

In many other cases, there's a regular through hull fitting located beneath the external strainer, which is not an integral piece.

Remove the external strainer and see what you have.

On the inside of your boat, that flanged seacock is screwed onto the threads of a fitting that is also secured with a flange nut. The whole arrangement is weak and lousy, and you should reconfigure. If you can unthread the seacock without a fight, do so. It will either come without too much effort, or it won't.

Alternatively, you can probably cut the threads beneath the seacock flange, where they are exposed above the flange nut against the hull, and deal with getting the remaining threads out of the seacock body later. This will destroy the through hull, but might save the seacock (which is the pricey part).

[Rachel]

Oh that's interesting - I've never seen one with the little plate like that.

[carterskemp]

the external strainer seems to be integral to the threads i can see on the inside. i can undo the flange nut a bit and the whole thing gets loose. so i think i am going to first try tightening the flange nut back up, and see if i can get the 'BODY' to unscrew off the treads. if i can't, hello sawzall, and start i'll start fresh.

the drawing was done with Rhino 3D, but just using it's 2D stuff, which makes it much like autocad.

carter

[bcooke]

How can the queen of bronze boat parts not know about that half plate thru-hull design?! I have several on my boat and I thought they were readily available.

I would definitely cut that ugly thing out of there. But I am known for taking rather extreme positions sometimes. I would want a proper seacock.

[Rachel]

:skulks out in shame:

[meubcr]

My vote is a Fein Multimaster and a hole saw. Cleaner cut than a sawsall (sp). Before going to such an extreme, I'd see what it takes to replace the parts. I like Spartan Marine (http://www.spartanmarine.com/) and Lighthouse Marine Supply (www.partman.com). Some headaches are just easier to throw money at.

[carterskemp]

hey.

so out it goes is the consensus.
so, ok. any examples at what would replace it? it is for the water inlet on the atomic 4, the next stop for the water from this valve is a strainer that also needs replacement.

something like this? (a strainer) http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?pat ... &id=673926
in conjunction with something like this? (groco seacock) http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?pat ... &id=860619



although sailing my whole life, i have not actually owned one of these suckers before, so i am loving the advice.

many many thanks.

carter

[sail_fix]

From the photo of the existing thru hull, it looks like a valve screwed onto a threaded thu hull fitting. On the outside is sort of trash filter that can be accessed by diving or at a haul out.

I would suggest replacement of the old fitting with a much-safer ball-valve sea cock. This is a fitting that integrates the valve with a flange that is screwed to a backing plate. Whether you go with Marlon or Bronze is mostly a matter of... argumentative choice.
Just pick one or the other, depending on whether you fear electrolysis more than you do (reinforced) "plastic."

Next, put a Groco raw water strainer (or equivalent) just after the valve. While some mariners swear by stopping fishes or seaweed on the outside where you may have to dive to clear it, I prefer to let the strainer stop stuff on the inside where I can clean it out in relative ease.

Double-clamp all junctions and use only good quality rated hose.
I put one of the Forespar "Y valve seacocks" in in '02, and it is invaluable in winterizing the whole raw side of the engine cooling circuit every winter.
http://www.forespar.com/onlineCatalog/2 ... 2009.shtml

Post some pix of the project as you go thru it, too.
BTW, I have some photos of our installation from '02 on another forum if you want the link.

Regards,
LB

[Figment]

BTW, I have some photos of our installation from '02 on another forum if you want the link.

Yes, please.

[Tim]

Whether you go with Marlon or Bronze is mostly a matter of... argumentative choice.
Just pick one or the other, depending on whether you fear electrolysis more than you do (reinforced) "plastic."

What if one fears neither electrolysis nor (reinforced) "plastic"?

[sail_fix]

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchan ... errerid=28

Picture in this thread.

And Tim, thanks for a chuckle, fearless mariner that you are!
:)

LB

[Matt B.]

Whether you go with Marlon or Bronze is mostly a matter of... argumentative choice.
Just pick one or the other, depending on whether you fear electrolysis more than you do (reinforced) "plastic."

What if one fears neither electrolysis nor (reinforced) "plastic"?

Then bronze is prettier.

[ddsailor25]

When we installed our new diesel in our boat we were told not to go with an exterior strainer for the water intake for the engine. There were several reasons for this. One was because you can't clean it without taking it apart and doing that in the water just won't work. The second reason is that you can have positive water pressure while sailing forcing water up through the engine and porentially flooding the exhaust and getting water into the engine. I don't know if this has actually ever happened to anybody, but we do get alot of growth and I do find that i need to go under the boat and clean out the through hulls at least once a season. Ours is set up with a 3/4" Groco valve, then to a water strainer, then directly into the engine. Been five years now and working well with this system.

Dave

[carterskemp]

just a final follow up.

i installed a fancy groco. ($150+ w/ all hardware. yikes!)
in my haste i used a plywood pad with several coats of epoxy. i would have rather used a figberglass pad. will probably swap out in off season when i redo ALL the other through-hulls.

-carter

[Figment]

Really, I wouldn't bother.

[Rachel]

I'm curious about the elbow/PTH connector on the top of the seacock. Would you happen to have a closer up photo of that?

Rachel

[carterskemp]

it's a Graco full flow elbow, the space above the through wasn't conducive to getting the hose to make a nice turn.
here is a pic of it off of jamestown distributor's site:

graco.jpg (25.78 KiB) Viewed 3779 times

[Rachel]

Thanks! For some reason the original photo looked completely different to me; like maybe it was some kind of elbow I had never seen before, or maybe a reducer + machined brass elbow. The Groco "full flow" elbows seem like good ones to me.

Rachel