Hi all,
I am replacing the three thru hulls located under the sink in the head. Two are 1/2 inch and one is 3/4. I have read Mainesails excellent article and want to do this properly.
I have 3 bronze seacock with flanges but they are all 3/4 inch. Is there any reason not to drilll the hole in the boat larger and use 3/4 thru hulls for the engine and head intake? If i do so, what is the best way to connect the 1/2 inch hoses to the 3/4 seacock?
Thanks
Greg
Greg,
Get some thing like this in bronze. The link is for brass not a great choice. Plastic may be OK.
http://www.discounthydraulichose.com/product_p/102-xx.htm
Jim
DO NOT use brass, ever. The only "plastic" that is acceptable is Marelon which is glass reinforced nylon. I would stick with the same size thru-hulls to make it simple and not have to worry about adapting to the hoses, but that's just me...
Greg,
I don't see anything wrong with increasing the size of the through hulls and adapting down as Jim suggested; especially if you already have some good flanged bronze 3/4" seacocks which are expensive. I followed Mainesail's directions when I replaced all of the through hulls on my previous boat - a 1978 CS27 that was fitted with (gulp) gate valves. It was lots of work but things went well.
Be careful with the through hull fittings though. I was considering replacing the OEM Marelon through hulls on my C34 with new ones; preferably bronze. But the flush flange on the through hull has a huge outside diameter and I couldn't find any new through hull fittings that would match so I left them alone. The pictures below show the through hulls under the head sink. I had scraped away a little of the fairing material around the fitting when I took these pictures.
Good luck with your refit. Keep us up to date with pictures!