Stuck Through-hulls
 

Anyone have some good suggestions for freeing up stuck through-hulls, short
of hauling out? I imaging going at them with a long handle extension may be
a good way to find oneself with a whole lot of water in the bilge!Any ideas
would be appreciated.

Here are a couple of ideas (one of which- guess which, I really tried and it
worked):

Thru hulls stick for a couple of basic reasons- calcium fouling (head
discharge), corrosion and sometimes just lack of lubrication.

If the thruhull is stuck closed, then you can remove the hose and fill the
tailpiece with a mild acid solution to dissolve the scale or corrosion
products. CLR a household scale remover (on your grocers shelves) does a
pretty good job. Mix it with water 50/50 and let it sit all day. Then sponge
out the liquid, flush it with a few changes of water and if you are lucky it
will free up. If not then soak it with your favorite penetrating solvent:
WD40, Kroil, etc. If that doesn't work then it is time for a haul out.

You can also remove the drain plug on the side of the valve body (if it has
one) and squirt some solvent in, but the drain plug usually faces down, so
there will be little solvent retained. You could make a fitting to screw on
and fill a tube with solvent to slowly work its way in. Hey if you are
desparate, you can try anything- see below.

If the thruhull is stuck open, then life is a lot more difficult. You could
use a variation on a trick to keep thruhulls from freezing in hard winter
climates while in the water. Find a hard closed cell foam of some sort. Cut
a plug a bit bigger than the ID of the thruhull. Then pull the hose off and
jam the foam plug in the open body of the thruhull and with a pusher of wood
or whatever, push the plug so it is beyond the beginning of the valve, but
not too far to fall out the back side. Now you have access to the thruhull
and you can soak as above. This procedure is not for the faint of heart and
you better have a soft wooden plug handy to close off the flood if the plug
doesn't fit.

Good luck. A haul out may be pretty cheap by comparison with the
consequenses of the above.

David

Stick a big chunk of modeling clay, or a wax toilet bowl ring in the
opening on the outside of the hull before you start. David's ideas are
good. I find the best thing I've ever found to free stuck metal parts,
screws, bolts, etc. is PB Blaster. You should be able to find it at an
auto parts place. Spray it wherever you can and let it soak. Tap
lightly with a hammer on the body, stem, etc. then see if that frees it
up. If not, soak some more. Once you free it up, lube with some
plumber's silicone grease. Don't forget to remove that outside plug
before running again!

The suggestions made are good ones, particularly if the valve has been
stuck for some time. It is certainly worth a try to use additional
mechanical leverage provided this is done with an appreciation for the
consequences of excess force. If an 8" pipe is inserted over the handle,
this should be sufficient to free a valve that has not been stuck for
too long. It should not be easy to break a bronze handle, even with an
8" pipe providing 6" of additional leverage.

I had a thru-hull for the head that was always difficult to open/close,
even when recently lubricated. Based on that, the pipe was effective
when unassisted torque wasn't enough.

Needless to say, at the next haulout, I disassembled the valve and
cleaned it thoroughly. It has been smooth as silk ever since.

Good luck with yours.

Chuck

padeen wrote:
Anyone have some good suggestions for freeing up stuck through-hulls, short
of hauling out? I imaging going at them with a long handle extension may be
a good way to find oneself with a whole lot of water in the bilge!Any ideas
would be appreciated.

Damn good stuff, guys. Thanks! I'll let you know how things went (if I can
exit the boat in time. . . ).

"padeen" wrote in message
...
Anyone have some good suggestions for freeing up stuck through-hulls,
short of hauling out? I imaging going at them with a long handle
extension may be a good way to find oneself with a whole lot of water in
the bilge!Any ideas would be appreciated.

Don't be afraid of the water flow. It doesn't come in that fast and the
preasure is very low so it is easy to stop with any kind of plug. It
can scare you the first time you see light out the bottom of your boat
but after the first time, you'll relax and say the same thing as here.

I had this problem too. I put a wooden plug in it from the outside
then took apart the valve to find it was filled with fouling (barnacles
and such). Cleaned it up, packed it with grease and now I turn it
every few months just to make sure.

I thought it might be more of a fowling problem. I'll get to them when I
buy the boat and see.


wrote in message
ups.com...
I had this problem too. I put a wooden plug in it from the outside
then took apart the valve to find it was filled with fouling (barnacles
and such). Cleaned it up, packed it with grease and now I turn it
every few months just to make sure.