Plastic thru hulls

[Swimmer]

Originally Posted by Mr. Sandman

My boat came with a mix of thru hulls that probably were appropriate for the application. Bronze below WL, a couple stainless above and also 4 plastic ones above the Wl, a head pump-out, Bait-well drain, AC discharge, and a FW sink drain. I noticed last year they were looking a little "chalky" on the outside. Inside the looked good, except the sunlight would lighten them up when looking from the inside and each time I looked at them I kept saying...I am going to swap them out with SS thru hull fittings I don't like seeing daylight illuminate the fittings.
The plastic are kinda nice in that they do not stain, have no electrolysis problems and are pretty inexpensive.
Well, today I removed them as I wanted to use the dimensions of the old ones to by new SS ones so I would not have to re-drill any holes.
I removed the clamp on the hoses and gave the hose a tug an 2 out of the 4 fittings snapped clean off. The other two I had to work out of the hole but the two that broke of did so without much effort. The FL sunlight degraded the plastic to the point of near failure.

I ordered 4 SS ones for above the WL and 2 bronze ones for fish-box macerator drains that are right at the WL in the stern.

So, if you have any plastic thru hulls that have seen a few seasons...give them a good look and a tug on the hose.

Your boat is only two years old, isn't it?