Thru-Hull Problem / Question

[JusDreaming]

I have a through hull for the A/C that is delivering little to no water. Had a diver come out and clean it twice but still very little water comes out. My question is it possible to disassemble a thru hull or at least remove the 90 degree turn on it while in the water? It is a marlon sp? fitting! The body has four bolts running from top to bottom and the 90 degree barb is threaded to the top

[perchance]

You might try this. Close the Seacock and disconnect the water supply hose from the A/C and hold the open end above the water line. You can use an electricians fish tape to rod out the line to clear it of any debris. You may not get past the 90 but you will know if the line is clear to that point

[s/v Jedi]

Sure you can. Just close the seacock and remove the hose. If no water comes out, remove the 90 degree hose barb fitting too.

Now you can clean out the fitting and the hose. Dry the top part of the seacock and grease the ball as it's accessible now.

If you remove the hose and some water comes out: put a wooden plug in the thru-hull fitting on the outside to do the job and don't forget to replace the sea-cock during the next haul-out.

Edit: don't forget to remove the plug afterwards ;-)

cheers,
Nick.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by perchance

You might try this. Close the Seacock and disconnect the water supply hose from the A/C and hold the open end above the water line. You can use an electricians fish tape to rod out the line to clear it of any debris. You may not get past the 90 but you will know if the line is clear to that point

AND/OR, you could back flush it with a garden hose. Most likely some creature has crawled up to make a new home.

[edsailing]

I'll second the the Back flushing - make sure you have a good pressure on the hose to really flush it well.

[s/v Jedi]

I am sorry but all that back flushing doesn't work. It's a good practice for preventive maintenance but we're talking about A/C line here and every time I've seen this problem, dis-assembly was needed.

I would replace the hose, but beating it on the ground much like a whip to get all the crud out works for some. Next is the condenser of the A/C itself. The only thing that works here is flushing with muriatic acid diluted with water. You need to recirculate that much like when cleaning a watermaker. The best technique is using the smallest Rule submersible bilge pump or a submersible livewell pump in a bucket with the acid-water mix.

I am currently renovating the forward thru-hull on Jedi. It supplies water to the A/C and a deck wash pump. I made a PVC manifold with 4 valves/connections: sea-strainer, deck wash pump, A/C pump and the 4th to be connected to the boat's pressure fresh water supply. This makes flushing the A/C circuit and deck wash very easy and the sea-strainer/thru-hull can be back-flushed. It also allows priming the circuits and even fresh water deck wash. It cost less than $20.

cheers,
Nick.