MartinRF 53 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 My log impeller died on me several years ago and I never bothered with replacing it. Its through-hull fitting is still in place. Now I am facing a major re-paint job and I am pondering including removing the through-hull fitting in that job. It will remove a bump from my port hull and and worries about O-rings from my mind. The through-hull fitting is a mushroom-shaped plastic thing and liberal amounts of silicone sealant was usen when it was installed some 30 years ago. How to best deal with this? Just pushing the fitting out from the hull does not seem to work. The silicone clings to the hull and the fitting with tenacity and it is hard to apply force from inside the hull (under a bunk). An angle grinder surely will do the job but it will also spread the silicone all over the place. /Martin Link to post Share on other sites
rigger 47 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 If hard to apply pressure from inside use a pipe / bar through the thru hull fitting to pull from the outside. - push pipe through fitting - fit piece to stop pipe coming out - pull on pipe google slide hammer I have also resorted to grinding the outer mushroom piece off and pushing the rest inward. Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 on the outside make sure you have removed all the paint/sealant possible and maybe try to work a long disposable break-off blade between the head of the mushroom and the hull, with occasional blasts of wd40 and tapping from the inside, again remove as much sealant as possible, and try to work some rotation of the the mushroom, maybe with vicegrips Link to post Share on other sites
MartinRF 53 Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 Good thinking both of you. Rigger's proposal made me remember those tools one uses for pulling a bearing or break drum. It shouldn't be too hard to manufacture such tool for my needs and combining it with some break-off blade 'diplomacy' as suggested by Erice. That should be a much more controlled process than an angle grinder assault. /Martin Link to post Share on other sites
ScottiE 174 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I was thinking a dremel drill or similar would knock it off in double quick time. You could also try using silcone remover to clean out the s**t. It works well on gelcoated polyester fibreglass baths and surounds! Link to post Share on other sites
rigger 47 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Good thinking both of you. Rigger's proposal made me remember those tools one uses for pulling a bearing or break drum. It shouldn't be too hard to manufacture such tool for my needs and combining it with some break-off blade 'diplomacy' as suggested by Erice. That should be a much more controlled process than an angle grinder assault. /Martin Get a length of threaded rod, 3 nuts and washer(s) of the size required, a length of line and a persuader (hammer/sledge hammer). pass rod thru fitting - on the inside thread one nut on, then washers then another nut. on the other end thread nut on a short distance, tie one end of line to rod, tie other end to head of persuader, one person holds rod, another person swings the persuader..... Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 as motorbike says if you're a dab hand with an angle grinder you'll have that baby off in no time you'll know if you're up to delicate, close-in work with an angle grinder i've a friend who given half a chance, would put it into his face... Link to post Share on other sites
MartinRF 53 Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 Pictures from yesterday: Very controled -- no drama involved. /Martin Link to post Share on other sites
paxfish 5 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Nicely done! I presume you are replacing it with a solid glass patch? If so, it might be a nice spot for a shooting through the hull for a fish/depth finder.... Link to post Share on other sites
MartinRF 53 Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 No plans for further electronic gadgets. My boat is pretty much a big beach cat with some protection in the hulls. She performs as and is sailed as a beach cat -- by the back of my pants. Where I sail I don't need a depth finder and fishing? No time for that. My GPSs are used for telling me my speed (one in each cockpit) and back home I 'analyze' the track-log (tacking angles OK? VMG? etc) /Martin Link to post Share on other sites
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