Skin fittings

[boater123]

Hi,

 

I am about to cut my skin fittings for my bathroom, kitchen and washing machine. I've bought the skin fittings from uxbridge boats but was wondering if anyone could offer me advice before I cut holes in my boat.

 

Im interested in hearing your thoughts on:

 

What drill to use and what holesaw?

What sealant to use?

Any common mistakes and things to avoid?

 

Many thanks,

 

Adam

[Bloomsberry]

Above the waterline is a good idea , ha ha.

 

Seriously there is a minimum height above the waterline the skin fittings have to be or as an alternative the pipework has be routed above the same height inside the boat. Think it's twelve inches but no doubt someone who knows these thing a lot better than I will be along to put me right.

Edited June 9, 2016 by Bloomsberry

[Silebyman]

Use holesaw just larger than the fitting tail you want to pass though the hole.

 

HSS holes saws will work fine. Keep the speed down if you can, and stop occasionally if you think it's getting too hot. A little bit of WD 40 or something similar is a good cutting fluid..

 

I smear a bit of marineflex / stixall on the flange of the skin fitting on assembly to aid with getting a watertight joint..

[BWM]

Be aware of any rubbing strakes as they don't always show on the inside, and avoid putting two outlets close together if possible. My last boat corroded very badly between two of these and have since seen this happen on others.

[NMEA]

Use a decent quality holesaw at the speed shown on the makers site for each size / material, The Starrett site is good for that, treat the raw edges with rust preventative. Any good marine sealant will do but make sure you don't allow the fitting to spin whilst tightening the back nut.

[Guest]

I have always (well 99% of the time ) used the yellow "Starrett" holesaws, both at work and play. Good prices on Ebay, most electrical/plumbing wholesalers sell them. As others state, slow drilling machine, plenty of lube (cutting paste best, milk as a bare minimum.) Avoid rubbing strakes and get height above waterline right.

One more thing, when using a Starret style holecutter, use a 6 mm drill as a pilot, then the centre drill in the holesaw just works as a mandril to stop the cutter wandering about. This prevents taking the point of the centre drill, and stops the cutter slamming into the work on break though (if the centre drill is used to drill the 6mm hole.) As others say seal with marine sealer after fitting skin fittings.

I prefer the welded in ones, but not always possible. I have sheared a couple off in the past on our boat.

Edited June 9, 2016 by Guest

[system 4-50]

Make sure that you can get a suitable run from the fitting to your appliance. Sometimes trying to run straight from the fitting to the appliance is more difficult than putting in what seems to be an unnecessary bend. I tend to offset my fittings.

[ditchcrawler]

I find a good cutting lubricant like Rocol makes a big difference when using hole saws.