A useful way to remove frozen hose
Issue 23 : Mar/Apr 2002
Disconnecting a plastic hose from the through-hull fitting it has shrunken onto over the years is enough to make anyone hot under the collar. As you pull on the hose, you stretch the plastic lengthwise, which slightly reduces its diameter and increases its grip on the through-hull.
If it’s time to replace the pipe, you can just hack it off. But if you’ll need to reconnect it later, try this hose-clamp trick. It’s particularly useful when the skin-fitting in question just happens to be in the bottom corner of your most inaccessible locker, and you can only reach it with one hand at a time.
Having loosened the hose clamp that secures the pipe to the skin-fitting, slide it along the hose until it is approximately 2 inches clear of the hose tail. Now tighten the clamp, compressing the hose until the end of it begins to flare away from the hose tail. Work the hose off the tail by gently rocking it from side to side. (Be careful not to use too much force, as you could break the through-hull’s seal to the hull.)
If the hose still refuses to budge, loosen the hose clamp, make sure the through-hull is closed, and pour hot water down into the pipe to soften the plastic. Drain the water off, and try the hose-clamp trick once again.
Finally, if all else fails, split the hose lengthwise with a utility knife. Start at the skin-fitting end, and cut only a couple millimeters at a time. Try to work the hose off after every cut, and with a bit of luck you’ll succeed without damaging more than a short section of the pipe.
To make life easier, if you’re fitting a hose clamp in an awkward location, try using one with a hexhead-type screw, so that you can adjust it with a socket wrench instead of a screwdriver.
Niki Perryman and Jamie Morrison left Australia in 1992 to cruise in their 35-foot Lion-class sloop, Siandra. After crossing the Indian Ocean, they spent several years exploring Europe and the U.S. East Coast … heading south this winter just ahead of the cold weather.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
