Through Hull questions for Camper: Need to attach Female quick connect for air

[paddlesurf.net]

I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how this is done. Maybe you can help. I need advice on what to use for two through hull situations where I need to pass extension cords/propane lines through the wall of my camper and where I'd like to mount a PowerTank female quick connect.

So two different problems requiring diff. solutions- any advice, recommendations about proper installation, fittings would be great!

Requirements: 1.Propane/extension through hull must be wide enough to accept the head of an extension cord. 2. Through hull must have screw on caps inside and out. 3. PowerTank fitting (female quick connect) must be mounted rigidly.

The camper wall: I have a perfect spot to drill through my camper wall- it's an extension of the wall that I built below the back door of the camper (I just realized photos would really help here- I'll snap some shots at lunch and post). The back wall consists of a 2x6 covered by a 1/4 thick piece of aluminum plate so total wall thickness is 1 3/4" (right? 1.5" + .25" = 1.75"). Both surfaces are flat- perfect for screwing a big lock nut down onto.

Problem 1: I'd like to drill a 1.5" to 2.0" wide hole into the wall to feed either an extension cord into the camper (from Honda generator outside of the camper) or to run a propane line with female quick connect out of the camper when needed for bbq. I've looked at marine plumbing through hulls from West Marine- they look cool but they are expensive (I'm not opposed to dropping some dough at West Marine if there's a perfect solution to be found there) and they don't have a cap for the outside facing portion of the through hull. Here's what I'm talking about:



These are along the lines of what I'm looking for because you can cinch it up tight with the threaded nut on the inside of the camper- problem is no outside cap.

Here's one solution I'm considering:



ABS pipe has perfect 2" width but I can't find some type of threaded end with matching screw on nut to cinch it down both inside and out- maybe you plumbers out there can point me in the right direction with fittings (links too if possible so I can purchase)- or if there's some cool kind of flush mount fitting for ABS pipe... this is kind of heading in the right direction because it's cheap, light and strong. Recommendations appreciated!

Problem 2: I'm going to purchase and mount a PowerTank inflation system in the back corner of the bed of the truck that the camper rests on. I'd like to be able to plumb a female quick connect from the tank, through the wall to the outside of the camper. That way, when I need to air up, I just twist on the CO2 valve and plug into the quick connect that's outside the camper. Here's the power tank:



Here's the coupler:



The problem is that the wall is 1.75" thick. How do I snugly mount that receptacle? I guess I'd need to know what type of adapters to buy that would allow me to crank down on some type of nut on the inside of the camper that would pull the quick connect tight to the outside of the shell. I've looked at Kilby Enterprises site and they have a ton of fittings etc.- but I have no idea what I'd need to do this. Again, if you could point me in the right direction I'd be stoked.

Thanks a bunch- anybody in San Diego (or California) that gives me super useful advice will be rewarded with some discrete directions to the Baja surfspot that I have a photo posted of in the "Camper For Sale" section of this site- I'm selling my old fiberglass shell there look for it under 8' Tundra bed shell. Thanks again.

 

[paddlesurf.net]

Here's a shot of the wall of the camper that I'm going to drill through:



It's the solid aluminum plate below the door, driver's side corner.

 

[paddlesurf.net]

Alright then- since nobody sprang into action to help me out I applied my expensive education to the interwebs and I think I figured it out myself:



Spent a little time on the McMaster site learning the difference between British Standard Pipe Taper, Metric Straight, National Pipe Taper and British Standard Pipe Parallel fittings- and I'm hoping I got it right. I'll have to hog out the wood behind the 1/4" aluminum a bit since the coupling is only 1.5" but I think I can make it work.

And for the other problem- I'm combining electrical, plumbing and landscape irrigation parts to make a frankenstein pass through- 1 1/2" tubing will allow extension cord through. Stand by for photos.

 

[Photomike]

My idea would be to put a door in and a compartment inside the door where you could store the hose and have the hose ends with the male or female connector ready to attach to. I am always concerned for ends getting dirt in them, loosing caps, or loosening the connector with use. With them in the compartment they would be protected from damage.

 

[highdesertranger]

I was going to suggest a bulkhead fitting when I read the tittle but after reading the rest of you post I would go with an access door like photomike said. highdesertranger

 

[paddlesurf.net]

Greetings Gents-

Thanks for the suggestions for the CO2 system- I wish I had room to install a small locker to keep the quick connect dust free- I'll look into some type of box I could screw to the plate that the coupling could live in. Other than that, I've ordered a 1/2" rubber dust cover to go over the quick connect.

As for the other problem- the extension cord/utility port I got it solved.

Here's what I did:

I started out by buying all kinds of fitting from many different areas of The Home Depot Box: caps from irrigation, a threaded nipple from electrical and some ABS black pipe from plumbing put it all together and you have a fairly cheap through hull with two threaded ends. Problem was that it would stick out from the aluminum plate quite a bit and it kind of invited someone to mess with it. So I went super simple: abs pipe, with non-threaded caps on both ends. It looks lo-pro and it works- here's how it looks:



The cap on the outside seats itself fairly tightly so I'm not worried about losing it on the road- I'll buy an extra cap for insurance. Somebody could just pop off the outside cap but what I've done on the inside is drill out the cap and pipe and I've got a 3" clevis pin through it to keep it from being popped off. Here's what that looks like from the inside:



To keep the tube from being pushed through the hole in the bulkhead, I drilled down into the tube with a wood screw that acts like a set screw holding the tube in place. It's wedged in tight.

Overall I'm happy with how clean it came out- now on to the CO2 quick connect fitting.

 

[Wainiha]

Are you woried about any CO2 leakage with the tank mounted inside?

 

[paddlesurf.net]

Greetings Wainiha,

Yes I did consider death by CO2... but it's denser than air and I'm going to vent the bottom of the camper- and I'll keep the valve closed. Maybe some type of propane/CO2 alarm? I know they have one for carbon monoxide but CO2? Anybody know?