Buy good hardware! Garboard drain '19 2320

[Bodick93]

A few months ago, I started noticing my drain plug trying to cross thread while inserting, and I noticed some odd erosion. I ordered a Groco piece (supposedly) off Amazon. Notice the back of the original one. It almost looked like brass plated copper. This thing was definitely going to be trouble. I do sort of like the large "gasket" area of the original, but the metallurgy may be suspect. To be honest, I don't like the color of the new one and suspect it is brass instead of bronze as advertised.
The drain fitting came right off. I expected to need a little debond to soften the 5200, but a very slight prying caused it to loosen after screw removal. If ever there was a job for 5200, it's a drain fitting.
I have access to a metal analyzer and and going to check the composition of each.

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[Bodick93]

What y'all can't see on the fitting is the pinkness of the allow at the bottom. This is a result of dezincification. Metal analysis revealed "yellow brass." I bought the new fitting off Amazon, advertised to be a Groco piece. It doesn't have NEARLY the zinc, but still does not contain anywhere near the amount of tin to be considered "bronze.". With the load of Chinese stuff on the market, mark sure you are not buying brass valves and such. It will fail quickly and may sink your boat if used in a through-hull. Here is a very informative article that you may reference if planning a project:

https://stevedmarineconsulting.com/know-your-underwater-alloys/

 

[Dleopoldi914]

It’s the Achilles heel of Parker I am learning. They skimp on nuts and bolts.

I had to replace every screw on my deck with good quality 316. Some of the screws were not even bedded properly with sealant and then the painted screws seem to be a low quality 304