Stainless steel inspection hatch issues?

[zachduckworth]

Hi,
I’m putting an inspection port in the middle of my cockpit deck to fill the hole where the wheel pedestal was. I like the look of stainless steel inspection ports. There is a model that fits the existing hole exactly, it’s 316 steel. My plan was to put some anti-sieze on there to keep that from being an issue. But is there any chance of rusting, or other issues with stainless as opposed to a plastic inspection port? The port will be surrounded by non-skid, for what it’s worth. Thanks!

[Rumrace]

Plastic needs to be the right material and yes plastic.
What size port is it. Through hills of the plastic variety are cast in nylon. Nylon now is available with CF and PC infused. Has amazing strength. Anything made with ABS will fail. Anything pure nylon will fail also both from UV. ASA PA11, 12 Nylons absolutely. Same story as using epoxy vs Poly Styrene. 316 keeps an edge as in a blade but rusts crazy fast deprived of oxygen. So how wet is the area. The plastic ones have a bigger thread area so if that applies to your boat it’s a small advantage.

[steve77]

Every deck fill and waste pumpout on our boat is stainless steel. I would say that a 316 inspection port mounted in your cockpit sole will not be a problem. MAYBE put a short strip on nonskid tape on the deck fill, just to keep from having a slick spot underfoot.

If you are worried about it jamming, the manufacturer may have a recommendation of what to use. On our boat I have used lanocote with good results.

Cheers!

Steve

[nuku34]

To the OP: I'm confused. You say "inspection port" and then talk about putting Lanicote on the threads. Ports don't have threads, they are usually rectangular things that have hinges. Are you actually taking about something like a through hull fitting? How big is the hole you want to cover up?

[Oeanda]

Presumably something like this. I just bought a 5” one to cover a 4” hole