You can also take the thru hull and visit one of your local engineering colleges and ask to see the chairman or department head of the school of engineering. Mechanical Engineering is the preferred discipline.
Tell them you are a private individual with a boat, show him or her the thru hull and ask if they can determine if it failed from a manufacturing defect, stray current corrosion, stress corrosion cracking, or mechanical overload. That's about it.
They usually have the metallurgical installations to perform such analysis work, to teach their students these phenomena. They may even appreciate the chance to use such a metal failure as a teaching opportunity. Be sure to let them know how long it was installed and in what waters you boat. If you know the stated composition, like 316, also let them know.
Such a service can cost a few grand should you decide to pay a lab directly to analyze it.
Then you will know exactly why it failed, no further speculation needed. You will also know what road to follow to prevent reoccurrence.
Good luck.
Tell them you are a private individual with a boat, show him or her the thru hull and ask if they can determine if it failed from a manufacturing defect, stray current corrosion, stress corrosion cracking, or mechanical overload. That's about it.
They usually have the metallurgical installations to perform such analysis work, to teach their students these phenomena. They may even appreciate the chance to use such a metal failure as a teaching opportunity. Be sure to let them know how long it was installed and in what waters you boat. If you know the stated composition, like 316, also let them know.
Such a service can cost a few grand should you decide to pay a lab directly to analyze it.
Then you will know exactly why it failed, no further speculation needed. You will also know what road to follow to prevent reoccurrence.
Good luck.