Thru haul fittings

[Red Hatt]

I have several seacocks that are stuck open how do you free them up so thay will close? Thanks for any advise.

 

[thoward]

Are you on the hard? PB Blaster is your best bet short term.

 

[Red Hatt]

The boat is in the water. None of the valves will close.

 

[Bob Bradley]

Do you have room to put a short piece of pipe over the handle to give you some leverage?

 

[Red Hatt]

In some of the locations yes others no. Worryed that if a hose cracked or broke there wood noway to stop the flow of water. Is there a big expense in replcement of the valves?

 

[Avenger]

Not as big as the expense of replacing the boat. Sorry for being a smart@$$, but seacocks are a must-work item. Are yours all the ball/lever type? It is unusual for these to seize completely since they have a plastic liner, however it is not unheard of. Can you tap the handles with a hammer? (Note: I said "tap" not "blast", this requires some finesse)

My boat still had some gate valves when I got it. I replaced them all with levers. I always close them when I leave the boat. It's not that tough on a "small" boat like mine that has only seven. Periodic exercise helps keep them from sticking. Of course, you must remember to open them again when you start up otherwise you're in for some really big expense. Hope this helps.

 

[J's Dream]

I would NOT try to force the fittings to close, because if you hit them with something and they break...you're done for. I would haul the boat and fix it the right way.

Are they gate valves (like a garden hose valve) or ball valves (90 degree)? If they are gate valves, I would replace them with bronze ball valves. There isn't much expense in replacing them...untill you get into the large sizes. My main engine intakes are 3" and just a ball valve is $250.

While you're in there replacing things...I would seriously check the integrity of the thru-hull fitting itself, as they may be fatigued, and it's alot easier to replace them while you're in there.

Jason

 

[thoward]

Before you beat or pry anything go down and buy wood plugs.....Put PB Blaster on the seacocks every few hours for 24-48hours and try to close by hand each time. If that does not work you need to haul out!

 

[SeaEric]

Many of the older style seacocks have a rubber insert that rotates to open and close the flow. These type always have either a T shaped fitting or a hex head on the side of the valve opposite the handle. This is used to tighten and loosen the rubber seal. To open or close the valve, this fitting needs to be loosened to take the pressure off the rubber. Once loosened, the valve needs to "relax" for a while so the rubber will contract and allow the handle to move. If you try to move the handle while the rubber is under this pressure, it will not move. Once opened or closed, the fitting is then tightened up again to effect the expansion of the rubber and provide the seal for the valve. This type seacock needs to be disassembled periodically for cleaning and lubrication. If you're trying to move a seacock handle and it feels stuck but a little springy, it is likely a rubber valve that needs to be loosened to open (or close). Remember to let it sit for a while after taking the pressure off of it before trying to move the handle.

 

[Red Hatt]

They are the bronze lever type.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

It was written before, but I will repeat that you should have some wooden plugs aboard. Ideally you should have one for every size thru hull on the boat, especially if you have some stuck valves. If nothing else, it will give you some piece of mind until you get those valves working.

 

[egaito]

They are the bronze lever type.

If these are the big ones on your mains, my experience has been that they are always tough, even when they're working properly. We thought ours were shot, bought new ones, an they're just as difficult to move as the ones on the boat.

We too have clearance problems. Using iron pipe for cheater bars, I purchase a couple of lengths, and some elbows, which I swap around to get leverage at different points between open and closed, where there are different obstacles to overcome.

 

[Will]

Personally, I'd be a bit squeamish about pounding or otherwise muscling on frozen sea valves with the boat in the water.
When I bought the boat, the surveyor operated all sea valves and found one frozen. The yard was able to break it free using "Fluid Film" (great stuff). Since then, I close and open all sea valves including those unused, at least once a month. No problems since then. We also carry a variety of damage control plugs on board, just in case.
Will

 

[Genesis]

Yeah, don't hammer on them in the water. Guess what happens if you find out the hard way that they're corroded through from the inside?

Seacocks are a "must work" item. The day you REALLY need to be able to close that valve, you will need to do so RIGHT NOW. Believe me - strength will not be an issue at that moment - even an 80lb girl will be more than capable. But if they're frozen hard, you're screwed.

 

[Jaxfishgyd]

Another "trick" I learned when I worked at Boat/US a few years ago on this subject, and it works.
We had a couple of cans of insulation foam on the boats along with wooden plugs, rags, cable clamps and different size rubber end boots.
On one trip we were dispatched to a sinking boat. A hose had busted and the sea cock could not be turned off and the angle of it in a tight area wouldn't let a wood plug be used.
We crammed a rag into the hole as far as we could, he shot it full of the insulation and then put rags over that.
It slowed the leak down to almost nothing and then we put a rubber boot over the opening and used a cable clamp over the boot and stopped the leak.