Time to think about our seacocks

[oldragbaggers]

Thank you very much, Steve. We will sure pick some Kroil up. We have also had PB Blaster recommended to us. Is it the same type stuff or two different products??

[Megunticook]

Kroil is different than PB, I would say more effective overall. PB works well too. Just apply some daily or twice daily for a few days, let it soak in good, then use force judiciously to free up the seacock. I had to whack one of mine with a rubber mallet quite persuasively to get it to crack loose.

[SV Tatyana]

Have you tried removing the locking nuts? After I did this I was able to just tap it right out on ours.

-Richard

[oldragbaggers]

A full day of work and Lance managed to get three of the six disassembled. Despite the success the day was not without it's frustrations. I was not really involved in the job, but here is what I know.

Drain plugs broke on two of them. Wood mounting pads have to be replaced under two of them. One destroyed flange nut. One bent handle. Bolts had to be cut off of one to remove it (because wood pad under it needs to be replaced).

I have to say that my husband is just about the most tenacious person I know and more patient than I ever would have been. He will get them all done but I think it's going to involve a fair number of replaced parts and a lot more time.

[Maine_Buzzard]

At some point, just cutting it out and replacing with new is a good idea. A Sawzall with a long metal cutting blade can cut the bolts off quickly, and even saw through the wood base and threaded flange.

http://www.capedory.org/board/viewtopic ... it=seacock

As for the bases, I used MaineSail's concept for fiberglass pads, but save a dime or two by cutting circles of fiberglass and building a round pad on waxed aluminum. (You can ever curve the aluminum to match the hull curve and save some grinding- build the top level for the seacock. I think about 20 layers gave a 5/8" pad.

[Zeida]

Lance and Becky… Here's what I did to all my 6y seacocks. Two of them, frozen, all backing plates badly disintegrated in need of replacements… My mechanic and I removed all of them -KEEP THEM SEPARATE within their own group- With marine plywood we created new ones using the old ones as templates, carefully marking which was where… I traced the outlines of each one on a 4 x 4 ft. of marine plywood and took it to a carpenter shop who cut them to match. We epoxied the bottom side of each, when dried, we varnished all the rest with several coats of varnish. We cleaned up every thru hull then, making sure the holes in the hull were good before reinstalling them. To do that, we used Boatlife polysulfide as a bonding material everywhere, inside and out. Used On-Off -a mild acid- and bronze scouring pads to really clean the bronze pieces and Morey's Red Grease as a final sealer. Pictures follow. Every haul-out, I service them, removing the drums, cleaning well, regreasing and reinstalling. They are still in excellent shape. At least, you can see how it worked out.

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All six in their separate groups, cleaned up ready to be reinstalled.

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making the new backing plates of thick marine plywood.

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epoxy on the bottom side and several coats of varnish on the rest…

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galley seacock back on…

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port locker seacock back on

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Stbd. seacock in front of fuel tank back on..

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Raw water by engine getting reinstalled… no hose yet..

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Head seacock back on...

[Sea Hunt Video]

Zeida:

Those are some really impressive photos.

Remember our deal. In a few days (when the weather is not so oppressively hot) you are going to give me some "on scene" advise on cleaning my seacocks. In exchange I agreed to buy you one cup of Italian espresso

[Zeida]

Sea Hunt… the deal was a couple of Miller Lights…NOT coffee!.. Talk to you very soon.

z

[Neil Gordon]

Sea Hunt… the deal was a couple of Miller Lights…NOT coffee!.. Talk to you very soon.

z

Zeida,

It's no great secret that in exchange for some very light lifting, I got a bottle of single malt scotch. I'd hold out for more than a couple of Miller Lights.

Robert,

Your life, and the lives of your passengers and crew, depend on your seacocks functioning as designed. That's got to be worth at least a six pack.