seacock replacement

[N Moore]

I have bought a Typhoon and the seacocks were frozen. I asked the seller to get them going again and to my consternation he drilled them out and threw the bronze originals away. Arghh. Now he wants to replace them with a contemporary non-bronze version. I have read warnings to stay away from plastic and brass but the seller is insisting he is installing some sort of fiberglass replacement which is the way to go. Any comments?

[Jim Walsh]

The specific brand and model to be used would be helpful. There is junk and there is good stuff available. Based on the owners previous decision if I were you I'd do it myself for some reduction in purchase price.

[bottomscraper]

Plastic (Marelon) seacocks are about 1/3 the price of a good bronze seacock. Did the seller keep the old ones? Were the ruined or just removed? Can you get them?

[Sea Hunt Video]

Based on the owners previous decision if I were you I'd do it myself for some reduction in purchase price.

I second this suggestion.

[Steve Laume]

I would get what you can off of the purchase price and then eliminate the seacocks altogether. There are some posts on here where people have done away with them and it makes a great deal of sense. The hose runs to those seacocks are kind of a mess in that there are some tight turns involved and the additional height of the seacocks makes the situation worse. The only time you are ever going to close them is if the hose breaks. If you replace the hoses now, it is extremely unlikely that will happen in the next 10 to 20 years. If that is the situation a soft wood plug would serve nearly as well as closing a seacock. The seacocks also add a bit more restriction and make it harder to clear marine growth. I would get a pair of barbed through hull fittings, some new hose, good double clamps, a couple of plugs and go sailing.

The only time I ever closed the seacocks on my Ty was when we had four large adults sitting in the cockpit for dinner and we sunk the stern below the level of the sole by a half inch or so. We moved some crew forward and then closed them until dinner was over. This was an extremely rare situation and one that could have been endured or resolved by having someone sit farther forward. When sailing with that same crew it wasn't a problem, Steve.

[Oswego John]

Sea cocks were commonplace on the early Tys. All of the ones that I saw had a built in head. They were flushed with sea(lake) water. There were two sea cocks for the head. One was for water intake for flushing, the other was for discharge. There was no holding tank used.

The older Tys weren't self bailing. The sole was above the water line. Ergo, no need for under deck hoses to self bailing sea cocks.

I always felt that a sea cock for a bilge pump made sense.

I, too, agree with the earlier posters.

O J

PS: The weather gal says that it will be 72°F on here in Central NY on Monday. Woo hoo

[N Moore]

Interesting. My Ty is an '84 with no head and still has 2 seacocks. I would take care of it myself with new bronze if I had a choice but I live on an island and it has to go in the water in order to get it on home ground, hence my conundrum about two big holes in the hull. I think I will just have to go with what he is suggesting and eventually replace them if I don't like them. Too bad, since I made such a point of liking the boat because it was all original.

[Oswego John]

It sounds to me that the two sea cocks are used for sel fbailing. My guess is that you don't have a bilge pump system.

Maybe you could tell the seller to install something decent, (you specify what you would like) or you're not interested in purchasing. Or, if you aren't satisfied with his work, you can do the job at a later date, the way you want it to be.

You sound like you really want this *yacht*. Go for it. They are great boats.

O J

[Russell]

I have bought a Typhoon and the seacocks were frozen. I asked the seller to get them going again and to my consternation he drilled them out and threw the bronze originals away. Arghh. Now he wants to replace them with a contemporary non-bronze version. I have read warnings to stay away from plastic and brass but the seller is insisting he is installing some sort of fiberglass replacement which is the way to go. Any comments?

I am unaware of anyone who makes brass seacocks (unless he is buying gate valves at home depot, but that is not a seacock). Plastic (marelon) is actually very good. If he puts in Forespar Marelon seacocks or Groco bronze seacocks, you are in good shape.

[Jim Walsh]

I have bought a Typhoon and the seacocks were frozen. I asked the seller to get them going again and to my consternation he drilled them out and threw the bronze originals away. Arghh. Now he wants to replace them with a contemporary non-bronze version. I have read warnings to stay away from plastic and brass but the seller is insisting he is installing some sort of fiberglass replacement which is the way to go. Any comments?

I am unaware of anyone who makes brass seacocks (unless he is buying gate valves at home depot, but that is not a seacock). Plastic (marelon) is actually very good. If he puts in Forespar Marelon seacocks or Groco bronze seacocks, you are in good shape.

The boat is in Canada so he runs the risk of DZR seacocks being fitted. They have close ties with Britain and they are common there and on the continent. Rare here if ever encountered.