Seacocks Cape Dory 25D

[Sea Hunt Video]

I am getting ready to try to remove, clean and reinstall the seacocks on my 1982 Cape Dory 25D. There are three (3) in the engine compartment that are Spartan seacocks - 2 cockpit drain seacocks and 1 sink seacock.

While I am hopeful I will be able to remove them without damaging them and then properly clean and reinstall them without destroying them , those two possibilities remain distinct. If either happens I will need to replace the Spartan seacock.

The copy of the owner's manual I have states: "The cockpit scupper drains on your Cape Dory use multi-ply wire reinforced hose throughout. The hose is 1” inside diameter on the Typhoon and 1-5/8” inside diameter on all other models."

In looking at the Spartan Catalogue it appears that 1 5/8" is the largest seacock Spartan makes. Does anyone know if this is the correct replacement size for the seacocks on a Cape Dory 25D Better still would be knowing the correct part number for the Spartan seacocks.

Although the manual does not appear to reference the sink drain seacock it looks like that is the same size as the cockpit drain seacocks.

The bad news is that South Florida is experiencing one of the hottest Summers on record. As those of you with a Cape Dory 25D know, trying to access these three (3) seacocks requires the acrobatics of a tiny gymnast. I will try to work on one next week but I am probably not going to do this project until September/October when, hopefully, the temps will moderate a little.

Thanks in advance for any information.

[bottomscraper]

I can't tell you what's on your 25D but I can tell you that the cockpit scuppers on Mahalo CD36 were 1-5/8" and that 1-1/2" hose would be a horror show to get on. I was only able to find "wet exhaust" hose in 1-5/8" size. It's a bit pricey but probably good for another 20+ years.

[tjr818]

Roberto and Rich,
I am not sure how things are on a 25D nor on a 36, but on our 27 the seacock is 1 5/8" and the cockpit drain fitting is 1 1/2"
I have some Trident 1 5/8" hose, but I do not know what to do at the 1 1/2" fitting. I had thought of using a section of bicycle tire inner tube as a bushing, but even that makes the cockpit fitting more than 1 5/8".
Rich, did you have the same condition?

[House]

Robert, the cockpit scuppers on my 28 take a 1 5/8" hose as well, "wet exhaust," wire reinforced. Not sure I would use the wire kind again. The whole run from scupper to seacock is only 18 inches or so. A wire hose that short is VERY stiff! Not sure about the galley sink seacock/hose; it's smaller than 1 5/8, probably 1 1/2" like Rich's. I just serviced the raw water and sink seacocks myself, but did not remove the hoses or seacocks. Spartan wrench or similar tool makes this a fairly easy boat job, relatively speaking. Good luck!

Richard

[Sea Hunt Video]

I just serviced the raw water and sink seacocks myself, but did not remove the hoses or seacocks. Richard

Richard: How do you service a seacock without removing it

Rich A., Tim and all:

What I am initially concerned about is having to replace the seacocks themselves. If I order from Spartan what part number (size) replacement seacock do I order. I am assuming from your posts that it is the 1 5/8" seacock. Right

[Jim Walsh]

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/replacing_thruhulls
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/tape ... e_seacocks

I just serviced the raw water and sink seacocks myself, but did not remove the hoses or seacocks. Richard

Richard: How do you service a seacock without removing it

Servicing and replacing are two different projects. Servicing does not require removal. It does entail disassembly.
The body of the seacock should have the size cast into it.
My presumption here is that you have Spartan seacocks, not all CD's do.

[Sea Hunt Video]

Jim and all:

I am obviously missing something here. Not surprising. As the Admiral often reminds me "Roberto, there is dumb and dumber and then there is you".

In order to clean and lap, etc. the Spartan seacocks (mine are Spartan) I have been laboring under the impression that I have to remove the "plug" or tapered cone and I also have to remove the "body" of the seacock. I use the term "body" and "plug" because those are the terms used by Maine Sail in his tutorial.

I am "assuming" (yes, I know ) that in order to properly clean and lap the "plug" and "body" that you have to remove BOTH to be able to clean and lap them.

Can the process of cleaning and lapping the "body" be done without removal of the "body"

I spent a little time yesterday trying to determine how I would gain access to the scupper drain seacocks on my CD 25D. As those who care for a CD 25D know, the access is less than minimal. This is exacerbated by an old, fat guy with short arms. Within minutes I began to feel the effects of high temps, high humidity, etc. and decided I did not want to again experience coming close to a heat stroke event.

Jim and all: any additional information, advise, etc. you can provide will be very much appreciated. The more detail, the better.

[Jim Walsh]

It's not mandatory that the seacock "body" be removed to lap. It might be easier if you had some other reason for removing it, such as replacing the backing plate, but certainly not necessary. Would it be easier to lap from an ergonomics standpoint, yes.
Unless the seacock is leaking there should be no reason for lapping it. I might just be lucky but all I've ever done was to clean the surfaces, with crocus cloth, if paint thinner didn't seem to clean the mating surfaces sufficiently.

[Sea Hunt Video]

Jim and all:

Sorry. My fault. I was not clear in my posts.

First, the good news As of this post NONE of my seacocks are leaking. The engine compartment remains bone dry. Yea

However, as stated in other posts, I have two issues with the seacocks in the engine compartment. First, 3 of them are stuck/frozen. The 2 scupper drain seacocks are frozen in the "OPEN" position which is probably better than frozen in the "CLOSED" position. The sink drain seacock is stuck/frozen in the "CLOSED" position.

I think I need to remove both the "plug" and the "body" of the seacocks in order to properly and fully clean these seacocks and hopefully get them to work properly again. That is why I was asking about the correct Spartan replacement part number for the seacocks. If I damage them I will probably need to replace them.

Second, all 3 backing plates are rotting away. It looks like the material is plywood and probably not even marine grade. It also looks like it is original equipment plywood - 34 years old

As stated in another post I am hopeful of being able to fashion some backing plates from FRP material and position the backing plates over the thru hull, etc. and then reinstall the seacock.

So, my thinking was I needed to remove both the "plug" and the "body" in order to service them but also so that I could deal with them being "frozen" and deal with the FRP backing plates.

For someone with my marginal skills at this sort of effort, what looms before me is a daunting task.

There is a significant amount of green (and white) growth (verdigris ) on the seacocks. The seacocks are covered in this green/white growth. Can I use vinegar to remove this green material before I start trying to disassemble the seacocks I have also thought of lemon juice. Any recommendations There is a lot of this green/white stuff.

[bottomscraper]

Roberto and Rich,
I am not sure how things are on a 25D nor on a 36, but on our 27 the seacock is 1 5/8" and the cockpit drain fitting is 1 1/2"
I have some Trident 1 5/8" hose, but I do not know what to do at the 1 1/2" fitting. I had thought of using a section of bicycle tire inner tube as a bushing, but even that makes the cockpit fitting more than 1 5/8".
Rich, did you have the same condition?

Yes my cockpit drain fittings are slightly smaller than the hose barb on the seacocks but still tight enough fit that the 1-5/8" hose worked fine. I guess you could put a few layers of that silicone tape like "Rescue Tape" if it makes you feel better. Personally I'm not worried about it at all. Having one end slide on a bit easier makes installing the hose not such a horrible job.

[tjr818]

Roberto and Rich,
I am not sure how things are on a 25D nor on a 36, but on our 27 the seacock is 1 5/8" and the cockpit drain fitting is 1 1/2"
I have some Trident 1 5/8" hose, but I do not know what to do at the 1 1/2" fitting. I had thought of using a section of bicycle tire inner tube as a bushing, but even that makes the cockpit fitting more than 1 5/8".
Rich, did you have the same condition?

Yes my cockpit drain fittings are slightly smaller than the hose barb on the seacocks but still tight enough fit that the 1-5/8" hose worked fine. I guess you could put a few layers of that silicone tape like "Rescue Tape" if it makes you feel better. Personally I'm not worried about it at all. Having one end slide on a bit easier makes installing the hose not such a horrible job.

I suppose that if water starts coming out of the top connection I will have more to worry about, at that moment, than that small leak

[barfwinkle]

Robert if you want to discuss this live, call me tomorrow (see the Directory).

Fair Winds