All Seacocks Frozen

[Peter Baumgartner]

I have bought a 1977 Cape Dory (#35) which has been out of the water since 1988 and left uncovered and neglected ever since. Think of it as my winter project. I moved the boat alongside my garage, northwest of Boston. Things outside are going well - she's cleaning up real nice.

But as I turn my attention to the systems and the first is plumbing, I have hit my first problem. All the seacocks are frozen, some open, some shut. Lets take the large one in the head... I have removed the nuts and plate (I have spartan catalog and other books describing disassembly), used various penetrating oils to loosen the valve, but it will not diassemble. I have tapped it, I have warmed it...ok I even hit it (protected by wood).

So what does one do? Remove it from the boat? If so, is it salvagable?

And does anyone have any good ideas about how to get those heavy head hoses off without using a knife?

Thanks for all your help.


Pete



pjb@napsys.com

[Don Sargeant]

I had exactly the same problem with some of my seacocks. The overboard discharge from the head had been closed for eons, having been sealed for use in NH. I removed the head so I had some swinging room and finally got them apart with a small sledge hammer--3lbs?. If you put a nut on so the thread is not exposed and tap the nut, the load is spread out on the threads and they won't distort too easily. But I went this route only after all else had failed. It took a lot of tapping (you can't just smash the thing apart) before the valve popped out. The valves looked like they had not been lubricated -- ever. I don't think I had enough damage to require relapping so I reassembled them according to Spartan"s instructions.
Note: You can't be too careful when tightening the inner nut. It puts a tremendous amount of squeeze on the taper and you can easily find yourself back at square one in the disasssembly process. Good luck!

I have bought a 1977 Cape Dory (#35) which has been out of the water since 1988 and left uncovered and neglected ever since. Think of it as my winter project. I moved the boat alongside my garage, northwest of Boston. Things outside are going well - she's cleaning up real nice.

But as I turn my attention to the systems and the first is plumbing, I have hit my first problem. All the seacocks are frozen, some open, some shut. Lets take the large one in the head... I have removed the nuts and plate (I have spartan catalog and other books describing disassembly), used various penetrating oils to loosen the valve, but it will not diassemble. I have tapped it, I have warmed it...ok I even hit it (protected by wood).

So what does one do? Remove it from the boat? If so, is it salvagable?

And does anyone have any good ideas about how to get those heavy head hoses off without using a knife?

Thanks for all your help.


Pete

don@cliggott.com

[Neil Gordon]

>>I moved the boat alongside my garage, northwest of Boston.<<

What model do you have? We're in the same neighorhood! Where do you plan on keeping the boat in the spring?

>>All the seacocks are frozen, some open, some shut.<<

Most of mine were pretty stiff, too... and it has nothing to do with the boat being out of the water, just that they need to be worked and kept greased.

I freed mine with lots of penetrating oil, sprayed liberally from the inside AND the outside. Then apply some leverage and see if you can get them to turn.

>>... used various penetrating oils to loosen the valve, but it will not diassemble.<<

It turns but it won't disassemble? Mine popped right out once they were loosened enough to turn.

>>And does anyone have any good ideas about how to get those heavy head hoses off without using a knife?<<

Heating might work. Use care when reassembling, though. If the hose is damaged, you would want to cut out that part, anyway, so maybe cutting isn't that bad an idea.


Regards, Neil
s/v LIQUIDITY
Cape Dory 28 #167



103355.34@compuserve.com

[Matt Cawthorne]

Peter,
At least two things can cause a seacock to "freeze". I guess the first question is what type of seacock? Some older models used gate valves. For the moment I will assume that you have the drum type. One of the causes is corrosion. If you can reasonably tap it out as mentioned in a previous post then do that and then lap it before re-assembly. I regrease my seacocks every year to prevent this. The second cause is ice. If water freezes in the barrel it squeezes the barrel out and forms bulges that lock into the openings in the housing. I mistakenly left a galley seacock closed one winter and this happened. I was able to pound out the barrel, file off the lumps and re-lap the whole thing. When it was done I was not sure what damage I had done while pounding on things. I decided to buy a new seacock and a new through hull fitting and had them installed.
My feeling is that the through hull fittings and seacocks are just too important to mess up. You will have to judge for yourself how much pounding is acceptable. If the closed ones had ice freeze in them then you may come to the conclusion that the pounding necessary will leave you uncomfortable. Using a hammer on the end of the shaft with a nut installed is ok. Just don't pound too hard.
Matt

I have bought a 1977 Cape Dory (#35) which has been out of the water since 1988 and left uncovered and neglected ever since. Think of it as my winter project. I moved the boat alongside my garage, northwest of Boston. Things outside are going well - she's cleaning up real nice.

But as I turn my attention to the systems and the first is plumbing, I have hit my first problem. All the seacocks are frozen, some open, some shut. Lets take the large one in the head... I have removed the nuts and plate (I have spartan catalog and other books describing disassembly), used various penetrating oils to loosen the valve, but it will not diassemble. I have tapped it, I have warmed it...ok I even hit it (protected by wood).

So what does one do? Remove it from the boat? If so, is it salvagable?

And does anyone have any good ideas about how to get those heavy head hoses off without using a knife?

Thanks for all your help.


Pete

mcawthor@bellatlantic.net

[Duncan Maio]

I have bought a 1977 Cape Dory (#35)

What model? I have a CD27 #37, also 1977 vintage.

All the seacocks are frozen, some open, some shut.

Back the nuts almost all the way off, and then hit it just a little harder than you think you should. Try to open/close the seacock after every few hits. The best tool for this is probably a 3-pound dead-blow hammer - a large plastic mallet with a head filled with lead shot - because the hammer does not rebound and the plastic face will not harm the threads.

So what does one do? Remove it from the boat? If so, is it salvagable?

If you can't drive the cylinder out, the seacock is not worth saving.

And does anyone have any good ideas about how to get those heavy head hoses off without using a knife?

If the head hoses have been on and neglected since 1988 (or 1977), cut them off and replace them.

Duncan Maio
s/v Remedy
CD27 #37
Bristol, RI



dmaio@att.net

[Peter Baumgartner]

Thanks to all of you for the advice. I will try a heavier object this weekend.

My Cape Dory is a 27.

I'm not sure where I will sail out of but am leaning toward Fairhaven.

Pete



pjb@napsys.com