Galley Sink Fills With Water

[Schooner Chandlery]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

Nope...always that way

So just one of the cranky ones, huh?

Note to self, add to list of the trolls who think they're God...

[Schooner Chandlery]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

Perhaps I missed it, but no one suggested it was 'unsafe' to operate any vessel with seacocks open? OPEN is the normal position to be in when underway I would have thought. Otherwise, what's the point of even having seacocks?

Open is normal, I brought the bilge pump issue into this thread because that's a seacock that I close in rough seaways. You can install a check valve that will fix the problem of water getting in your galley sink w/o doing something contrary to ABYC (my bilge pump matter says no check valves in bilge pump exits per ABYC) and you'll be able to leave your sea cock open whilst preventing that water from coming into the sink. If you're paranoid (as we are) of water coming in--then you go the extra distance of installing vented loops and you have to pump out your sink to a point above waterline. Some folks really dislike thru hulls (holes in the boat) and those folks find any/all thru hulls to be unsafe just because they're there. In the case of no check valve or no vented loop/pump I'd close the thru hull to the galley sink when the sink is not being used while underway.

Fair winds

[model 10]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

2,4,21,40,50..... maybe its just my interpretation..... still running a caffeine deficit here......

Yeah, it's your caffeine problem. I'm #2 and I did not say it was unsafe. I said it's not uncommon to need to shut your sinks seacock. If you want your sink to overflow and flood your boat, that is your business. I'm not going to say it's unsafe but it makes no sense to not close it when you go sailing if your boat sink overflows. I would hazard to guess that lots of the older wet deck boats have this problem.

[grantmc]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

Have some coffee
Of those only post 40 could be taken to understand that they should be closed on passage, though, I'm not sure even he meant it that literally.

As the poster of post no 40, you're correct Rustic Charm. Thank you.
In rereading my post I should have written '... be able to close ...'

In my own boat I always leave the sea cock for the water for the motor open so that the motor is always available for immediate use. The others I usually close, but I'm not anal about it. The toilet slops water everywhere on a decent port heel if its sea cock is left open; I find that pretty gross. Just like seeing the dog use the toilet as a drinking fountain, followed up by licking my grand children's faces.

But what I do know is that if I ever see water in my boat, I can close all sea cocks within a few moments.

Someone earlier in this topic mentioned sea cocks need to be worked so that they don't get stuck. I wholeheartedly agree and I make a point of doing that regularly.

I guess the big question is how often do sea cocks fail?
I've know several people at the marina who've replaced all their cocks. And a couple of posters earlier mentioned that they had.

So why and when to replace? What prompts that decision. And I think everyone here would agree that good quality is expensive, and quite a bit of work too.

[CarinaPDX]

Originally Posted by grantmc

I guess the big question is how often do sea cocks fail?

The answer depends on how often you use them, and how high a quality they are. If you never close them then they can seize up in maybe 5-15 years (very rough guestimate). I have succeeded in recovering some seized valves by the patient application of vinegar (for minerals) and lubricant, but not universally successful. Friends of mine plumbed their head direct to the thruhulls without vented loops, and religiously opened/closed the valves every use; they wore theirs out (loose fit to seals) in about 5 years of continual liveaboard use in salt water. In my own case I went to close the engine water supply valve before removing the attached hose; it seemed to work but it didn't actually turn the ball. The stem had severed from the ball and was held in place by the packing only. That valve had about 7 years in salt water, and 12 prior years in fresh water.

So buy quality, exercise the valves regularly, but try to not have to frequently use them.

Greg

[zboss]

To clarify, this is not normal for our boat. It happened because we were packed to the gills with provisions for 3 to 6 months in the Bahamas and we experienced heavy seas directed right at the quarter where we were heeling heavily.

In the future, the seacock will be closed when we expect to be heavily overloaded. For all other normal circumstances, we won't be bothering with the seacock as we never have the issue unless both criteria (very heavy weather and very overburdened) are met.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

So, what your telling the OP is,

He can load up on a lot more beer yet

I like that solution.

[El Pinguino]

Caffeine deficit adressed... world looking a better place....

I wonder what size sink drains those with the probs have.... ? Mine is 3/4" ID..... a bit less as it goes through a Blake seacock Blakes Seacock

Maybe this reduces the ease with which water comes back up the line. I know the bore is such that no cooking and washing up crud is sent down the plug hole.... We do the dishes in a Willow $6 mop bucket..... uses less water... let the water settle then pour 95% down the drain if there is pipe blocking crud... check for teaspoons and then the rest goes directo overboard.

My main seacocks are Blakes... only replaced one in 29 years... the main head discharge the cone of which was being devoured by #9 Vindaloos.......

[model 10]

Originally Posted by zboss

In the future, the seacock will be closed when we expect to be heavily overloaded. For all other normal circumstances, we won't be bothering with the seacock as we never have the issue unless both criteria (very heavy weather and very overburdened) are met.

Sure but in all friendliness, you will forget or you will be surprised by a bar crossing or a reef opening or a sudden squall. If you don't mind dealing with a wet mess in the boat, no big deal." After all "It's a boat". It's not like you are going to sink.

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

Nope...always that way

Originally Posted by Schooner Chandlery

So just one of the cranky ones, huh?

Note to self, add to list of the trolls who think they're God...

Your ad hominem attack emphasizes the fact that you have nothing but weak excuses for having an unsafe bilge pump installation.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Caffeine deficit adressed... world looking a better place....

I wonder what size sink drains those with the probs have.... ? Mine is 3/4" ID..... a bit less as it goes through a Blake seacock Blakes Seacock

Maybe this reduces the ease with which water comes back up the line. I know the bore is such that no cooking and washing up crud is sent down the plug hole.... We do the dishes in a Willow $6 mop bucket..... uses less water... let the water settle then pour 95% down the drain if there is pipe blocking crud... check for teaspoons and then the rest goes directo overboard.

My main seacocks are Blakes... only replaced one in 29 years... the main head discharge the cone of which was being devoured by #9 Vindaloos.......

hmmmm....

Our boat came equipped with 1.5' drain/hose/seacock. That's big. I am wondering if at some time it got switched with our bilge pump. When we bought the boat the bilge pump outlet and the drain outlet were right next to one another and the bilge pump was hooked to a 3/4 outlet. I thought that was really small.

When I relocated the bilge hose and outlet I went with a 2" seacock several feet above the static water line but kept the sink drain on the 1.5" seacock.

I wonder if I should switch the drain to the 3/4" seacock (I was reserving it for an installation of a watermaker).

[model 10]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

Your ad hominem attack emphasizes the fact that you have nothing but weak excuses for having an unsafe bilge pump installation.

I had to look that up, cool.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by Guy

Sure but in all friendliness, you will forget or you will be surprised by a bar crossing or a reef opening or a sudden squall. If you don't mind dealing with a wet mess in the boat, no big deal." After all "It's a boat". It's not like you are going to sink.

ha ha ha funny man!

I don't know how the conversation went from sink to bilge pump but my bilge pump situation is very good. I can pump more water more safely with just one of my four available pumps than three boats all together next to us in hope town this past spring.

BTW - I looked up bilge pump installation guide in H-22 ABYC and it says that check valves ARE ALLOWED to prevent the bilge pump from cycling in the case of backflow, which is why we have one in ours. I placed my pump outlet about two feet above the static waterline, for a total of a 5 foot lift. I measured using a bucket and it still pumps 3000 GPH.

What is NOT ALLOWED is relocating the bilge pump outlet in such a way as to extend out the run. The "rule" says it should be as short a run as feasible. So, by relocating your bilge pump outlets to make them more accessible you may have inadvertently violated ABYC guidelines. There are NO guidelines regarding the operation of said seacock. Nowhere is there any reference materials that say you must close all your seacocks every time you go to sea.

I can't see how it would clog at the check valve...the pump is equipped with a screening that prevents anything large from getting into it. It would stop the pump way before it made it to the valve. In the case that the valve would fail the pump would cycle. Not only does it sounds like a garbage disposal but it also has a light and a counter that I stare at everyday when working. So, if the valve slowly stopped working, I would immediately know. Even it it DID fail open we still have a vented loop even higher than the outlet.

I think the PURPOSE for their position is that they don't want check valves in below the waterline installation situations. That makes total sense and I agree with it.

We have a high water bilge alarm that we check at least every six months because we clean the bilge every six months or so.

My issue is my sink drain.

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by GILow

Our sinks don't fill, but they make an odd gurgling noise t

I had exactly that issue on a trip to Bermuda a couple months ago. It was actually quite spooky in the middle of the night. My seacock is right below the twin sinks and easily accessible but I just stuffed the sponge in the outboard sink drain and that quieted it considerably.
I don't have to deal with the sinks filling with water or spraying the overhead, I was just dealing with poltergeists moaning.
The seacock for the sink in the head was kept closed when I was offshore but I left the seacock for the engine raw water open as I noticed someone else had mentioned. Other than the two cockpit drain seacocks left open, everything else is kept closed offshore.
I continue to be amazed at just how inaccessible the seacocks on some boats are. What the hell were designers and builders thinking

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by Schooner Chandlery

So just one of the cranky ones, huh?

Note to self, add to list of the trolls who think they're God...

It must be a loooooooong list.

Mine is. Gets to me occasionally.