Small, but DISASTER in the Making!

[sailorboy1]

Yesterday I started getting the boat really to go back into the water. Replaced the head intake sea ball valve beacuse it was frozen half open. This turned out to be a fairly easy job that went much better than planned! So I took a close look at all the other thur hull fittings and ball valves. Found that the head overboard thur fitting looked real corroded away looking from the outside.

So today I decided to replace the thur fitting. Loosened up the hose clamps and when I tried to push the hose off, the whole valve moved! Pushed on the valve harder and finally the valve, with the threaded nipple part of the thur fitting, came out of the hull! I went outside and took a screwdriver and popped the head of the fitting right out. Turns out the the only thing that had been keeping this valve in (and the sea out) was the caulking around the thur fitting! And this is for a valve that got opened/closed lots of times last year (by feel as it is up under the shower seat and have to acces via a screwed access port in the side of the seat).

So some caulking kept my boat from sinking at least all of last year (I've only had a year and the survey didn't find the problem, which didn't just happen last season)!

So thought it would be worthwhile to collect stories of small things that could have easily sunk your boat or caused some other diaster!

[Christian Van H]

Any idea what caulk that was?

[FrankZ]

It is easier to find this sort of problem in the water, it is better to look for it before that.

Glad it worked out for you.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Christian Van H

Any idea what caulk that was?

*LOL*

TaoJones

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Christian Van H

Any idea what caulk that was?

It was pretty flexible, would say it was something like 3M 4200 or some other polysulfide. It didn't hold once I started pushing the valve. But was stickly enough to hold it in without leaking (probably about 3/4' of the nipple was in contract with the boat).

[barnakiel]

The corroded fittings - what material were they made of?

b.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

The corroded fittings - what material were they made of?

b.

it was bronze

[Stevens 47]

When I removed all of my seacocks and through holes from my boat. I tried to identify the material, it did not behave like 5200 as it was still very ply-able and sticky after 20 years. It was used on allot of different things on the boat as a bedding compound such as hatches etc. My guess in the end was some sort of polysulfide?. Any way my seacocks are the type that can be bolted thru the hull and they where not prior to removable. Will be on re installation though. Scary. Jack

[barnakiel]

Bronze, corroded, interesting.

b.

[sailorboy1]

yes werid, corroded all the way though, and the SS ball in the valve was pitted also so I replaced it also

[nonam]

Beneteau owners take note.If you notice green corrosion on the valves and thru hulls back of the engine watch out for the little barb on top of the shaft tunnel.I dont think it is a seaworthy material and it might be brass.

[s/v Jedi]

Marelon 1 - Bronze 0

Let's see how many broken Marlon fittings show up.

ciao!
Nick.

[James S]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Marelon 1 - Bronze 0

Let's see how many broken Marlon fittings show up.

ciao!
Nick.

Do handles count?

[s/v Jedi]

handles on fittings? I think we're talking about thru-hull fittings here, right? But I might be loosing it, wouldn't be surprised... but "thur fitting" sounds like American for thru-hull fitting to me ;-)

ciao!
Nick.

[sailorboy1]

I wonder if the thur-hull fitting cracked and was tightened up pulling the threaded nipple section into the boat. Both the mushroom cap and the threaded nipple section looked fine, just not connected anymore. Anyway now I have a bronze thur-hull with a Marlon valve and bronze tail peice (because that's all I could find to make the right assembly after going to 3 West Marines).

So anyone else have a small thing that was just a diaster waiting to happen?