Advice on How to Repair 'Frozen' Thru-Hull Fittings

[chris07732]

45 yr old boat, Salar 40, Laurent Giles design, plodding thru a major overhaul. The underwater thru hulls haven't operated in the 8 yrs I've had the boat, don't know last time they did, assume at a 1990 survey they did work. I've tried extension levers on the handles, liquid wrench, etc. Can't disassemble the valve body either. Haven't tried heat yet. Cut them out???
Any steps I've missed??

[MoonlightSailor]

Assuming its on the dry...if all else fails...grind (starting with the nuts/bolts) the bugger off...inside and out....don't mess with the integrity of the hull or it's core if you can help it.

[delmarrey]

I assume they are ball type seacocks?

Personally, I'd remove them and rebuild them on a bench if they are in decent shape. You won't know until you get them apart. You can apply some heat to the upper portion to disassemble the valve. But do use Kroil or some other fine lube to soak into the threads as it's turning to prevent galling of the threads. Older valves use to have a bronze ball chrome plated. The chrome comes off and they seize up.

If they are a quality valve like a Perko you can buy rebuild kits for them. I sand blast and wire brush before re-assembly.

If they are a plug valve then they'll need to be soaked in some diesel fuel for awhile. Then release the bottom nut and put some pressure on the handle and smack the side of the body with a hammer. But not too hard.

Good luck!

[GordMay]

Seacock manufacturers include Blakes, Apollo, Groko, Perko, Willcox and Forespar. Each are a little different from the others.

➥ http://www.kp44.org/ftp/GROCO_Seacocks.pdf
➥ http://www.groco.net/SVC-MAN-07/Sec4/PDF/BV.pdf

➥ http://www.pearson35.com/projects/images/WIL%2011.jpg
➥ http://www.pearson35.com/projects/images/WIL%2022.jpg

➥ Blakes Seacocks