Any advice? Stuck dinghy valve...

[synchronicity98]

We've got a 10' Mercury Dinghy that we're trying to replace a valve on -- I know that in *theory* you take your valve tool (which we have) and you unscrew the outside part of the valve from the inside part... but ours won't budge.

It looks like this:


Just for the heck of it, we tried unscrewing the other functioning valves, and none of them will budge. I'm guessing that the tropical sun has 'fused' the two pieces together... but we really need to get this valve apart so we can get our dinghy working again!!

Any advice? Tips for unsticking plastic parts? Other thoughts??

[Hudson Force]

This looks like a Halkey-Robert Valve.......


Since you will be discarding the outter portion of the valve with replacement, don't be afraid to put some channel locks on the outside rim or even carefully drill a couple shallow holes so you can turn it with your deck plate key...


It's best to deflate the bladder so you can grasp the inside portion of the valve and keep this inner part in place when removing the outside. While holding the inside part, screw on the replacement......


Fill the bladder and check for a leak with alittle soapy water......

[Hudson Force]

These are supposed to be held just by the compression of the dinghy fabric between the seals. I hope no one used glue. Again, don't worry about destroying the outside part of the valve that you will be discarding. Most people reuse the inside "female" threaded portion and find that it is not damaged, affected by UV or related to any leaking