Impellers - another reason to change 'em

[malyea]

Seacock lever 90 deg to flow, seacock is closed - right? - not so fast.

Tried to bleed seawater from seawater pump with seacock "closed" to change impeller ... many gallons later figured out seacock was not closed - and that the lever (at 90 deg) was lying to me...

Internal failure of seacock valve was masked by smooth lever operation. I only thought I was closing the seacock when leaving the boat...

Good news - I caught it before my boat sank. ;-)

[CSY Man]

Had the same on a new ball-valve sea cock I installed for the head intake.
2-3 years later it was acting funny. Not sure what was wrong but all of a sudden I got a recall notice from Groco. They used some cheap Chinese SS in the internal and the handle separated from the ball. Kind of felt normal when I open and closed it as there was some friction. In reality nothing happened, the ball was rusted stuck in the half-ass position.
Groco or whoever made those thing refused to pay for haul-out, but they sent me a new and improved model seacock.
Glad it did not sink my boat as I always close the non-essential seacocks between cruises.

[gamayun]

I recently changed the drain hose on the galley sink and water was pouring in from the seacock even though the lever was in the fully closed position. Changing them is already on the list for the haul out because they're probably all 28-year-old originals. Probably a good thing to check from time to time.

[Tayana42]

I too had this experience during a change of the impeller. That same week we hauled out and checked all seacocks. Found 5 that appeared to work but didn't close or only partially closed. Replaced them all and consider myself lucky.


S/V B'Shert

[wrwakefield]

I've been lucky all these years and have not had any through-hull valves get stuck in the open position... But stories like this remind me this happens. Therefore I carry a set of SeaBungs.

I saw them at the Seattle Boat Show Jan-2015. They are designed to be passed through an open through-hull valve and stem the flow of water from outside the vessel. In most cases you can then remove/service/replace the through-hull valve while in the water. [If you had to...]

The seem expensive, but I always ask myself what I would be willing to pay in the moment of need, and then they seem cheap.

FYI in case anyone is interested.

Cheers!

-Bill

[timtim]

Thank for this info, I'm getting ready to haul out for fresh bottom paint. Now I'm also going to replace all seacocks also.



Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Emmalina]

So people really go around without bungs for there through hulls WOW