Broke My Spartan Seacock

[Cheechako]

If you beat on that seacock with a hammer you better inspect very well at the thru hull mushroom threads for mini cracks. ... just in case. It's the weakest part of the system.

[dbcreed]

Greetings. Any chance you still have your Spartan seacock handle? I have three of their seacocks but need the handle. I'd be glad to send money (money order, PayPal, etc.) to more than cover the cost of the handle and shipping. Thanks much! Dean

[shuffleboat]

Stephen -- how did the rest of that replacement go -- and what did you use to seal it, more 5200? I have the exact same issue, also on a Sabre, about to follow your lead and get out the pull saw. Would love any more tips/hindsight you can share.

Thanks,
Peter

Mandy, 1974 Sabre 28

[fallingeggs]

Originally Posted by shuffleboat

Stephen -- how did the rest of that replacement go -- and what did you use to seal it, more 5200? I have the exact same issue, also on a Sabre, about to follow your lead and get out the pull saw. Would love any more tips/hindsight you can share.

Thanks,
Peter

Mandy, 1974 Sabre 28

Man, I haven’t been on here in years! But still get a notification from time to time on my posts.

I don’t remember the numbers, but it wasn’t the more “permanent” sealant used. Don’t believe that is generally recommended because it obviously needs to be removed from time to time. Maybe it was 4200? I’m sure one of MaineSail’s old posts addresses this. Nearly everything I did was learned from his advice.

[shuffleboat]

Originally Posted by fallingeggs

I don’t remember the numbers, but it wasn’t the more “permanent” sealant used. Don’t believe that is generally recommended because it obviously needs to be removed from time to time. Maybe it was 4200? I’m sure one of MaineSail’s old posts addresses this. Nearly everything I did was learned from his advice.

Thanks Stephen -- 4200 makes sense to me too. Do you remember -- since your thru hull was still in place, did you just clean out the old 5200, and then spin the new seacock onto the thru hull with a layer of new 4200 in the gap? I'm new to this and just trying to envision the right steps. Thanks again!

[gonesail]

Shame you broke it. Next time take all the nuts off and use a c clamp to pop the cone out. Worked for me.

[pbiJim]

Originally Posted by shuffleboat

Thanks Stephen -- 4200 makes sense to me too. Do you remember -- since your thru hull was still in place, did you just clean out the old 5200, and then spin the new seacock onto the thru hull with a layer of new 4200 in the gap? I'm new to this and just trying to envision the right steps. Thanks again!

I did all new seacocks about a year ago. It's not that simple.

As usual, MailSail had a good write up. That's really the first place you want to look.

A few highlights off the top of my head -

The old system with the flange nut has been replaced by 3-bolt flanges with base plates in the new standards.

The threads on those things all have the same pitch for a given diameter, but some are straight threads & some are tapered threads. If you screw a ball valve on to a straight thread, it's not good. It might work for a bit, but it's not good. It's been done many times on many boats, but it's not good. In case I wasn't clean, it's not good to do that. Please try not to be that guy

If you use the new 3-bolt flanges, you need to cut the through hull to length before dry assembling to test fit, then add sealant & screw it all together for real. You need to line up the 3 bolt holes with the threaded inserts in the backing plates, which is why you do the dry fit first.

You need to choose between Maralon (properly rated plastic, not PVC) and Bronze seacocks for salt water use. Do not use cheap brass valves. Brass is not compatible with sea water. A PO used brass on my boat. 2 failed, which is why I did a short notice haul out & changed them all to proper new standard equipment, as an emergency repair.

Bronze needs to be bonded electrically. Maralon does not.

There are different grades of Maralon. The OEM grade is much thicker & stronger compared to the consumer grade, but both carry proper ratings for marine use in their recommended applications.

Groco was my preferred brand for bronze. Their through hulls have lugs inside that you can grab with a special wrench. There are different grades of bronze seacocks from Groco. The rebuildable-in-place ones are MUCH more expensive.

I got some bronze seacocks with the flange integral to the valve & others I got the flange with taper threads then screwed on a bronze valve. In hind sight, if I was going to do it again, I would go with all 3-bolt flange to taper thread adapters with screw on valves. That makes it very easy to change a stuck valve while still in the water. The screw on valves (IBV series) were not that expensive by comparison

The hardest part was getting the old seacocks out. Other things were hard, but not as hard.

[shuffleboat]

Originally Posted by gonesail

Shame you broke it. Next time take all the nuts off and use a c clamp to pop the cone out. Worked for me.

Yeah, I had the nuts off, and had put the small one back on to protect the threads, had tapped them with a hammer, but no dice. I hardly applied any torque to the handle, and after it broke I noticed that the fracture face was oxidized, so maybe the PO or just 50 years of use had created a hairline crack. A clamp is a great idea -- next time!

[shuffleboat]

Originally Posted by pbiJim

The hardest part was getting the old seacocks out. Other things were hard, but not as hard.

It's a Spartan -- I'm intending to replace it with the same: https://www.spartanmarine.com/all-pr...artan-seacocks

Does anyone know, for one of those, is the seacock size measured as ID of the pipe exit upward? Or the thread size of the thru hull?

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by pbiJim

Bronze needs to be bonded electrically.

No, there is no especial "need" for bronze to be bonded electrically.
It has a quite happy/carefree existence when left alone without any bonding or anodes connected up to it.
Any "bonding" connected to it is for other purposes, (many of them not so good,) that in no way offer any "help" to the metal.

[pbiJim]

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

No, there is no especial "need" for bronze to be bonded electrically.
It has a quite happy/carefree existence when left alone without any bonding or anodes connected up to it.
Any "bonding" connected to it is for other purposes, (many of them not so good,) that in no way offer any "help" to the metal.

This is not consistent with my previous information. I will do further research. Thank you for this post.

[HopCar]

Originally Posted by shuffleboat

It's a Spartan -- I'm intending to replace it with the same: https://www.spartanmarine.com/all-pr...artan-seacocks

Does anyone know, for one of those, is the seacock size measured as ID of the pipe exit upward? Or the thread size of the thru hull?

The size of the seacock is the size of the thru-hull it will screw onto and the ID of the hose that will push onto the seacock. To install a 1” Seacock you’ll need a 1” thru-hull and 1” ID hose.