Seacock warning, probably most relevant to Australians

[Davo1404]

Road tech Marine in Australia have a good range of True design products.
https://www.roadtechmarine.com.au/po...emale/p/TPP110

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

Plenty of people service seacocks in the water on a regular basis including the PO of my boat, he installed the first 2 and i did the other 2, not difficult at all. Like many others I don't haul out every year, the state of my antifoul usually dictates that not some date on the calendar, and the less i have to do on the hard the better. In 2 months time it will be 2 years since she was last on the hard and after recently inspecting and scrubbing the hull i doubt she will be coming out for at least another 6 months unless something untoward happens.

My 8 year old quality GROCO's operate like brand new off the shelf units and i like to keep them that way, a couple of hours preventive maintenance here and there is bugger all and is great peace of mind.

So as your fond of saying......Your boat, your rules.

Oh, and as for the fountain of water, don't you have a set of these? they sell enough of them worldwide to stay in business so quite obviously plenty do remove while in the water.

Well, you learn something every day. Never heard of such a practice.



Not applicable to this part of the world as the water is too cold for scrubbing in the water; we come out or dry out at least 3 or 4 times a year. In the good old days I used to pay only £100 for lift, scrub and launch in Cowes. It's more expensive now but I don't do it any less.


As to Seabungs -- yes, I have one of these excellent devices, but it's for emergencies, not servicing sea cocks. A lot of water gets into the boat while you're rigging it, at least on my boat with through hulls fairly far below the waterline. If I hauled out less, I would simply grease the ball valves less. I'm not sure that grease is actually needed at all; the manufacturer does not specify it. I think the main thing which is important with ball valves is to work them regularly. In my experience good ones only give trouble if they are left open or left closed constantly and for years. I have a few 18 year old Maestrini bronze ball valves on my boat which still work like new.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

........ One of the best kept secret upgrades is steel wire straps around the engine mounts for backup in case the rubber splits

Originally Posted by Dockhead

That's a good tip, really something to think about. Maybe I'll put that on my list.

A far far better tip is to use fail safe engine mounts. These will hold if the engine is inverted even if all the polymer fails in all the mounts.

Steel straps are so yesterday

They are also field repairable in so far the polymer can be replaced without replacing the steel components.

Available in sizes to suit every sail boat engine with agents around the world.

I have no connection with the company, I just recognise an excellent product that ticks all the boxes when I see it.

https://www.polyflex.com.au/products/home

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Oceansailor

They failed between 4-8 years after installation. The supplier/manufacturer was Guidi.

Ok, that’s about the same as the generic “made in China” version I fitted.

So much for “brand safety”. [emoji53]

[NevilleCat]

[QUOTE=IslandHopper;3068793]

Originally Posted by NevilleCat

I have 4 of these flanged installations and none of them are through bolted to the hull, all are fitted with GROCO backing plates with press threaded inserts, no need to drill through the hull so absolutely ZERO extra degradation.....


....the beauty of this installation is i have no fear of breaking the seal on the thru-hull when removing the valve for servicing while the vessel is in the water....

Thanks for that. That makes more sense; The first thing that came up when I googled installing them was the description of through bolting them...
...If the flange is not pre-drilled, drill three evenly spaced holes through the flange and the hull. From outside the hull, countersink the three holes. Unscrew the seacock and remove the through-hull fitting. Give the plywood rings 2 or 3 coats of epoxy (preferred) or varnish before completing the installation.

[NevilleCat]

[QUOTE=IslandHopper;3068876]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Oh, and as for the fountain of water, don't you have a set of these? they sell enough of them worldwide to stay in business so quite obviously plenty do remove while in the water.

Seabung

That's a great device!

...looks like he's changing a ball valve on a non-flanged through hull fitting!
the sky is falling!

[TeddyDiver]

[QUOTE=NevilleCat;3068933]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

That's a great device!

...looks like he's changing a ball valve on a non-flanged through hull fitting!
the sky is falling!

No flax or anything

[Oceansailor]

[QUOTE=NevilleCat;3068933]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

That's a great device!



...looks like he's changing a ball valve on a non-flanged through hull fitting!

the sky is falling!

The seabung would be off no use as my valves has always failed with the ball in the closed position.

And further more there is a strainer on the engine and watermaker intake. Would be impossible to get a seabung thru the strainer om the outside ofthe hull.

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by Oceansailor

The seabung would be off no use as my valves has always failed with the ball in the closed position.

And further more there is a strainer on the engine and watermaker intake. Would be impossible to get a seabung thru the strainer om the outside ofthe hull.

So dig deep and buy better valves and dry dock the thing, i only pointed out what i have and how i can sleep easy knowing the fluid stays on the outside, even in the unlikely event of having to change a valve in the water, and yes i have engine and watermaker strainers to....

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by TeddyDiver

No flax or anything

My family grew Flax for years down on the farm, has very good heath benefits but i fail to see the connection.

[Oceansailor]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

So dig deep and buy better valves and dry dock the thing, i only pointed out what i have and how i can sleep easy knowing the fluid stays on the outside, even in the unlikely event of having to change a valve in the water, and yes i have engine and watermaker strainers to....

Thanks. Better valves is the most important advice. Went for Truedesign. No problem so far. Very happy.

And yes, if I’m not forced to, I prefer changing valves when in dry dock.

Had to change one valve in the water. Wooden bung with some teflon tape around it hammered in to the thru hull from the outside solved that problem.

[s/v Jedi]

[QUOTE=NevilleCat;3068933]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

That's a great device!

...looks like he's changing a ball valve on a non-flanged through hull fitting!
the sky is falling!

And turning the valve with a big wrench without holding the skin fitting!

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

And turning the valve with a big wrench without holding the skin fitting!

Wasn't exactly tight though when he undid it and probably just nipped up afterwards. Be interesting to see if it dribbled afterwards.

Pete

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

And turning the valve with a big wrench without holding the skin fitting!

That valve was barely tight and has obviously been on and off plenty of times, even the hose just slips off easily.....but the device been demonstrated works very well.......

[NevilleCat]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

That valve was barely tight and has obviously been on and off plenty of times, even the hose just slips off easily.....but the device been demonstrated works very well.......

True... it is a demonstration video, for all we know they might have sunk the boat the first two takes!