Advice on blakes seacocks

[eddystone]

Finally got round to greasing 5 x Blakes seacocks (having the one gate valve on the galley sink replaced by a ball valve). Hard for someone with no experience of these things to evaluate condition (I presume as old as boat - '86 but not light use)
Generally barrels (I mean the moving bit) turned lighter than original bronze, but not what I would call "pink" - possibly say very faint pink tint. Cleaned them off with fine wet and dry before replacing. One, on a self drain outlet had set red spots on the inside which sanded of without to much effort. Tapped then all and sounded metallic enough - only thing I noticed is that the metal is thinner on one side. So basically I am assuming they are sound for the time being, but will check them every year now.
I did find that in order to keep the lever form jamming up, didn't have to tighten bolts/lock nuts up very much. Do these ever work loose, or did I put too much grease in?

 

[vyv_cox]

Blakes seacocks have always been made from good quality corrosion resistant materials, bronze many years ago, changed to DZR a couple of years before yours were made. A small amount of copper appearance is quite common with most brasses and bronzes. I doubt very much that there is any significant corrosion.

Tapered joints require very little effort to tighten them, which is why people who apply typical bolt tightening force to their propeller nuts have great difficulty removing the prop later on. My Blakes bolts are little more than finger tight, quite normal.

 

[reeac]

I always adjust mine to that they can be operated with one finger. As long as the annular plate can't be rattled at all then they don't leak.

 

[Kwik Decision]

The locking nuts on the back of each bolt should be nipped up to prevent the bolts from working loose, once the bolts are done up finger tight, such that the valve handle can be turned easily, but with no play in the cone and top plate. Having said that, mine are mostly positioned where you cant get a spanner on the locking nuts, so they are done up by hand as well. Never had any problems with things working loose. You are unlikely to have used too much grease - all the excess will be squeezed out as you do up the bolts.

 

[rob2]

A quick polish with a abrasive sheet generally gets back to sound metal although every few years its a good idea to grind them in with valve grinding paste to ensure they mate accurately. I met with one outlet which had pitted extensively over the years where the cone was continually exposed to seawater. After grinding, we reversed the cone so as to expose a fresh surface and it was still doing sterling service over a decade later. If they are truly well mated, anything beyond finger tight will lock them and it then needs to be shocked free! We manufactured our own lock washers to prevent them from coming apart as there was no pressure to keep them in place!

Rob.

 

[mickywillis]

Out of interest, what grease do people use on their seacocks?
Last year I used a mix of copperslip and LM grease and mine never leaked or showed any signs of problems this year when I took them apart, cleaned and re-greased.
No problems with seizing either during the season and strangely there was no barnacle growth anywhere on them ( that will be the copperslip I presume?)

 

[Tranona]

I use the grease sold by Blakes for the job. available from any decent chandlers. Small tub lasts for ages.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Instructions here, which will confirm comments in the thread, plus other information http://www.equipment.ath.cx/instrument_pdf/Blakes/seacocks.pdf