Blakes seacock issue..

[mrtoomanytoys]

So.. the boat is out of the water, for seacock servicing and some replacements as requested on the survey.
Replacement ball valves have not been an issue (Bronze now installed) the other seacocks are Blake's and although most are ok..1 has easily broken whilst dismantling.. (cone)
Been and got a Trudesign but access and getting the pipe back on is likely impossible..
Could potentially which in another cone, but this seems not to be a spare part..

I am In Swansea and so far can't find anyone with a Blake's 1.5" anyone have suggestions where I can get one within sensible driving distance (100 miles) to get me out of the mire.. boat is due to go back in the water Tues morn . Anyone have one on the shelf I can replace??

My first foray into boat maintenance and it's been a bit of a baptism of fire...

 

[john_morris_uk]

It’s very unusual for the cone to break. Blake’s are among the most reliable seacocks out there.

You can get a whole new seacock next day delivery from several chandlers but you’re not going to get it until Tuesday. It’ll also cost you! There used to be a good chandlers in Swansea but I guess you’ve tried them (if they’re still there?)

I’ve not heard of any spares being available for Blake’s seacocks beyond the outer grill, fastenings and the handles.

Sorry not to be more helpful.

 

[mrtoomanytoys]

Thanks..
It was heavily corroded and the top popped off without much force really.. a liability just waiting to happen.. they haven't been serviced in a very long time..

Yeah.. next day can be done. But timeline. I shall have a word with the marina today. See if we can put it back in the water Wednesday.

Cheers

 

[Rappey]

It’s very unusual for the cone to break

A friend had a seized one. We used increasing force to try and wiggle it free. The square on the top of the cone sheared off. The whole cone seems cast and hollow including inside the square.
The older ones seem like they are machined from a solid piece so dont have the same proble .

 

[john_morris_uk]

A friend had a seized one. We used increasing force to try and wiggle it free. The square on the top of the cone sheared off. The whole cone seems cast and hollow including inside the square.
The older ones seem like they are machined from a solid piece so dont have the same proble .

Understood. The technique I’ve heard of being used successfully is to use a hardwood dowel from the outside to knock the cone out. That and some penetrating oil and heat.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

I heard the top of one my cones off alongside. The reason was excessive force, applied multiple times, hammering on an extension to the handle. This seacock, aft heads outlet, had always been problematic because it was awkward to get to and not serviced. I had used force in the past to move the cone, including hammering on the handle. In my case, the cone was not rotten, but probably had cracked then sheared at the square boss. Entirely self induced and not a fault of the seacock. The cones do get heavily pitted if not serviced but they can clean up with grinding as per the instructions. You can also use cones from other seacocks but they need to be ground.

Various sizes on eBay, second hand, Blakes Seacock for sale | eBay

Tip, click on any your size, and eBay shows similar offers that do not show up in the search.

 

[Babylon]

Prevention is better than cure. Although I've serviced and re-greased mine maybe three or four times over the last eighteen years, and re-ground once as well, what keeps them sweet is the simple fact of closing them when I put the boat away and opening them the next time I get down.

 

[PetiteFleur]

I replaced my ball type seacock with a Trudesign - physically larger but will never corrode and easy to use.

 

[doug748]

A fallback position, in extremis, would be to bung the fitting, launch and fit a cone when you locate one.

As post 6, I have found they are interchangeable. A bit of a risk but plenty of grease should hold it till you get a chance to grind it in.

.

 

[LittleSister]

Been and got a Trudesign but access and getting the pipe back on is likely impossible..

You can get, if I remember correctly, TruDesign 90 degree and 45 degree elbows, and have the hose approaching from the side rather than the top if you have sufficient 'height' to fit one. I think, but can't remember for sure, that standard BSP (e.g brass) fittings - such as elbows and hose tails - can be used with TruDesign seacocks. TruDesign fittings are thicker than standard brass/bronze fittings (because of the material). I am fairly sure, though, that you need a larger hole in the hull than for standard brass/bronze fittings for the same nominal size, which would make fitting one more challenging than just dropping a new fitting into the same hole. (I did such repplacement once, but can't remember what I used to open the hole in the GRP hull out.

Understood. The technique I’ve heard of being used successfully is to use a hardwood dowel from the outside to knock the cone out. That and some penetrating oil and heat.

It doesn't have to be hardwood (though you can use highly polished and monogrammed teak if you wish! ), nor even a dowel. I've succesfully used a bit cut from a broken (softwood) broom handle, but it doesn't even need to be round - a bit of scrap rectangular section softwood might well do the trick. (Much less force is required (actually vibrations along the cone's length is likely a significant part of freeing it) applied to the thin end of the cone than when trying to rotate it from inside the boat.? It just need to be thin enough to go up through the outlet hole, and wide enough to engage with the end of the cone, which is circular (with a hole in the middle) in section if I remember correctly.

A handy tip is to initially not completely remove the 'keep plate' which secures the cone in the seacock body, but rather slacken off the locknuts and undo maybe a quarter of an inch the machine screws that hold the cone in place. This ensures that when you tap the cone from the outside and it breaks free from the body, it doesn't go flying across the boat and disappear into the depths of the bilges. (May only be of relevance to those with deep bilges?)

 

[Tranona]

I replaced my ball type seacock with a Trudesign - physically larger but will never corrode and easy to use.

But he has a Blakes and it is a major job replacing one with a ball valve of any type as you need to close off the holes for the valve body and the fixing bolts, make good and cut a new hole for the ball valve through hull fitting.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I replaced my ball type seacock with a Trudesign - physically larger but will never corrode and easy to use.

Blake’s don’t corrode either.