Can sea cocks leak when closed?

[Nick2]

Found too much water in bilge today in the area of the toilet seacocks. Forgot to shut them last time I left the boat one week ago and I can't really think how else the water got there.

Does it sound like a dodgy seacock and should it be ok now I've left it closed?

Thanks

Nick

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2>http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2</A>

 

[HeadMistress]

Seacocks do fail, and can leak when closed. The bedding around the thru-hull doesn't last forever...it can leak. Hose connections can also leak if the seacock isn't closed.

If your seacocks, thru-hulls and hose connections are ok, and if your toilet bowl was full of water when you came back to the boat after leaving the seacocks open, it may be the source of the water in the bilge. Relying on the wet/dry valve in the toilet is dangerous...in fact, open head seacocks are the #1 cause of boats sinking in their slips.

Sounds like you have some checking and maybe some work to do.

<hr width=100% size=1>Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987

 

[Nick2]

Thanks for that - interesting as the bowl does sometimes fill up on its own ....and sometimes makes popping noises....

Therefore what does this tell us about the cause and hopefully a fix for the problem?

Thanks

Nick

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2>http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2</A>

 

[longjohnsilver]

If it's making a plopping noise maybe the cause is someone using it?!!!

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Nick2]

.......I was waiting for that one !!

Nick

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2>http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2</A>

 

[roger]

If water is leaking back through the toilet valves then the bowl woulld be full and overflowing.
If the seacocks are the tapered cone Blakes type then they can leak if the holding bolts are slack.
The air bleeds in the u-bends in inlet and outlet pipes are important in preventing syphoning. Have you checked that they are working?
Are you sure the toilet is to blame? There are lots of other holes on most boats.

<hr width=100% size=1>Roger

 

[longjohnsilver]

Pleased to be the one to not disappoint you!!

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Nick2]

Thanks Roger

I suspect that the WC or its associated seacock may be the cause of the water is because the water is only in a compartmentalised area of the bilge and I don't think it can be coming from anywhere else. The seacock was replaced last October but the toilet has had little use unit recently.

I am at a loss to work this one out and whilst the bowl has never overflowed it can fill itself up from time to time although this did not seem the case today.

Confused of Hythe

Nick

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2>http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2</A>

 

[VicMallows]

I'm just horrified that you forgot to close the cocks. I'd have been awake all night if i'd remembered once home.......Yes I have left the inlet to the heads open when on board by mistake (ok pissed). Fortunaley, on my boat, the water stops just below the rim!.

Vic

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Nick2]

I habitually do shut them but forgot last weekend so the water in the bilge today was a bit of a wakeup call....somehow I doubt that I will forget it again!

Nick

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2>http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2</A>

 

[sailorman]

just wondering Vic
do u close your cockpit drains, or leave them open & not sleap?.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[bigmart]

Re: Just a thought

I don't know what the weather has been like, in your neck of the woods, but down in the South Its been very wet & windy. Ive often found the bilge water, in my boat rises in times of prolonged heavy weather as the water gets blown through any orifice. Bearing in mind where the water may be coming from, have you checked to see if ite fresh or saline?

Martin

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Nick2]

Re: Just a thought

Its saline but just ca't see how it would get to that particular compartment from anywhere else.

I just don't think that its a just a coincidence that the water was there after I forgot to close the seacock.

I am just trying to work out the thread that links all the symptons....

Thanks

Nick

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2>http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2</A>

 

[bigmart]

Re: Just a thought

Fresh water might have said it was rainwater. Thats all I meant.

Martin

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Mirelle]

Are they Blakes\' seacocks?

If so, I fancy Roger is right and you have a weep from insufficiently tightened yoke bolts.

Very easy to cure...

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[paulrossall]

Don't most people leave their cockpit drains open? I have a big cockpit and would not want to close the drains as I sometimes leave my boat for up to 4 weeks. In fact because the cockpit floor is low, only about 18 inches above water line, I removed the stop cocks because to include them meant the plastic pipes bent at an acute angle and bits could accumulate there. I reasoned that as I never closed the stop cocks then I could do without then. I do have suitable wooden bungs to seal the pipes/fittings should the need arise. Paul

<hr width=100% size=1>" there is nothing-absolutely nothing-half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats".

 

[BlueSkyNick]

I leave my cockpit drain sea cocks open all the time. I closed them once and left the boat for 6 weeks and came back to bilges full of water.

The drain pipe had filled with rain water, and then the fitting on the cockpit sole starting letting water into the engine compartment below.

There is no point in closing cockpit drains, IMHO, because the only risk is a split in the pipe itself. However, there is a much bigger risk of the heads drawing in water from outside and over flowing.

<hr width=100% size=1>I'm average size, Its just that everybody else is short.

 

[dickh]

several years ago I serviced my seacocks and at the same time fitted new 'No Small' hoses and asked the boatyard to check them when she was launched - I was glad I did as there was a tiny spray of water where I had nipped the hose, apart from the fact I hadn't closed the seacock properly. They remade the hose end and it was OK.

<hr width=100% size=1>dickh
I'd rather be sailing... /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

 

[Nick2]

It seems that it should be a hose and I feel sort of ok as I did close the seacocks. Still might just go for a trip down to double check in the week....

Thanks to all for help on this one

Nick

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2>http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2</A>

 

[HeadMistress]

Dick, all below waterline hose connections (and all sanitation system hose connections, whether above OR below waterline) should have two hose clamps...the screws should be on opposite sides of the hose. This not only guarantees a leak-proof connection, but also that the hose can't pop off if one clamp should fail.

<hr width=100% size=1>Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987