Cockpit drain seacocks

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Cspirit

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We have a 1985 Westerly Corsair, currently in Greece. I'm going out there in a few weeks time for some fitting out/maintenance. One thing that has been nagging me for a few years is the state of the cockpit drain seacocks. They are turned on and off a few time each year but, inevitably, they are really very stiff. So, given that they are coming up for 30 years old, I'm thinking of changing them, along with the piping from the cocks to the cockpit. These are lever operated gate valves (not Blakes and not the ones with the wheel) and, apart from them being stiff, appear to be in reasonable nick. I will certainly change the piping as a precaution but, given that removal of the old seacock, plus probably the skin fitting will inevitably be difficult, I'm considering removing the pipe, dismantling as much of the seacock as possible and then dousing the lot in penetrating oil or similar.

What do you all think? Should I just rip the whole lot out and replace?
 
Cspirit said:
We have a 1985 Westerly Corsair, currently in Greece. I'm going out there in a few weeks time for some fitting out/maintenance. One thing that has been nagging me for a few years is the state of the cockpit drain seacocks. They are turned on and off a few time each year but, inevitably, they are really very stiff. So, given that they are coming up for 30 years old, I'm thinking of changing them, along with the piping from the cocks to the cockpit. These are lever operated gate valves (not Blakes and not the ones with the wheel) and, apart from them being stiff, appear to be in reasonable nick. I will certainly change the piping as a precaution but, given that removal of the old seacock, plus probably the skin fitting will inevitably be difficult, I'm considering removing the pipe, dismantling as much of the seacock as possible and then dousing the lot in penetrating oil or similar.

What do you all think? Should I just rip the whole lot out and replace?
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my seacocks are disassembled every year & serviced
 
I had the same sort of problem with mine and am so glad i replaced the piping! I always think that if you take everything apart [as long as you know how to put it back together!] and refit it then you know what kind of condition it's in and don't have to worry about it any more! I was advised though to be carefull with using too much oil with the seacocks, i guess it could just make it hard to grip. Plus if you have to use that much, it could mean that you do need to replace them. I would say it's definitely a good idea to take it all apart and see what's what!
Hope this helps!!!
 
I'm in exactly the same position with my DZR one's, even having sleepless nights about them as they are 15 years old, with a greenish covering and the handles stiff but not too bad. 2 boat yards have looked at them from the outside and say they are OK but you hear such horror stories... and I don't think you can really tell from the outside. I think it would be £300 - £400 to have them replaced with skin fittings as I havn't the time now to do it myself.

Get it done or have the worry, there is only one answer really!

http://www.asap-supplies.com/marine/fittings-valves-strainers-seacocks
 
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Cspirit said:
We have a 1985 Westerly Corsair, currently in Greece. I'm going out there in a few weeks time for some fitting out/maintenance. One thing that has been nagging me for a few years is the state of the cockpit drain seacocks. They are turned on and off a few time each year but, inevitably, they are really very stiff. So, given that they are coming up for 30 years old, I'm thinking of changing them, along with the piping from the cocks to the cockpit. These are lever operated gate valves (not Blakes and not the ones with the wheel) and, apart from them being stiff, appear to be in reasonable nick. I will certainly change the piping as a precaution but, given that removal of the old seacock, plus probably the skin fitting will inevitably be difficult, I'm considering removing the pipe, dismantling as much of the seacock as possible and then dousing the lot in penetrating oil or similar.

What do you all think? Should I just rip the whole lot out and replace?
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean by lever operated gate valves. A Gate valve can only work with a wheel to turn the screw that opens and closes the gate. Think what you mean is that they are cone valves like Blakes, but of a different make. In this case they will be either Rowes or Simpson Lawrence, but the principles are exactly the same as Blakes, but sizes and shapes of the housings different. They can easily be stripped, cleaned and reassembled with the correct grease. They will be bronze and unlikely to need replacing. access of course might be a bit of a pain, but slacken off the keep plates and whack them from outside with a wooden drift and the cones will pop out. clean, lap in with grinding paste, clean again, grease and reassemble.

A bigger potential problem is the hose. Even if the valves are stuck open, no water will get in the boat unless the hose fails in which case water gets in the boat even if the valve is shut. So replacing the hose is the priority if you are concerned about its condition.
 
"They will be bronze and unlikely to need replacing"

Even 30 year old ones, I thought they all went eventually including the DZR ones. Do they still sell bronze ones! The skin fittings will also need checking somehow I presume, read somewhere you are meant to thump the seacock with a hammer to see if you get any cracks - no thanks, you might make a hairline crack and never notice it.
 
I replaced my cockpit drains on my old Westerly 25 with stainless ball valves from ASAP - worked really well for years and easy to shut off / on
I also replaced the plastic pipe connecting the drains to the valves. The new pipe was not as "tight" as the old one and soon sagged causing an air lock in the pipe. So when I came to her after a rain storm there was standing water in the cockpit which was dripping through one of the access covers on the cockpit sole into the bilge - eeek . I suggest when changing the pipe think through how you will prevent air locks and watch that your new fittings do not reduce the fall available for drainage.
 
colind3782 said:
I must be missing something here. How does the water get in if the valve is shut?
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Draining from the cockpit if it rains! That is what the drains a for. If the hoses are sound and the seacock open it ends up in the sea. If the hoses are sound and the seacocks close it fills up the cockpit. If the hoses fail it ends up inside the boat.
 
Zagato said:
"They will be bronze and unlikely to need replacing"

Even 30 year old ones, I thought they all went eventually including the DZR ones. Do they still sell bronze ones! The skin fittings will also need checking somehow I presume, read somewhere you are meant to thump the seacock with a hammer to see if you get any cracks - no thanks, you might make a hairline crack and never notice it.
Click to expand...

The type the OP has (if I am correct in my assumption from the description he has given) will be bronze from that age. They will not corrode or split. The only way they can be shot is if the bore has gone oval beyond the point that lapping them in will not create a seal. Remarkably robust which is one of the reasons why they were so popular in their day.
 
Tranona said:
Draining from the cockpit if it rains! That is what the drains a for. If the hoses are sound and the seacock open it ends up in the sea. If the hoses are sound and the seacocks close it fills up the cockpit. If the hoses fail it ends up inside the boat.
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What is the purpose of seacocks on a cockpit drain hose? When would you ever want to close them?
 
Stu Jackson said:
What is the purpose of seacocks on a cockpit drain hose? When would you ever want to close them?
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When the hose splits, breaks, or comes off the tails at either end.

In general, it's not a good idea to have your hull integrity depend on rubber or thin plastic, though we tolerate it with saildrive diaphragms and the like as there's not much alternative.

Pete
 
prv said:
When the hose splits, breaks, or comes off the tails at either end.

In general, it's not a good idea to have your hull integrity depend on rubber or thin plastic, though we tolerate it with saildrive diaphragms and the like as there's not much alternative.

Pete
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But as they exit well above the waterline then surely they are just an unnecessary complication. Certainly not required by the RCD.
 
Ex-SolentBoy said:
But as they exit well above the waterline then surely they are just an unnecessary complication. Certainly not required by the RCD.
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IF they exit well above the waterline, I'd agree. But I thought we were talking about cockpit drains in general now, not a specific type of boat.

Pete
 
Think on the Corsair in question they are well below the waterline as it is a centre cockpit boat and the drains go straight down in the engine compartment.
 
prv said:
When the hose splits, breaks, or comes off the tails at either end.

In general, it's not a good idea to have your hull integrity depend on rubber or thin plastic, though we tolerate it with saildrive diaphragms and the like as there's not much alternative.

Pete
Click to expand...
That's why I'm not keen on sailldrives - too risky
 
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