Marelon seacocks - To lube or not to lube?

[Blueazimuth]

I have a VIA 42, an aluminium sailboat, 1983, with Marelon seacock, mounted on standpipes.
I am the 3rd owner and I believe all the Marelon seacocks are original. The previous owner said not to lube them. However, I now understand that they should be lubed using a synthetic grease such as Super Lube which comes in a caulking tube, a small tube or as a spray.

Marelon seacock should NEVER be lubed with a petroleum based lube, such as Vasceline.

Seacocks are best lubed with the boat out of the water. It's possible, but difficult, in the water as an outside plug must be fitted, hose removed, residual water removed, interior of seacock dried and synthetic lube applied, working the lube around the valve.
On the hard, remove the hose and spray directly down onto the valve as you work it.
Now spray up from outside the boat as a friend works the valve. If on a standpipe you'll need to use the spray extender, which comes with the spray can. Seacocks of any type should be serviced both at the end of the season and again prior to launch.
Replace the hose using two new ss clamps with screw threads pointing in opposite directions. Remember to test the clamps with a magnet as some screws are not stainless.
Trouble?
If the seacock appears to be stiff, even jammed, look into the seacock to see if anything, such as barnacles, is growing inside. Gently remove them using some sort of wooden tool - you must not scratch the marelon or the seacock may leak and require replacing. Once clear of any obstruction, spray liberally from above, allow it to stand for a few minutes then gently work the seacock a smiggen at a time: you don't want to have the handle break off.
In the US, most auto parts stores carry Super Lube in all three forms.

 

[hoped4]

Thanks for this. I am due to do mine this winter for the first time and the info in here was useful.

 

[macd]

However, I now understand that they should be lubed using a synthetic grease such as Super Lube which comes in a caulking tube, a small tube or as a spray.

My first reaction was to wonder where your "understanding" came from, but I see that Forespar's maintenance instructions for their ball-valves now includes this:
like any moving part in a marine environment, they require regular use, inspection, and lubrication. Do not fail to actuate the handle regularly and lubricate the seals at least once a year or more. Use any-non petroleum based grease and avoid any aerosols as the carriers used may damage the valves...To lube, close the valve, remove the hose...

I certainly don't recall any suggestion of lubrication in the past, just to operate the valve every month or two to sweep off any crud. Can anyone confirm? (Worth noting that there was a recent reported case of a Forespar handle breaking catastrophically; if there's been a change in maintenance advice, is it perhaps due to such events?)

Don't you just love the way people working on keyboards, rather than head-down in a cramped locker, use that expression 'remove the hose' so casually? T**ts.

That's Forespar off my list.

I see that TruDesign's synthetic ball valves still carry this advice:
The TruDesign ball valves are manufactured with a Teflon impregnated Ball running on Teflon rings, so no lubrication is required.

 

[sarabande]

OP has not decided to say if s/he works for Superlube...


Sounds like product placement to me. and very much in the verbal style of a chap from the USA who used to come in here and advise on how to unlock your boat and lock it up again.

 

[macd]

Sounds like product placement to me.

My thoughts, too. But if Forespar has changed its maintenance advice, that's good to know.
If your suspicions are correct, far from selling more lube, the OP might find he's inflating sales of TruDesign

 

[KellysEye]

We didn't lubricate our Marelons but did open and close them frequently otherwise they can jam.

 

[Mistroma]

My thoughts, too. But if Forespar has changed its maintenance advice, that's good to know.
If your suspicions are correct, far from selling more lube, the OP might find he's inflating sales of TruDesign

I thought the same thing as it was an odd first post. I was happy to hear that TruDesign don't need lubrication. I hope that nobody adds a comment about Super Lube being overpriced and useless as that might come up along with the advice to use it. Ooops, I've just said that Super Lube is overpriced and useless. Damn, I did it again.

Seriously though, I find Pro-Lube to be a very good product and have never seen Super Lube. However, macd's post says that ForeSpar's instructions advise against using aerosol lubricants anyway. I looked up Super Lube and is seems to be available as an aerosol and OP says to spray it.

So I imagine that it wouldn't be a good idea to use Super Lube after all.

 

[superheat6k]

It i interesting that one maker's very occasional failure gets focused upon, yet many, indeed too many, boats on the sea have nasty cheap brass seacocks, that have anonymous makers, that when they fail get no adverse publicity.

I fitted my first two Forespar Marelon last winter for my engine intakes and will be replacing a couple more of the old rubbish with more Forespar this winter, I have exercised them about 2 or 3 times since I fitted them, and have also undertaken maintenance on other areas of the engine water systems. The valves have been absolutely tight since I fitted them and remain free to move.

I like them and until I learn otherwise will continue to use them.

 

[GrahamM376]

We didn't lubricate our Marelons but did open and close them frequently otherwise they can jam.

Our TruDesigns are still free after several months without opening/closing.

 

[macd]

It i interesting that one maker's very occasional failure gets focused upon

I like them and until I learn otherwise will continue to use them.

With respect, that's a distortion of what was written. My focus wasn't on failures but on an apparent change in maintenance instructions. To also speculate on why those instructions might have changed is scarcely a leap into irrelevance.

We, too, have a couple of Forespar assemblies. If they were sold as more-or-less 'maintenance-free' but now require the hoses to be removed every so often, then that pi**es me off. It's not what I believe I bought. Hence my "Can anyone confirm?" in post #3.

Otherwise, I like them, too. But the next ones to be replaced won't be Forespar for precisely that reason.

Of course anyone who thinks wrestling hoses on and off is fun may have a different perspective.

 

[KellysEye]

>Our TruDesigns are still free after several months without opening/closing.

I turned our Marelons off and on every couple of months.

 

[ctva]

Suspect keyboard know it all giving wrong information on a very strange kind of first post, so I'd be suspicious of their motives and knowledge.

It i interesting that one maker's very occasional failure gets focused upon, yet many, indeed too many, boats on the sea have nasty cheap brass seacocks, that have anonymous makers, that when they fail get no adverse publicity.

I fitted my first two Forespar Marelon last winter for my engine intakes and will be replacing a couple more of the old rubbish with more Forespar this winter, I have exercised them about 2 or 3 times since I fitted them, and have also undertaken maintenance on other areas of the engine water systems. The valves have been absolutely tight since I fitted them and remain free to move.

I like them and until I learn otherwise will continue to use them.

I would agree. We have two fitted, the engine one four years ago and the poo outlet one year ago. Each is opened every time we use the boat and closed on leaving. I've never understood leaving an open hole in the bottom of a boat open when the boat is not in use. They get lubricated from the outside with a thin paintbrush once every three years when we take to boat out. I was not aware that the Forespar maintaince info had changed as I was always aware that lubrication was needed as with anything mechanical.

Our TruDesigns are still free after several months without opening/closing.

How do you know they are still free if you haven't opened or closed them? ?

 

[macd]

I was always aware that lubrication was needed as with anything mechanical

Whether that's universally true or not wil have to be moot. Many materials, of course, are self-lubricating. And, above all, many things immersed in water (some of them revving far higher than any ball valve) require no additional lubrication.

 

[GrahamM376]

How do you know they are still free if you haven't opened or closed them? ��

Because when I close them after being open for up to 6 months at a time, they are quite smooth. Same when opening again after boat left on mooring for several months.