Replacing a seacock whilst afloat: too good to be true?

[bedouin]

Looks like an interesting piece of kit. I don't think I would bother for changing a seacock but as a piece of emergency equipment I would have more faith in one of those than those softwood plugs that are rattling around at the back of a locker somewhere.

 

[BruceDanforth]

Why not replace them before they fail?

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Looks like an interesting piece of kit. I don't think I would bother for changing a seacock but as a piece of emergency equipment I would have more faith in one of those than those softwood plugs that are rattling around at the back of a locker somewhere.

Soft plugs are no use "rattling around at the back of a locker somewhere" and neither would one of these gadgets.

The best way of having a soft plug - of the correct size - handy and ready for use is to tape or tie it to the fitting that might fail.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Soft plugs are no use "rattling around at the back of a locker somewhere" and neither would one of these gadgets.

The best way of having a soft plug - of the correct size - handy and ready for use is to tape or tie it to the fitting that might fail.

And to have a hammer ties next to it so it can be fitted without hunting around for something to get the plug to do in the hole.

 

[bedouin]

Soft plugs are no use "rattling around at the back of a locker somewhere" and neither would one of these gadgets.

The best way of having a soft plug - of the correct size - handy and ready for use is to tape or tie it to the fitting that might fail.

The trouble is until it has failed you don't know how big the hole is going to be. If the failure is some sort of sheering of the seacock itself then there is no guarantee you will be able to get the plug to fit in at all.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

The trouble is until it has failed you don't know how big the hole is going to be. If the failure is some sort of sheering of the seacock itself then there is no guarantee you will be able to get the plug to fit in at all.

Fair point but that is why the plugs are meant to be tapered. It is more likely that a 1/2" BSP fitting shears off somewhere along its body, below the valve itself - thus creating a 1/2" hole - than for the entire skin fitting to pop off and creating a larger opening.

 

[bikedaft]

The trouble is until it has failed you don't know how big the hole is going to be. If the failure is some sort of sheering of the seacock itself then there is no guarantee you will be able to get the plug to fit in at all.

size it when you change the seacocks, usually out the water

or - its not too hard to look at the OD of the hull fitting, and figure out the ID

 

[bedouin]

size it when you change the seacocks, usually out the water

or - its not too hard to look at the OD of the hull fitting, and figure out the ID

But it could fail in a number of ways - the whole skin fitting could sheer off leaving a hole about the OD of the fitting, or one end of the stopcock could fail giving you a hole the ID of the stopcock, which would be much smaller.

 

[bikedaft]

But it could fail in a number of ways - the whole skin fitting could sheer off leaving a hole about the OD of the fitting, or one end of the stopcock could fail giving you a hole the ID of the stopcock, which would be much smaller.

both of these holes will be bigger than the ID of the hull fitting, assuming the stopcock doesn't have a reducer on it.

so if you make the tapered dowel fit at the beginning of the taper to the hull fitting, chances are that you can use the same dowel pushed further in for the other two types of holes

but yes, life rarely follows the rules

 

[SHUG]

Once changed a valve with a broom handle as a plug!
This looks a nice, simple device that someone with experience has thought through.
Worth about a fiver. How much??