Kelpie
Well-Known Member
Anybody else watching?
£6 to manufacture... Retail at £49... Ouch...
£6 to manufacture... Retail at £49... Ouch...
Seabung on Dragons' Den
- Thread starter Kelpie
- Start date
Eyore
Well-Known Member
Absolute rip off and if they seriously think they can rely on legislation to make that bit of tat into a compulsory "safety device" they must be bonkers. I'l stick with my wooden bungs ta very much.
stevebrassett
Well-Known Member
I thought their claim that legislation would make them compulsory was a bit naughty. At best it would only apply to commercial and coded vessels - not all 30 million boats around the world. I don't have to have lifejackets or flares on my boat and I certainly won't be buying their over-priced bits of plastic.
Kelpie
Well-Known Member
Absolutely. How do they propose to get the MCA to make it mandatory? Do they know someone or are they planning on using brown envelopes!?
How long has DSC been around, and it's not mandatory yet.
How long has DSC been around, and it's not mandatory yet.
xcw
Well-Known Member
Can't believe the Dragons were so naive to invest..
Eyore
Well-Known Member
Just goes to show that they aren't as smart as they seem to think they are.
Then again boats do have that effect on otherwise sensible people.
Richard10002
Well-Known Member
But if you need to replace a valve, and the choice was £200 to lift and splash, or £50 for a pack of these, which do you choose - whether they cost £6 to manufacture, or £48.
There will be lots of things that you buy that cost peanuts to make, but cost many peanuts to buy, but we dont know the manufaturing costs, so we dont argue the toss.
elton
Well-Known Member
Can't believe the forum can be so cynical.
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Sorry, I forgot, it's always like this
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Sorry, I forgot, it's always like this
Appledore
Well-Known Member
No good at all if the through-hull fitting breaks off! Complete waste of time. The only mandatory thing I have to have for my boat is insurance because the club demands it, but even that's not mandatory for many boat users.
stevebrassett
Well-Known Member
If I got this right - you have to close the seacock, then remove the hose. Then you open the seacock, and shove one of these devices down it whilst the sea is trying to get in your boat. If it catches on anything, then you have to hope you can get it out again, and close the seacock. I can just about see it as an emergency alternative for a wooden bung, but there is no way I would try to change a seacock using one of these things.
karl74
Well-Known Member
Although a good idea and apart from the grossly over price for a bit of pastic. I can see a few other vital floors. A lot of sea cocks are at 90 degrees to the skin fitting due to lack of space rendering this piece of kit useless, unless they can turn through 90 degrees. Another problem I could see is when trying to remove an old sea cock, is the skin fitting can move in so breaking the seal and causing another potential problem which would require a lift out or having to dry out.
As an essential piece of kit I don't think so but more of a useful piece. Saying that though if they were around the £20 mark which I feel us more of a realistic price I would be tempted to have them on board.
As an essential piece of kit I don't think so but more of a useful piece. Saying that though if they were around the £20 mark which I feel us more of a realistic price I would be tempted to have them on board.
Kelpie
Well-Known Member
I changed every through-hull and valve on my boat whilst dried out against the harbour wall. Cost=£0, and it made me get a move on too 
JClarkes
Well-Known Member
Tested in a pressure tank with 1.5 bar....
Why not test in the middle of the Atlantic on a Beneteau 57 that you have spent your working life saving for??
Why not test in the middle of the Atlantic on a Beneteau 57 that you have spent your working life saving for??
tugger
Well-Known Member
What Steve above said... exactly, not only do you have to disconnect the hose first, but the normal reason you have to replace a seacock is because it's either siezed or broken somehow, meaning you can't either open it to get the rubber bung through, or close it, meaning the sea is going to rush in just as soon as you've whipped of the hose. Then youve got to hope that it's going to separate from the skin fitting with out any counter force from the outside.
...and for that reason I'm ooot
...and for that reason I'm ooot
Habebty
Well-Known Member
I think it's a good idea, but far too expensive, and with a quoted shelf life (Force 4 Chandlery) of only 4 years.
Spyro
Well-Known Member
Yeah ripping off boaters again. If it was something for cleaning toilets you could buy them in the pound shop. £49 pounds to us is a rip off but I cant help feeling they are paying over the odds at £6 for manufacture. I don't particularly like Duncan Bannatyne but he got this one right.
old_salt
Well-Known Member
An expensive peace of tat that you would only want to use if you where in a very safe position ie tied up in a marina.
Yes we all have at some time lifted the paddle log or sounder and steamed the in rush of water with the proper manufacturers made bung.
If it became essential for a sea cock to be changed then unscrewing and fitting a new serviceable replacement would be just the same procedure once.
As against doing it twice with their bit of plastic mushroom tat which could not be guaranteed to fit all though hull fittings.
As for if doing the job on some of the boats I have been on they had hull fittings 12" in dia and bigger.
and if I relay wanted one I could make one in about 20/30 mins and if I couldn't then I would give up being a marine engineer..
Yes we all have at some time lifted the paddle log or sounder and steamed the in rush of water with the proper manufacturers made bung.
If it became essential for a sea cock to be changed then unscrewing and fitting a new serviceable replacement would be just the same procedure once.
As against doing it twice with their bit of plastic mushroom tat which could not be guaranteed to fit all though hull fittings.
As for if doing the job on some of the boats I have been on they had hull fittings 12" in dia and bigger.
and if I relay wanted one I could make one in about 20/30 mins and if I couldn't then I would give up being a marine engineer..
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SimbaDog
Well-Known Member
How do you change the coolant inlet sea clock that has a strainer?
JClarkes
Well-Known Member
Not with a Dragons Den Sea Bung. :encouragement:
dunedin
Well-Known Member
Agreed. Three big things from my perspective
1) Precisely which legislation do they think will be changed to make this mandatory ? Can't think of anything mandatory today in Uk (even VHF or lifejackets on board), except for larger boats and/or charter coded
2). Change a seacock in 2-3 minutes once fitted ? Surely we only tackle these when there is a problem, and typically then likely to be seized up - or potentially both seacock and through hull corroded due to cheapskate manufacturer supplied material. Neither sounds like will just quietly unscrew without a load of effort - and probably replacing the outer part as well
3) 80% gross margin ! Not driven by a safety mission then
No thanks
1) Precisely which legislation do they think will be changed to make this mandatory ? Can't think of anything mandatory today in Uk (even VHF or lifejackets on board), except for larger boats and/or charter coded
2). Change a seacock in 2-3 minutes once fitted ? Surely we only tackle these when there is a problem, and typically then likely to be seized up - or potentially both seacock and through hull corroded due to cheapskate manufacturer supplied material. Neither sounds like will just quietly unscrew without a load of effort - and probably replacing the outer part as well
3) 80% gross margin ! Not driven by a safety mission then
No thanks
