Seacock Levers

Wavey

Wavey

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Partly due to the location of some seacocks on my boat, and partly due to my increasing years :), It's getting more difficult for me to reach a couple of the seacock levers to open and close them.

I presume I'm not the only one experiencing this problem, so has anyone come up with a solution?
 
Leave them as they are, they are very likely seized up anyway, or the lever will break as you try to move it. LOL
another way to go is to remove and replace with gate valves, then construct a rod with a square on the end alla water board and street fittings, that's if you can see the top of the valve?
 
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I don't think you should leave them, if I were you, I would get someone that can, access and exercise them. If they do break, get them replaced, you really should ensure they are all working properly. It would not go down well with your insurers if ever a leak occurred and you could not isolate the cocks.

I have not seen it done before, but once working well, you could consider fitting a Belimo or equivalent valve actuator so you can control them electrically, with limit switches to operate lights to show if open or closed. We use to fit them to all sorts of lever operated valves.
 
None of them are seized, although some are easier to move than others. I always try to exercise them a few times each year so none of them stick. It just seems their position was designed for an owner with the physical attributes of an orangutan. The gennie ones are the most difficult and you have to dismantle half the saloon to get access, and even then it's not easy. I need arms about 9 inches longer, and lose about 3 stone in weight.

Electrically operated sounds nice but as I've got 9 of them it would probably be cheaper to buy a new boat :).

I was hoping someone might have come up with something you could use as an extension to your arm. Any thoughts?
 
Drill a hole in the end of the lever on the valve (I'm assuming ball valves here) and have a long handle with a bolt through the end, grind the bolt tip to a taper so it's easier to engage in the hole.
Or go the whole hog and use a length of threaded rod with a rose joint at each end and a slave lever somewhere easier to reach, it's what I plan to do to mine, sometime after the other list of never ending jobs/expense/despair......
 
John100156 said:
I don't think you should leave them, if I were you, I would get someone that can, access and exercise them. If they do break, get them replaced, you really should ensure they are all working properly. It would not go down well with your insurers if ever a leak occurred and you could not isolate the cocks.
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On the insurance point, I think this is very material, my policy requires that the seacocks are exercised every two months and that that activity is evidenced in some way (ie written in the log at the time). Once you start doing this it is surprising how quickly the two months comes around.
 
jimmy_the_builder said:
On the insurance point, I think this is very material, my policy requires that the seacocks are exercised every two months and that that activity is evidenced in some way (ie written in the log at the time). Once you start doing this it is surprising how quickly the two months comes around.
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I've never seen this requirement in my insurance policy, Jimmy. Who do you insure with?
 
I would be extremely cautious about extending the leverage...or, at least I'd make sure that I had a good supply of wooden bungs on hand.

The easy solution is to pay a boatyard operative to move them all once a month. Easy job for a youngster. 10 minutes work for a bit of beer money. Plus the evidence required for the policy wording described by JtB would be readily to hand and evidenced by the invoices.
 
I was in the camp of being happy to leave my sea cocks open when leaving the boat, but after a sensible debate on another Forum (SCMCHAT) the insurance issue was raised and it changed my thinking; my rather weak argument was 'why expose the face of a ball in a valve to fouling when closed, then, increase the risk of damaging the valve seat when opening it' one Forumite stated a claim had been refused when a boat sank in a marina and cocks had been left open. Whether true or not I don't know, but it was a sufficiently reasonable argument to change my thinking.

As an engineer, I had always exercised the valves on my boat but I must say they do now seem to be a tad easier to open/close. JtB's comments have reinforced my thinking.

Adding extra leverage should of course be treated with caution, a small extension perhaps, but turning forces can be very high if too long, with obvious and dire consequences, so do be careful!

Yes, actuated valves can be expensive, which is why I never bothered and also its best to observe what's happening when opening/closing, so you would need cameras too.... ? Naaah.
 
Wavey said:
None of them are seized, although some are easier to move than others. I always try to exercise them a few times each year so none of them stick. It just seems their position was designed for an owner with the physical attributes of an orangutan. The gennie ones are the most difficult and you have to dismantle half the saloon to get access, and even then it's not easy. I need arms about 9 inches longer, and lose about 3 stone in weight.

Electrically operated sounds nice but as I've got 9 of them it would probably be cheaper to buy a new boat :).

I was hoping someone might have come up with something you could use as an extension to your arm. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Might it be possible to install small access hatches in any panelling that's in the way.? Something just wide enough to admit your arm.
 
Wavey said:
I presume I'm not the only one experiencing this problem, so has anyone come up with a solution?
Click to expand...

I struggled with moving the main engine seawater intake seacocks on my boat so I just asked a local yard to make up a length of stainless steel tube with a plastic handle at the top which fits over the top of the existing seacock lever, extending the leverage considerably and making them much easier to move
 
Delicately touching upon the subject of the proper build for a middle-aged chap, I was once talking to my neighbouring berth-holder and happened to mention that the engineer we both used must be pretty lissom to get to some of the hard-to-access stuff.

Oddly, this seemed to cause amusement and my neighbour said, "You haven't met Graham have you?" He declined to be drawn further on the subject which certainly piqued my curiosity and a little while later I did meet him...

Stout, ain't in it.

Trying to sound polite I couldn't help but say, "how on earth do you get to the consumables on the starboard engine?" To which he replied: "I don't. There's the lad: he's built like a racing snake."
 
I kept a very detailed record your honor, but it must have floated away when the boat sank.....

All I did was assist Deleted User,in gently moving a rather long extension to a ball cock lever and I heard a loud crack, I couldn't reach the wooden bung lying next to the valve, because I am overweight, I really did mean to service the bilge pump and float honest, but its a bugger to get to and that skinny marine engineer charges a bloody fortune, so I abandoned ship. Now, how long will this investigation take to conclude? I have already placed a deposit on my new boat......

Just a bit of fun..... I reckon I have freedom of speech, I am over 60 and was 26 stone just 18 months ago.....;-)

Seriously though, we all keep an eye on these things I am sure, we get to know our boats well. I would not advise extending the lever even on a large sea cock, but if necessary, we are not idiots, so would know when they are getting a little stiffer....the key as always regular inspection and servicing as with most things on a boat.
 
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