Seacocks

Vic - thanks. You are dealing with a rank (but keen to learn) amatuer here, so given that my voltmeter does have a continuity tester, do I wrap the exposed end of a long lead around the pushpit, then have the red probe on the anode and the black probe on the other end of the lead that is attached to the metal on the pushpit? Never done continuity testing as you can tell, I use the voltmeter in it basic form so I assume one of the probes (black?) needs to be moved the to the COM port (?) on the voltmeter? Is a buzz good or bad?
 
Not sure but will check when I am down there tomorrow. Is there anything that indicates that the seacock and through hull fittings should be replaced?

I have just gone through this process. If a ball valves and it opens and closed easily then likely it is ok. Look up the skin fitting and ensure the ball is ok and not corroded. Don't lubricate with grease as this attracts dirt that can damage the ball and seats.

I wire brushed mine down and ensured the handles are ok. Getting replacement handles is next to impossible as I have found. New dzr or bronze ones are made with stainless handles. You can buy cheap balls valves from screwfix with handles that will fit.

Scrub and antifoul off the skin fitting on the outside and see if there is any discolouring. Orange or pink is bad. Green is ok.

If the ball valve is to be replaced then good luck getting it off the skin fitting without twisting it and breaking the seal. I did this with three and am not re-installing them with new sealant. You can stick a spanner or something up the skin fitting to prevent it from spinning as you unscrew the valve off from he other side (2 person job).

My skin fittings, although fine were 18 years old so I decided to replace anyway since they were out. I will re-install them next week with Sika 291 and new DZR valves.
 
Vic - thanks. You are dealing with a rank (but keen to learn) amatuer here, so given that my voltmeter does have a continuity tester, do I wrap the exposed end of a long lead around the pushpit, then have the red probe on the anode and the black probe on the other end of the lead that is attached to the metal on the pushpit? Never done continuity testing as you can tell, I use the voltmeter in it basic form so I assume one of the probes (black?) needs to be moved the to the COM port (?) on the voltmeter? Is a buzz good or bad?

test between the anode and some exposed ie not painted part of the sail drive ...... I was thinking to somewhere on the upper gear box as hopefully its all painted below the boat but on reflection the propshaft should do. Polarity not important but test that you can hear the buzzer if the leads are shorted together ( I just bought one with an electronic bleep that is out of my impaired hearing's frequency range ) buzz or bleep = continuity.

Id expect the leads to plug into the same sockets as for ohms measurement which may also be the same as for volts.
 
Northcave - thanks for the screwfix tip. Aw hell, I mistyped screwfux initially which should get past the PC police, is funny and also true with many branches ...
 
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