Seeking Input on Seacock Failures & Titanium Upgrade Possibilities

[vyv_cox]

So why change the valve bodies and thru hulls at 5 years?

I suspect the boat builders influenced the RCD, covering their low cost material choice. IIRC it only says they should last a minimum of 5 years, not that they need to be changed. At the time of the YM campaign this was quite a big topic.

 

[Tranona]

So why change the valve bodies and thru hulls at 5 years?

Where does anybody say that? The RCD only says that such fittings should have a life of a mini9mum of 5 years. Builders etc were obviously confident that there fittings achieved that as they continued o use the same.

Not aware of any builder that makes it a specific recommendation unlike for example Volvo who advise that saildrive seals should be replaced every 7 years (totally unnecessarily as they last seemingly indefinitely.) My Bavaria handbook did include seacocks as items that should be checked regularly.

Much of the scaremongering about seacocks comes from misunderstanding (wilfully?) that single line in the RCD - ignoring the literally hundreds of thousands of valves in use that do not suffer from dezincification let alone fail and cause the boat to sink.

 

[Beneteau381]

Where does anybody say that? The RCD only says that such fittings should have a life of a mini9mum of 5 years. Builders etc were obviously confident that there fittings achieved that as they continued o use the same.

Not aware of any builder that makes it a specific recommendation unlike for example Volvo who advise that saildrive seals should be replaced every 7 years (totally unnecessarily as they last seemingly indefinitely.) My Bavaria handbook did include seacocks as items that should be checked regularly.

Much of the scaremongering about seacocks comes from misunderstanding (wilfully?) that single line in the RCD - ignoring the literally hundreds of thousands of valves in use that do not suffer from dezincification let alone fail and cause the boat to sink.

Oh dear me.

 

[Beneteau381]

I suspect the boat builders influenced the RCD, covering their low cost material choice. IIRC it only says they should last a minimum of 5 years, not that they need to be changed. At the time of the YM campaign this was quite a big topic.

You’ve nailed it Vyv. Low cost of material choice and then cya with minimum of five years. Successful too because several people I know out in Portugal have changed theirs because of the “five years”
You know cynical old moi! Act on evidence!

 

[Tranona]

You’ve nailed it Vyv. Low cost of material choice and then cya with minimum of five years. Successful too because several people I know out in Portugal have changed theirs because of the “five years”
You know cynical old moi! Act on evidence!

Yes, and I dropped £500 on the sale of my 6 year old Bavaria because the buyer's surveyor found what he claimed were pink spots on one skin fitting flange and insisted all should be changed. Bit of wet and dry and it was all shiny again. How do you argue when a £90k sale is in the balance? The buyer happily sailed it away and had no intention of replacing them, enjoying his unexpected saving which paid his surveyor's fee.

I don't think it was ever the builder's intention to get people to replace them - what's in it for builders? It is the scaremongers who don't know what they are talking about and if enough of them do it, then it becomes fact. Here is a typical example of somebody who should know better getting it wrong. Note at the end having slagged off "cheap" products he promptly shows one he cut apart after replacing and like you no dezincification. youtube.com/watch?v=3V_mFWg14Tg

Still waiting for the epidemic of boats sinking because of failed seacocks and insurers refusing to insure.

One of my erstwhile colleagues whose specialist research was into the phenomenon of "Moral Panic" 1990 Rochdale Satanic abuse rings as an example would have enjoyed this one.

 

[Roberto]

Fwiw, when I changed my through hulls, valves etc a few were distinctively pink/red, a-ha the dreaded dezincification thought I, expecting them to crumble in my hands; followed a bit of home made destructive testing and to eventually break them I had to repeatedly smash them with a hammer, blows that could have broken a new one I think. In hindsight I probably could have kept them.

 

[Tranona]

Yes, boatyard bins are probably full of perfectly serviceable valves and fittings.

 

[vyv_cox]

Yes, boatyard bins are probably full of perfectly serviceable valves and fittings.

Probably true, I find I have to advise many owners that what they are seeing is harmless. However, there are many cases of seriously dezincified fittings, a few of which are shown on my website Brasses and bronzes

Responsible surveyors rely on the sound when fittings are tapped with a hammer, 'clink or ring', not a bit of pink colour.

 

[rotrax]

A case of trying to fix a problem that does not exist.

 

[gaylord694]

I like the trudesign ones, some plastic mix. Had one operating for 10 years now and still works the same as new. Big problem with retrofitting them is that they are bigger / bulkier than 'metal' equivalent.
Some people in the past didn't like them for whatever reason on their grp boat.

Thru-design thru hulls. Can't go wrong

 

[Akestor]

When bought the boat, I mistakenly murdered the original blakes from 1972 thinking they were for the trash. At the cut, the bronze was like new. No signs of corrosion.
During the summer, i dove to a wreck from 1965. The bronze huge propeller was in amazing condition even after all these years, could be salvaged and used again…
naval bronze ( not brass) is unbeatable material I think

 

[davidmh]

I was in a large superstore chandlers today picking up some bits and noticed the rows of truedesign seacocks as well as DZR seacocks. it gave me a good a good chance to see the differnce in size and price. I looked at 1/2 in and 3/4 inch . The Truedesign are a liitle bigger, but not that much, I could easily swap my DZR valves. The 1 1/2 inch would be more of a problem if I had Blakes which are much shorter. The big surprise to me was the 1/2in and 3/4 inch TrueDesign are only a few pennies more than DZR. I will ceratinly change to True design when I have to, I have a set of toilet valves on Quicksilver, which was built in 1985, the valves were an early USA plastice design and have given no problems. The skin fitting are Bronze..
David MH