Seized stop cock

Ripster

Ripster

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My main sea-cock appears to be seized ON (just acquired the boat)- apart from lifting out and replacing etc - any advice on getting it released - wd40?- tapping gently with hammer?. Dont want to get tooo tough with it at the risk of unseating the seal or hull mount - any advice?
 
Its on a Monterey with a Yanmar diesel engine....not sure what type it is - I will have to get a photo. Its a substantial one looks like a heavy brass fitting - the tap has a square boss at one side on which a handle is slotted to turn it.
 
Hope your insurers do not read this.
Leave well alone if WD40, warming with heat gun and or gentle treatment with a mallet do not encourage it to move.
You know you must fix it when the boat is next out of the water!
 
When I first bought my present boat all (6) the seacocks were seized. There are some advantages to a drying mooring as I was able to free them up one by one. As has been said, by gentle heating, a copper mallet and Plus Gas.
Be aware they may be a tapered fit.
 
I presume you have tried it when cold.

Most seacocks expand with heat and any close to heat sources seize.

My seacocks work well while underway as there is cold water cooling them.

Once I stop for an hour they get hot and are tough to move, I either have to wait until they are cold ( 5 hours) or start the engine on tickover for say 30 seconds to get cold water through them before I turn off the engine and easily close the seacock.

You could try some of that plumbers freezer spray to cool the seacock, shrink it and they see if it will move.

Once you get any movement just do a little at a time back and forth, that way any debris ( crustaceans/rust) gets moved out the fitting not forced into the fitting.

I personally wouldn't hit it with a mallet, a 10 inch length of copper pipe gives a little extra leverage which I have always found to work when used back and forth.

I once tipped brick cleaner from machine mart (hydrochloric acid) into the trap of an air con seacock that hadnt been used for years, it soon freed it up (that was seized closed, not sure how you would get the acid in while afloat and jammed open)
 
If they are a tapered fit......... slacken the nut a turn or two, place a piece of wood on the nut and give it a sharp knock, if that doesn't loosen it wait until the boat is out of the water.

All seacocks should be moved by turning off whenever you leave the boat this does two things.
1. moves the seacock and lets you know if it needs attention.
2. leaves your boat much safer than leaving one turned on.

It is good practice to turn off all seacocks when away from the vessel, the only reason people don't do it is ???? OK I'll say it laziness!

Tom.
 
New one on me too .

I guess someone put seacocks on cockpit drains in case the pipe comes off.

As you say most cockpit drains are above the water line anyway.

If a yacht heels over then they may be submerged but once heeled over they would operate as self bailers (assuming they could make 3 knots).

I cant see any point in cockpit drains with seacocks..........anyone know what use they have ?
 
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Yep I have some of those as well........... mine dont have seacocks on them as they are well above water line.......... Your point is!

Tom

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I think his point is some boats have cockpit drains below the waterline with seacocks on, they are left open.
 
Surly no one on their right minds would put a hole in the bottom of a boat just to drain water off ?

Is this sailing boats only that heel over ?
Cant imagine a quality motorboat design would include such a flaw ?????
 
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Sailing boats have a lot more below the water than the average flat bottomed motorboat - a lot more up top too /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

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I think the answer to that is to check which forum we are on!! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Tom
 
My boat has cockpit drains sea cocks below the waterline, but has a bunded well on the inside of the hull so would not allow water into the boat unless the boat was rolling, in which case I guess it would still be limited, and the bilge pumps could cope.

Having said that, I don't see the point of them, and would sooner they just exited above the waterline. I don't know if its standard on Princess, or whether the original owner specified them.
 
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I cant see any point in cockpit drains with seacocks..........anyone know what use they have ?

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All of the deck drains on my boat, including the cockpit drains, exit through 2 seacocks a few inches above the waterline and AFAIK this is a requirement of the RCD to get Cat A certification. I believe that a proportion of sinkings whilst a boat is unattended occur as a result of water getting into a boat thru drains which exit just above the waterline. For example, if a boat is overloaded with gear or snow or ice, then it could sit lower in the water and allow water to flow back into the cockpit causing a sinking. Another possible scenario would be if the cockpit scuppers got blocked and allowed rainwater to collect in the cockpit lowering the boat until the drains were below the waterline which would allow seawater back into the cockpit. I guess there might be a siphoning effect in this scenario too
I guess the point is that you are supposed to keep the cockpit drain seacocks closed when you are away from your for any length of time but that does beg the question as to how rain water escapes from the cockpit
 
Thanks for that, any other forum member would have just sat smugly and grinned behind the screen

wow DAKA makes his first error /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

oh no not you, you just cant resist sticking the boot in /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
















Alright I was wrong again

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I have only ever seen one mobo with drains that weren't above the water level and that was on a boat that Mustang Tom asked me to have a look at a couple of years ago..........

The deck drains on that one went straight into the bilges /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif It was a boat that had been designed for hot climate and could have easily been changed to exit the drains out of the boat above water line!

Good point though, who else has drains below the water line on a MoBo!

Tom

PS. I totally disagree with this comment
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I guess the point is that you are supposed to keep the cockpit drain seacocks closed when you are away from your for any length of time

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and I dont care what they say you need for Cat A In a British summer you could sink a boat in two weeks if they were closed!
 
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