Grease for seacocks

[KenD]

What type of Grease is used for seacocks since the boat is on the hard I would like to take them apart and lube them.Is there a particular tourqe on the nut that holds everything together or is this by feel.thanks in advance for all help rendered.

[RichH]

Use a waterproof grease such as Lubriplate waterproof wheel bearing grease. I

f you are ''reworking'' tapered plug type of valves, the ''clamping pressure'' to be able to turn the plug in the valve is by ''feel'', the lock/jamb nut that ''locks'' the spindle nut should be ''very tight'' .... using two wrenches when tightening. Just be sure to not sqeeze out all the grease from the mating surfaces of the plug when tightening ... a little ''drag'' when turn is OK but if you tighten so there is a lot drag/ftiction - will soon push out the grease during normal operation ..... and the plug can stick.

Modern ''ball valves'' usually have a teflon ''seat'' and these dont need to be lubricated, although its a good idea to sometimes disassemble the valve and clean/inspect the stainless ball for smoothness and lack of ''pits'', cracks, etc. When a ball valve starts to leak, etc. its better to simply replace as its damn difficult to ''true'' up ball by hand ... and they are relatively cheap.

[JDD43]

Ken, we just finished reworking all the seacocks. We used lapping compound to grind smooth the seat and the tapered plug, then cleaned all that out and lubed the parts with lithium grease before reassembling. This has worked well although you must "work" the valve occasionally to prevent it from sticking. Good luck.