Frozen Sea ****

[Pub911]

Stop. Fight the urge. This is a legitimate post, now.

Ok, so I know I shoulda, coulda prevented this. But I didn't. Now what do I do? I have no room inside the v-birth to get a cheater bar on the handle for leverage and there's no budging it by my manual effort. Do I dare a big ol' hammer? Or will that comprimize the hull? Other options shy of removing the whold damn thing? And how bad is the idea of leaving in the open position? It runs the overboard from the holding tank, but I've got Y valves ahead of the that render is unnecessary.

Thanks, all.

[Lion35]

Hi Pub911, What type of sea-**** is it? Bronze or plastic? Ball valve or taper? It makes a really big difference on how to proceed and I'm sure others will need to know in order to offer help/suggestions.

[camaraderie]

Pour nearly boiling water on it.

[thesnort]

I think it's one word...what you're referring to. Damn! I hope we're talking about the same thing. Otherwise, many condolences.

[tdw]

Originally Posted by Pub911

Stop. Fight the urge. This is a legitimate post, now.

Ok, so I know I shoulda, coulda prevented this. But I didn't. Now what do I do? I have no room inside the v-birth to get a cheater bar on the handle for leverage and there's no budging it by my manual effort. Do I dare a big ol' hammer? Or will that comprimize the hull? Other options shy of removing the whold damn thing? And how bad is the idea of leaving in the open position? It runs the overboard from the holding tank, but I've got Y valves ahead of the that render is unnecessary.

Thanks, all.

Unnecessary ? Not if a hose splits its not.

When was the last time you had her out of the water ? We had a throughhull that was not jammed but was hard to operate before we cleaned the old girls bottom. Good clean out of the critters that had decided to call it home and all is now good.

Cam's hot water idea is the first thing I'd try as well.

[Rockter]

Find a wall, and park the boat against it. Let the tide go out. Then work on it.

I really do not like the idea of torque bars as the hull has to give the torque reaction to it. Heat must be used judiciously. A heat gun will easily soften the resin at the hull. Boiling water, certainly, with a towel wrapped round it to keep the hot water there longer.

Tap it a bit with a hammer. Don't bludgeon it.

Be careful.

Cycle the through-hull valves occasionally. It makes all the difference. Even once a season will.

[eherlihy]

Is it possible that something swam up there? I have heard from many people about eels and other stuff that swim into a through hull, and get stuck. This makes the valve appear stuck.

Try this, take a quick sail, and discharge at least a couple of gallons. If the discharge pump is hard to operate, there is something plugging the lines (probably an eel), likely at the seacock. With luck, you'll build up some pressure in the line and blow the obstruction out of the valve. Of course, if you're not careful, you could pop a line off a fitting, and discharge your holding tank into your bilge. Better check all of the fittings between the pump and the through hull first.

Ed

[Freesail99]

There is a screw or a nut ,180 degrees from the handle. Loosen that nut or screw and it will take pressure off the ball or gate valve, allowing you to open it.

[FishSticks]

If it's bronze, dowse it with PB Blaster, which works better than WD40. Had the same problem. No way to get handle on mine 'cause of frame in the way. Some boatyard guy tightened the nut. It was a bugger getting it. Made a tool to fit on the square in small space. Took a long time to get it free.

[sailingdog]

I'd recommend the near-boiling water, and agree that you need a towel or something to keep the hot water against the seacock for a while, until it heats up a bit. This is generally more effective on bronze seacocks than on Marelon. Be careful if the seacock is Marelon, since the handles on the Marelon ones can snap.