Broken seacock

[newportknots]

I just tried to close the seacock for my head discharge and the lever just popped forward.. now it moves loosely back and forth between open and closed, but is clearly not closing the seacock.

There is a slow drip coming into the boat.

Has this happened to anyone before?

I'm thinking I need to plug the seacock and pull the boat immediately.

[sailingdog]

Let me guess... it's a marelon (black plastic like material) seacock.

My guess is that you didn't follow the maintenance instructions on it, and that is why it seized up and snapped the handle. They need to be exercised regularly—like every time you're on the boat, and once a month MINIMUM. They also need to be greased annually at a minimum.

The reason it is probably dripping is you broke the handle stem off at the ball, and water is seeping by the damaged area.

You really should haul the boat and replace it. Putting a plug into it, unless it is from the outside, probably won't do anything, since the leak is likely inside the seacock ball valve itself.

[tager]

Plug it from outside. Replace it when you get the bottom painted. No need wasting money and time.

[Pamlicotraveler]

Originally Posted by tager

Plug it from outside. Replace it when you get the bottom painted. No need wasting money and time.

That would scare the heck out of me - having a thru hull plug on the outside that I couldn't keep an eye on. And the insurance company might not like it either if it sank. My vote - pull the boat ASAP.

.

[xort]

Might not be a marelon. The old style groco seacocks have a rubber plug with a bronze handle. The bronze handle to rubber plug will eventually disintigrate. That's why I'm on my third seacock replacement. The old style grocos are no longer made and they long ago ran out of most sizes of replacement parts.
Time for a new thru-hull, flange and ball valve

[sailingdog]

Won't know until the OP responds.

Originally Posted by xort

Might not be a marelon. The old style groco seacocks have a rubber plug with a bronze handle. The bronze handle to rubber plug will eventually disintigrate. That's why I'm on my third seacock replacement. The old style grocos are no longer made and they long ago ran out of most sizes of replacement parts.
Time for a new thru-hull, flange and ball valve

[J36ZT]

What I'd do...

1) Plug the thru-hole/seacock from the outside
2) Haul the boat ASAP
3) REPLACE ALL THE SEACOCKS!

My reasoning is that one seacock breaking is a sign the others are likely to go soon as well.

Skipper, J/36 "Zero Tolerance"

PS I've heard most boats that sink do so in their own slip. The usual cause is a seacock leaking or hose breaking loose.

[newportknots]

Thanks for the advice all. I'm going to pull the boat this week and repair the seacock. No reason to mess around.

[hellosailor]

"it's a marelon (black plastic like material) seacock. "
No no no no no. What part of "no" is unclear?

Marelon is not a generic word for black plastic, Marelon is in fact a damn reliable nylon type material filled with glass fibers, essentially a block of cast fiberglass, which is arguably better than bronze because it never has galvanic issues.

Every time I've heard complaints about "marelon" they've turned out to be "Well, its black plastic, isn't that all the same?" and really, SD, it ain't.

[sailingdog]

HS—

I am very well aware that Marelon is glass-reinforced nylon, and not just plastic...but for all sakes of appearance, Marelon is a black-plastic-like material...which is what I said....

Most people don't give a rat's ass that it is technically glass-reinforced nylon composite...