As a follow-up .... are you sure that you are trying to turn it the right way? Every once in a while, I have to check myself!
You don’t need any time for the sealant to cure before launching. In this video the crew at the yachtrigger install a new Marelon thru hull while the boat is in the water. It starts at 0:57…Wouldn‘t I need to give the sealant plenty of time to set before splashing her? I imagine the haul out folks won‘t let me hold them up from using the launch area very long.
Thanks, gives me a bit to considerThe original valves on the O'Days are just that, valves and not real seacocks. If the Marelon valve you reference is just screwed onto the through hull fitting and does not have a flange, then putting any serious lateral force on it to try to close the valve risks breaking it or the through hull fitting. Those valves are often not matched to the through hull threads (pipe thread valve, straight thread though hull) and end up only having a few threads engaged. I've replaced three of my valves with real bronze seacocks and thick fiberglass backing plates that are epoxied in place. The seacocks are rock solid with three screws bolting them to the hull along with the threaded through hull fitting. MaineSail has a great DIY instruction on this and I highly recommend you consider this if you plan to keep the boat. Not a huge cost but a bit time consuming. Also O'Day only used a 1/2" through hull for the engine cooling water. It is highly recommended to change this to 3/4" along with the hoses and fittings to your water pump and strainer (if you have one).
I swear I was reading through this and was thinking "righty tighty, lefty loosey". Great minds think alike!As a follow-up .... are you sure that you are trying to turn it the right way? Every once in a while, I have to check myself!
I had the same fitting on my Starwind 27. I never had difficulty opening and closing the valve, but I did have trouble keeping it cleared from eelgrass when floating mats of it would clog the intake. The problem was always the 90 degree bend was never easy to clear. I could remove the hose but still not be able to clear the clog easily from either the inside or the outside (under water). I suppose it is possible that you may have something wedged inside to prevent closing the handle. Otherwise, I still have a hard time understanding why a relatively new maralon fitting would be frozen. If I was really fixated on working on this, I might try removing that elbow just to see if there is something jambing the valve, even while water gushes into the boat. A bilge pump should be able to keep up with it for a while and you can always plug it closed when you feel like it.Here are shots of the thru hull I cannot close
If you can dive on it I suggest plugging it from the outside then unscrewing the elbow fitting so you can clean and grease it from inside.Here are shots of the thru hull I cannot close