Difficult To Operate Through-hull Ball Valves

[jviss]

I have a total of six bronze ball valves for through hulls, in (I think) two different sizes, large and small. They are quite difficult to operate, to the point that my wife can't operate a couple of them that I can (with difficulty), and one I have to literally bash the handle with a hammer to open or close it. No good!

Is there a way to "service" these, to make operation easier, while the boat's in the water? What causes this? Could it be corrosion on the handle and shaft parts, on the outside, or is it growth or corrosion on the ball and inside?

Thanks,

jv

 

[Maine Sail]

What causes it is lack of use and growth/ pitting on the balls surface. If the pitting/ corrosion gets bad enough you replace them.. when you are on the hard you can try wiping grease on the ball with an acid brush but in my experience when you get to this point it is usually too late. . As. I used to say to my customers seacocks are a use them or loose them kind of deal.

 

[jviss]

What causes it is lack of use and growth/ pitting on the balls surface. If the pitting/ corrosion gets bad enough you replace them.. when you are on the hard you can try wiping grease on the ball with an acid brush but in my experience when you get to this point it is usually too late. .

Thank you. I always operate the ball valves at least twice per visit to the boat - arriving and leaving for a weekend. Perhaps the previous owner just left them open all the time?

I will plan on replacing them. I wish I could fix them somehow, now! The hardest one is the direct overboard head discharge one, which I only ever used once (legally), and it was a bear to open and close. I suppose it was almost never opened.

A couple of them are in tough or inconvenient to access places. I wish I could convert ALL of the seacocks to electric operation, and cycle them on a schedule - maybe even under program control. Is there such a thing?

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I'm very worried about one bronze thru-hull on my boat that is in a very difficult place to reach my hand. It is almost at the point where I can't operate it. It is the raw water intake for the reverse cycle and is always left open when leaving the boat. The hose isn't the best quality and I can't even get at the hose clamps, which are not in good shape. I wasn't able to remove hose clamps at both ends of the hose from the thru-hull to the water pump.

I had a problem last weekend where my flow was restricted when attempting to run A/C. I was able to remove the hose at the pump discharge and verify no restrictions on the pump side. I eventually discovered my own user error and found that I had placed objects over the discharge hose in the stern lazerette that crushed the hose. So I was relieved that my A/C was so easily resolved but my investigation revealed that I can't replace the thru-hull at the intake or even remove a damaged hose if I need to. It's under the stern berth and there is a fiberglass floor over the thru-hull that is so tight that it seems that it will be impossible to remove anything.

I suppose I will have to cut an access hole is the only way. In any case, it is feeling like a much more urgent situation right now.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I am positive that the P.O. of my boat never, ever closed ball valves in 20 years. They are all difficult to operate and in difficult locations to access, thus, I have also not been closing them regularly, except for the macerator discharge, which is always closed. All of them, other than the one I described above, are Marelon valves. I'm thinking it is about time to swap them all out. The only one that is easy to access and easy to operate is the engine intake.

 

[sailcapt340]

Could it be to much grease in the valve? Thats what I did to my head thru hull. I got to heavy handed with the grease (Marelube) about 3 years ago and it froze the handle to the level you are describing. I used a heat gun on low to heat the valve and it freed the handle.
Maybe a little heat might free it up a bit where you can work the handle. If it does then you can remove the hose and spray some lube in.
In my case, I am the previous owner so anything that can go wrong is on me, what I have or haven’t done in the past.
I‘ve also dropped the notion that if 1 aspirin works 20 should be great. So I am very light on the grease now.

 

[Rich Stidger]

Non use and lack of grease may be good reasons why these valves are hard to work, but I have operated brand new ones in the store and found that many of them are hard to work also.
And I have never figured out how to effectively grease these valves.
So I think there are other issues going on here.

 

[JoeWhite]

While closed, I remove the hose and place 2 Oz of olive oil and reconnect the hose. Then try to move back and forth multiple times until it opens and closes.

 

[berner73]

Our overboard discharge thru-hull has always been difficult to open/close. Admittedly we never use the valve as it remains closed during the season (not sure what the PO did). I only exercise it at the end and beginning of each season (after haul out and prior to launch). While on the hard this past off season, I removed the valve from the thru-hull and brought it home to be cleaned. While there was some build up of old grease, I believe the primary issue was scaling on the ball face where it is exposed to sea or black water. After cleaning and re-greasing, the valve opens and closes much easier. It still doesn't operate as freely as our other thru-hull valves, but it's markedly better than it was prior to cleaning.

 

[jviss]

While closed, I remove the hose and place 2 Oz of olive oil and reconnect the hose. Then try to move back and forth multiple times until it opens and closes.

That's a lot of olive oil! That stuff is precious.

 

[dkinzer]

The valve for my galley sink drain was operating stiffly, a fact that was noted on the survey report generated last October. I applied a few drops of light machine oil on the valve stem and worked it a bit and then added a drop or two more. The next day, the valve was operating more easily although still not as freely as the other through hull valves. I went ahead and applied a drop or two on all of the other valves.

 

[Tally Ho]

…literally bash the handle with a hammer to open or close it.

That sounds like a recipe for disaster…

Greg

 

[jviss]

That sounds like a recipe for disaster…

Greg

Yes! It occurred to me as I did it that if I broke the seacock off I'd sink the boat!

 

[higgs]

When on the hard, close the valve and the lube it from underneath.

 

[Art12050]

Ditto to higgs as that’s the best time to service your ball valves. Do it on winter layup and again before Spring launch.
If you have an issue while you’re in the water, close the valve, take off the hose and give it a good dose of PB Blaster. Reconnect and work the valve till is frees up. That should help.

 

[FastOlson]

Yes! It occurred to me as I did it that if I broke the seacock off I'd sink the boat!

No. The valve will break off, but the ball (and seal) will be intact. OTOH, you will need to haul out or at least arrange for a quick lift to replace the old valve. Please... install a one-piece "sea cock" next time, and not another valve screwed onto a separate thruhull.

 

[jviss]

Please... install a one-piece "sea cock" next time, and not another valve screwed onto a separate thruhull.

I'll keep that in mind, but I'm dealing with what the factory installed.