Lubricating Through Hull Valves

[Terry Cox]

Our boat has nine of the standard bronze through hull valves. Some are getting a bit stiff to operate, even though I work them every season. Since our boat sits in sea water year around, I'm looking for suggestions on how to lubricate these valves while in the water in order to loosen them up some. I suppose one way, as one boater suggested, is to disconnect the hose, extract any sea water from the valve and then squirt some WD40 down onto the valve, reconnect the hose and then work the valve to get the WD40 spread around. Another way is to have a diver apply some non petroleum grease to the valve from the outside with a small pencil type brush.

Does anyone have any other suggestions that they've used with some degree of success? A haul out would solve the lubrication problem, but that is a year or so away when it comes time to redo the bottom. Why did I not do it when we hauled the boat in 2018? Never crossed my mind. Any other ideas out there in the hinterlands?

 

[Rich Stidger]

I have tried your ideas with no joy. Always out of the water and I have yet to find any method that will free up my valves. A couple of mine are very hard to operate, and a couple are reasonable. I would love to find a method that actually works.

 

[dlochner]

WD 40 is not really a good choice as it is not really a lubricant, its purpose is to disperse water from electrical systems like spark plug wires and distributors. The WD stands for Water Dispersant, 40 is the 40th formulation.

WD-40 History | Learn the Stories Behind the WD-40 Brand | WD-40

The WD-40 brand has a rich history of helping mechanics, motorists and DIY enthusiasts with their projects in the garage or on the job site. WD-40 is engineered to provide superior lubrication and break through greast and grime with corrosion inhibitors.

www.wd40.com

Do you have ball valves or cone seacocks?

 

[Joe]

The top down technique will do some good, but not with WD 40, of course. I've had a bit of luck with a multi-purpose marine lubricant like sta-lube, etc. I have also asked my diver to try dabbling some in from the outside... as yet no results on that to report. Stating the obvious here, but the best protection is to open and close the valves on a regular basis. A few of them you have to any way such as raw water intake... but for some folks who never go off shore, and use their holding tank most of the time rathere than pumping overboard, there is a tendency to leave that valve closed for very long perioud of time. I've also put additives in the toilet and pumped that through the pump... but I don't think it was very effective. Oh well. I haven't been down to my boat for 3 or 4 mos and I'm afraid of what I'll find. It means that there'll be lots of extra work at next haulout.

 

[Terry Cox]

Do you have ball valves or cone seacocks?

Ours look like this one: Bronze Seacocks (Adaptersize\: 3/4 Hoseadapter: 90° Flangedia.\": 3-1/4 ... 85226244551 | eBay

 

[rgranger]

@Maine Sail had something on this over at cruisers forum

Best grease for bronze seacocks? - Page 2 - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

Originally Posted by Mystic38 Title says it all.. Looking for input and viewpoints on grease preferences for use in overhaul servicing and also for grease gun maintenance .. Fwiw I have Spartan marine

www.cruisersforum.com

 

[dlochner]

Ours look like this one: Bronze Seacocks (Adaptersize\: 3/4 Hoseadapter: 90° Flangedia.\": 3-1/4 ... 85226244551 | eBay

That's a ball valve.

If you have the bolt on the side of the fitting, you can put a zero in that and then lube the ball through the zero. Open the valve, squeeze some grease in there and work the valve back and forth.

If you have critters in there it will make it difficult to open and close. Do the best you can until you haul out and evict the critters.

Follow MaineSail's recommendation for grease. It will need to be a grease that has some stickiness to it so it doesn't wash out in the water.

 

[Terry Cox]

you can put a zero in that and then lube the ball through the zero.

Thanks, Dave. Do you mean a zerk fitting? Will Sta-Lube work?

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Will Sta-Lube work?

Probably the most resistance to water is found in SuperLube. I know it's used in backflow preventers which pass large quantities of water without washing the grease away. Also used to lube head cylinder rings and seem to last.

 

[dlochner]

Thanks, Dave. Do you mean a zerk fitting? Will Sta-Lube work?

I meant zerk, auto correct decided I meant zero.

Any water resistant grease should work.

 

[Terry Cox]

Thanks Dave and Ralph. I'll give it a shot.

 

[rgranger]

Barnacles or other unwanted shell fish jamming the works can be washed out with some dilute vinegar.

 

[Terry Cox]

I need to check whether our valves have drain plugs for winterizing. If so, I should be able to work some grease into the ball valve via these drain plugs? Or as Dave suggested, install a zerk fitting on that drain plug to lubricate?

 

[Terry Cox]

I need to check whether our valves have drain plugs for winterizing. If so, I should be able to work some grease into the ball valve via these drain plugs? Or as Dave suggested, install a zerk fitting on that drain plug to lubricate?

Any comments?

 

[Terry Cox]

Sent a message to Groco.com the other day asking for their ball valve lubricating recommendations. Patrick sent me the following message:

The best way to grease a valve is to remove the drain plug if so equipped
making sure the valve is in the off position first or fully open ,install the grease fitting if the valve has two drains remove the other drain while leaving the valve full open then apply grease till it comes out the other side.
This will allow the grease to migrate to the other side and out without over pressurizing the body.
If only one drain is present turn the handle to the one o'clock position after the grease fitting is in place
then add the grease to the valve.
This is harder to do since you cannot see the amount of grease being applied to the inside.
see groco.net grease chart for more help.
Never leave the handle in fully open or closed position if only one drain id present due to over pressurizing the valve which can damage it or pushing grease into the ball cavity.

I told him that I would give it a go and let him know the outcome as well as all of you here.

 

[Terry Cox]

Drove to the boat this morning to do my boat check every two weeks. Also wanted to inspect my through hull valves. Of the three valves that I checked, only one has one winterizing plug. The other two do not. So, my diver has plans to go to the boat tomorrow to install the second shaft zinc. I gave him a tube of waterproof grease and some pencil brushes and asked that he apply some grease to the ball valve while he is under water. The next time I go to the boat I will exercise the vales to hopefully spread the grease around and loosen up the valve. We'll see how that goes. I'll keep you posted on the outcome.