Marelon Ball Valve VS Marelon Sea Cocks

[Project_Mayhem]

I came across a knockoff Marelon on my raw water intake. Upon looking them up I discovered that there are Marelon sea cocks and ball valves. What the advantage and disadvantage of each? Aside from lubricating and excersizing, is there anything I should check on the rest of the ball valves to see their integrity?

 

[Hayden Watson]

The Marelon seacock has a flange against the hull which greatly increases the force required to break the thru-hull. The seacocks exceed the ABYC requirement to not break when subjected to a 500-lb load at the end of the fitting. My 88 C30 came from the factory with Marelon ball valves, and I replace all of them with the Marelon Seacocks.

Forespar Marelon OEM / 93 Series Destructive Testing

 

[Project_Mayhem]

The Marelon seacock has a flange against the hull which greatly increases the force required to break the thru-hull. The seacocks exceed the ABYC requirement to not break when subjected to a 500-lb load at the end of the fitting. My 88 C30 came from the factory with Marelon ball valves, and I replace all of them with the Marelon Seacocks.

Forespar Marelon OEM / 93 Series Destructive Testing

Thanks for the clarification. Mine has the same. I'm ok with the marelon valves but it's the plastic through hulls that make me uncomfortable. I suppose if I switch to sea cocks, that'd make it significantly stronger. I swear my next boat will be something that was built right from the start such as a Sabre

 

[jssailem]

I swear my next boat will be something that was built right from the start

I admire your belief that there is a boat built "Right." I think you may need to build the boat yourself.
Then, all you need to worry about are the plans. They are never wrong—ask any naval architect.

 

[dlochner]

I swear my next boat will be something that was built right from the start such as a Sabre

With a quarter century of experience with Sabre, let me disabuse you of that notion. Make no mistake, when it comes to design, joinery, and hull and rig construction there are few production boats that compete with them on build quality, that's why they were at the high end of the market and continue to hold their value. However, every Sabre owner will tell you they did a few things there were not so well thought out or built. None however, significantly compromised the safety or enjoyment of the boat, except when trying to deal with a few of their construction decisions, the enjoyment scale is real low when hanging upside down in a tight lazarette trying free an exhaust hose that had a zip tie buried under the fuel tank comes to mind.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

With a quarter century of experience with Sabre, let me disabuse you of that notion. Make no mistake, when it comes to design, joinery, and hull and rig construction there are few production boats that compete with them on build quality, that's why they were at the high end of the market and continue to hold their value. However, every Sabre owner will tell you they did a few things there were not so well thought out or built. None however, significantly compromised the safety or enjoyment of the boat, except when trying to deal with a few of their construction decisions, the enjoyment scale is real low when hanging upside down in a tight lazarette trying free an exhaust hose that had a zip tie buried under the fuel tank comes to mind.

Exhaust hoses aren't fun even when you have easy access!