I think it's time to replace the old cockpit drain brass gate valve with a new seacock. I'm sure someone out there has done it and I'm looking for input, suggestions, etc. Was it difficult and can you actually take the old valve out without damaging the fiberglass on the "volcano"? If the pipe nipple does turn what is the best way to reseal it? Thanks in advance for any help.
Seacock Replacement
- Thread starter Doug6533
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C-22 seacock replacement
I have a ‘82 model C-22 made in September 1981. When I first purchased my boat in 1991, one of the first things I did was to replace the lousy brass (bronze?) cockpit drain seacock with a Forepart Marlon seacock. Fortunately, I did not encounter any problems with the brass tube in the volcano becoming loose. I was able simply to unscrew the old seacock and install the new one with some silicone sealant. Using silicone is important as it will not react with Marlon and will permit disassembly when required. Annually, I grease the ball in the seacock with whatever non-petroleum based oil or grease that I had, such as Super lube that comes in a convenient spray can. Unfortunately, the brass tube commonly becomes loose when removing the old seacock. The repair is straight forward, although time consuming. One needs to remove much of the old “volcano” materiel and then rebuild it using epoxy resin epoxy with some filler injected. Reference to West Systems catalog is advisable. Potentially, if you heat the old seacock before removal it may expand sufficiently to ease its removal and spare damage to the volcano. However, one must do such action extreme care as one may end up doing more damage than merely loosening the brass tube. My cockpit drain seacock is 3/4 inch. I suspect yours will be the same size. Good luck with your removal.
I have a ‘82 model C-22 made in September 1981. When I first purchased my boat in 1991, one of the first things I did was to replace the lousy brass (bronze?) cockpit drain seacock with a Forepart Marlon seacock. Fortunately, I did not encounter any problems with the brass tube in the volcano becoming loose. I was able simply to unscrew the old seacock and install the new one with some silicone sealant. Using silicone is important as it will not react with Marlon and will permit disassembly when required. Annually, I grease the ball in the seacock with whatever non-petroleum based oil or grease that I had, such as Super lube that comes in a convenient spray can. Unfortunately, the brass tube commonly becomes loose when removing the old seacock. The repair is straight forward, although time consuming. One needs to remove much of the old “volcano” materiel and then rebuild it using epoxy resin epoxy with some filler injected. Reference to West Systems catalog is advisable. Potentially, if you heat the old seacock before removal it may expand sufficiently to ease its removal and spare damage to the volcano. However, one must do such action extreme care as one may end up doing more damage than merely loosening the brass tube. My cockpit drain seacock is 3/4 inch. I suspect yours will be the same size. Good luck with your removal.
A little more Info.
Doug: I did what you did before I replaced the valve on my boat, that is, ask around on this forum. The link below has a response that I wrote right after I replaced it. I remember that Bayard's comments meant a lot to me when I did the job. If I remember correctly, I spent an afternoon and evening doing the job in my driveway, but it was raining, and this certainly slowed me down. Remember, I had the cockpit drains apart, so I didn't want the bilge filling with rain water. Pay particular attention to my comments about the water leaking from around the "volcano". As I said, I built this area back-up with fiberglass cloth and epoxy. The epoxy flowed back into a collar that I made with the fiberglass cloth. This did seal the leak, and last summer, my bilge was completely dry. The previous summer, I was getting some water around the battery box. Aldo
Doug: I did what you did before I replaced the valve on my boat, that is, ask around on this forum. The link below has a response that I wrote right after I replaced it. I remember that Bayard's comments meant a lot to me when I did the job. If I remember correctly, I spent an afternoon and evening doing the job in my driveway, but it was raining, and this certainly slowed me down. Remember, I had the cockpit drains apart, so I didn't want the bilge filling with rain water. Pay particular attention to my comments about the water leaking from around the "volcano". As I said, I built this area back-up with fiberglass cloth and epoxy. The epoxy flowed back into a collar that I made with the fiberglass cloth. This did seal the leak, and last summer, my bilge was completely dry. The previous summer, I was getting some water around the battery box. Aldo
Cockpit drains plug up
My cockpit drains plug up occasionally with stuff. I have a SS cable snake to run down the hoses to uplug but it can't pass the "T" connection where the two hoses connect. I replaced the "T" with a "Y". The drains don't plug up so easily & the snake can run from both drains right through the SS ball valve through hull.
My cockpit drains plug up occasionally with stuff. I have a SS cable snake to run down the hoses to uplug but it can't pass the "T" connection where the two hoses connect. I replaced the "T" with a "Y". The drains don't plug up so easily & the snake can run from both drains right through the SS ball valve through hull.
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