On my 1999 C30. I have had two different seacock handles break off on the black plastic kind. Has any else had this problem? The brass ones are half the cost and never break like this. The people at West Marine say the plastic ones are suppose to be better????? Thanks Dan
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B
Bayard Gross
Saecocks not really plastic per se
Plastic seacocks should actually be made from nylon with glass reinforcement. They are very tough items and should not break. They should also be superoir to brass ones in that all the corrosion problems are eliminated. I can only think you have gotten some either very cheap seacocks, or reasonably good ones with some fault in them that the manufacturor should warrent in some way or possibly even the retailer would exchange it. The good seacocks are expensive, and you really should be prepared to spend money on such an important item that can, if poorly made, sink your boat. Nevertheless, it is possible the through-hole that you placed your plastic seacocks onto is protruding too far into the seacock and it is butting up against the ball valve inside the seacock. This combined with some fouling intrusion would make turning the ball so difficult that the handle could be broken. Also, you may have inadvertantly attempted to turn the handle the wrong way. Before installing a seacock, establish which way the handle moves to go from a closed (or open) position to an open (or closed) position and mark that using White Out typing correction fluid with appropriate arrows and letters.
Plastic seacocks should actually be made from nylon with glass reinforcement. They are very tough items and should not break. They should also be superoir to brass ones in that all the corrosion problems are eliminated. I can only think you have gotten some either very cheap seacocks, or reasonably good ones with some fault in them that the manufacturor should warrent in some way or possibly even the retailer would exchange it. The good seacocks are expensive, and you really should be prepared to spend money on such an important item that can, if poorly made, sink your boat. Nevertheless, it is possible the through-hole that you placed your plastic seacocks onto is protruding too far into the seacock and it is butting up against the ball valve inside the seacock. This combined with some fouling intrusion would make turning the ball so difficult that the handle could be broken. Also, you may have inadvertantly attempted to turn the handle the wrong way. Before installing a seacock, establish which way the handle moves to go from a closed (or open) position to an open (or closed) position and mark that using White Out typing correction fluid with appropriate arrows and letters.
I'd replace them with brass.
Dan: My friend has an '88 C'34. Everytime I touch one of those seacock, I think that they are going to break in my hand. If it were me, I'd replace them with brass on your next haulout.
Dan: My friend has an '88 C'34. Everytime I touch one of those seacock, I think that they are going to break in my hand. If it were me, I'd replace them with brass on your next haulout.
D
Dave
Prevent breakge
Dan, The Marelon (plastic) valves are very good, are not prone to galvanic corrosion and will last a looong time if maintained. Any seacock handle is prone to breakage if it is NEVER TURNED until You need it. That is when most handles are broken!! In time of need !!! SO how about a monthly turning of every handle on your boat? (after you replace the frozen valves that have been neglected) We have at least 10 different valves (4 through hulls and various shutoff and Y-valves) on our Catalina 38. I go through monthly and work every one. We havnt had a failure since I started doing this 4 years ago when I destroyed a seldom-used Y-valve in the waste system. Fair winds, Dave
Dan, The Marelon (plastic) valves are very good, are not prone to galvanic corrosion and will last a looong time if maintained. Any seacock handle is prone to breakage if it is NEVER TURNED until You need it. That is when most handles are broken!! In time of need !!! SO how about a monthly turning of every handle on your boat? (after you replace the frozen valves that have been neglected) We have at least 10 different valves (4 through hulls and various shutoff and Y-valves) on our Catalina 38. I go through monthly and work every one. We havnt had a failure since I started doing this 4 years ago when I destroyed a seldom-used Y-valve in the waste system. Fair winds, Dave
D
Dave
Prevent breakge
Dan, The Marelon (plastic) valves are very good, are not prone to galvanic corrosion and will last a looong time if maintained. Any seacock handle is prone to breakage if it is NEVER TURNED until You need it. That is when most handles are broken!! In time of need !!! SO how about a monthly turning of every handle on your boat? (after you replace the frozen valves that have been neglected) We have at least 10 different valves (4 through hulls and various shutoff and Y-valves) on our Catalina 38. I go through monthly and work every one. We havnt had a failure since I started doing this 4 years ago when I destroyed a seldom-used Y-valve in the waste system. Fair winds, Dave
Dan, The Marelon (plastic) valves are very good, are not prone to galvanic corrosion and will last a looong time if maintained. Any seacock handle is prone to breakage if it is NEVER TURNED until You need it. That is when most handles are broken!! In time of need !!! SO how about a monthly turning of every handle on your boat? (after you replace the frozen valves that have been neglected) We have at least 10 different valves (4 through hulls and various shutoff and Y-valves) on our Catalina 38. I go through monthly and work every one. We havnt had a failure since I started doing this 4 years ago when I destroyed a seldom-used Y-valve in the waste system. Fair winds, Dave
J
Joe
BRONZE or marelon....... not brass.....
for all underwater applications, especially salt water. See West Advisor, page 461 and 464 of 2003 catalogue for more detailed explanations. Follow link to e-catalogue and enter page numbers to view articles
for all underwater applications, especially salt water. See West Advisor, page 461 and 464 of 2003 catalogue for more detailed explanations. Follow link to e-catalogue and enter page numbers to view articles
H
howard meyer
too tight
the marelon valves have a top and bottom that screw apart with the ball inside..If the case (top & bottom) are screwed together too tight the handle will break as yours did.. tightening fittings to the valve will tighten the case up too much.. so after you tighten up your fittings-ease up on how tight the valve is screwed together
the marelon valves have a top and bottom that screw apart with the ball inside..If the case (top & bottom) are screwed together too tight the handle will break as yours did.. tightening fittings to the valve will tighten the case up too much.. so after you tighten up your fittings-ease up on how tight the valve is screwed together
L
Larry
Bronze for me!
I "work" my seacocks weekly, and lube them on annual haulout. I too had a marelon handle (installed by the previous owner) break just recently. Fortunately, it broke in the closed position and I was able to jury rig a solution until next haul out. I'm putting in bronze when I do the job... Sail-La-Vie
I "work" my seacocks weekly, and lube them on annual haulout. I too had a marelon handle (installed by the previous owner) break just recently. Fortunately, it broke in the closed position and I was able to jury rig a solution until next haul out. I'm putting in bronze when I do the job... Sail-La-Vie
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