Hi All, I am new to this site and apologize for starting off with a question. Does anyone have any idea how I can close the seacock for the head on my '87 272LE O'Day? It has been in salt water but for the last 3 years has been on land. Thank you all in advance.
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Sea cock
You could remove it temporarily so that you can either work on it, or replace it. If the boat is in the water, just put a cork or anything that you can use for a stopper, in the through hull fitting. You may try soaking it in fresh water or try to take it apart to free it. If it's a metal fitting, try to take it apart and remove any rubber washers in it. Then maybe you could try to boil it in fresh water, or let it soak in Liquid Wrench, WD-40, or Kerosene for a while. Once you get this thing freed up and in working order, it's always a good idea to keep a cork on a string tied near this sea cock in the event that something ever goes wrong, and you need to plug it in a hurry. With fittings such as these and even the metal adjusters and hold-downs on your hatch, a little WD-40 and sometimes some heat from a torch along with some wrenches can free them up. You just have to take the device off the boat and remove any plastic, rubber, and etc before you do it. I've been able to free up the metal parts on my forward hatch in this manner with Liquid Wrench or WD-40 along with heat. The plastic knobs can be carefully separated from the metal inserts on the adjuster bolts. O'Day hatches are notorious for seizing up. If worst comes to worst, you can always replace it with another sea cock and still be back in business. Joe
You could remove it temporarily so that you can either work on it, or replace it. If the boat is in the water, just put a cork or anything that you can use for a stopper, in the through hull fitting. You may try soaking it in fresh water or try to take it apart to free it. If it's a metal fitting, try to take it apart and remove any rubber washers in it. Then maybe you could try to boil it in fresh water, or let it soak in Liquid Wrench, WD-40, or Kerosene for a while. Once you get this thing freed up and in working order, it's always a good idea to keep a cork on a string tied near this sea cock in the event that something ever goes wrong, and you need to plug it in a hurry. With fittings such as these and even the metal adjusters and hold-downs on your hatch, a little WD-40 and sometimes some heat from a torch along with some wrenches can free them up. You just have to take the device off the boat and remove any plastic, rubber, and etc before you do it. I've been able to free up the metal parts on my forward hatch in this manner with Liquid Wrench or WD-40 along with heat. The plastic knobs can be carefully separated from the metal inserts on the adjuster bolts. O'Day hatches are notorious for seizing up. If worst comes to worst, you can always replace it with another sea cock and still be back in business. Joe
CAUTION!!!
After spending 20 years as a submarine inspector for the U.S. Navy i have come to believe that a hull valve is one of the most important fittings on your boat. When i pull my boat in the fall the first thing i do is pull the internals from my three hull valves. They get cleaned, inspected and then a good coating of greese, both the disc and the internal seating surface. I dont reassemble them until the spring. When i bought my boat i found that the hull valve for the crapper had water in it throughout the winter. This caused the barrel in the valve to swell on two sides. I couldnt open or close the valve. When i removed the barrel and put a straigh edge on it i could see the swelling. I took it to a friend with a lathe and he turned it for me. It's as good as new. If your boat is in the water i would advise you to give great thought before you pull those valves. They are your only protection against sinking.
After spending 20 years as a submarine inspector for the U.S. Navy i have come to believe that a hull valve is one of the most important fittings on your boat. When i pull my boat in the fall the first thing i do is pull the internals from my three hull valves. They get cleaned, inspected and then a good coating of greese, both the disc and the internal seating surface. I dont reassemble them until the spring. When i bought my boat i found that the hull valve for the crapper had water in it throughout the winter. This caused the barrel in the valve to swell on two sides. I couldnt open or close the valve. When i removed the barrel and put a straigh edge on it i could see the swelling. I took it to a friend with a lathe and he turned it for me. It's as good as new. If your boat is in the water i would advise you to give great thought before you pull those valves. They are your only protection against sinking.
PB Blaster worked for me
You could try using some PB Blaster - it worked two of my thru-hull seacocks on my 322 - but after I hauled the boat out I have to replace two of them. Be careful when you grab the big wrench (c'mon - you know you will grab it) not to loosen the valve base
You could try using some PB Blaster - it worked two of my thru-hull seacocks on my 322 - but after I hauled the boat out I have to replace two of them. Be careful when you grab the big wrench (c'mon - you know you will grab it) not to loosen the valve base
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