just wondering if the apollo brand ball valves are ok for the sea cock valve....
Yes,
BUT they need to be the marine UL rated 85-5-5-5 bronze versions with the yellow tag that has the UL Marine listing.
i see them in the plumbing ad's and also at the box stores....the ones in the box stores look like bronze but i am not sure if they really are ...they do have a 400 to 600 rateing ...just want a valve tyhat will keep the ocean out of my boat.......
Apollo/ Consolidated Brass (Conbraco) makes a HUGE selection of valves for all industries, and they are all excellent quality, but not all appropriate for marine use. You should not use the home center valves on your boat they do not sell bronze valves.
Groco also makes bronze marine rated ball valves and Hamilton Marine has excellent pricing. Bronze has some very wide definitions. Some "bronze" has a zinc content as high as 38-40% (read bad for seacocks). This is why what ever you buy should be Marine UL rated/listed. This will generally mean it is a low zinc composition, such as 85-5-5-5, or usually less than 5% zinc and has passed corrosion testing..
Always buy the proper valves or it may become your sacrificial zinc..
Below is a roughly one year old home center valve the PO installed when he could not get a marine rated valve when off cruising. He forgot about it and by the time I got the boat it was literally weeks away from catastrophic failure of the boat sinking type.
The ball in this valve was completely gone, as in rotted away. You could turn the handle but nothing moved inside except a chunk of rotted stem..
