Remember to close those seacocks!

[shard7]

While I had my Atomic 4's heat exchanger out for a thorough cleaning I (thankfully) decided to replace all of the cooling system hoses. The hose from the raw water intake to the strainer seemed ok until I pulled the end off at the seacock (already closed, of course). The hose was barely hanging on to the little nub that was left. Scary stuff.



Have to think that the barbed fitting must be decades old to be this far gone.

 

[Dave G.]

Whoa nelly, that is scary !

 

[David Vaughn]

Yikes!
What sort of shape is the seacock itself in?

 

[shard7]

Surprisingly it appears to be in good shape. I'll stick a scope in there tomorrow to get a closer view (it's located way at the back of the engine compartment on an E27) to be sure. Unlike the barb fitting, there's no sign of any surface corrosion.

 

[peaman]

That bard looks like regular yellow brass, which should not be used with seawater. Red brass is okay, but bronze is better.

 

[shard7]

That bard looks like regular yellow brass, which should not be used with seawater. Red brass is okay, but bronze is better.

Thank you for pointing that out! Bronze was out of stock at my nearby marine supply store and regular brass was all they had, but it sounds like it would be wise to locate a bronze fitting...

 

[Christian Williams]

Has to be bronze. Brass all wrong. I would have a very close look at all the thruhulls and seacocks on the boat.

 

[shard7]

Has to be bronze. Brass all wrong. I would have a very close look at all the thruhulls and seacocks on the boat.

As a new boat owner, I really appreciate this forum for offering helpful guidance like this! I will definitely get bronze and take a close look at everything else that touches raw water. Also wondering if that severely corroded barb fitting might have been brass, perhaps?

 

[bigd14]

I have sometimes had trouble locating bronze hose barb fittings in the correct size, but have had more success finding stainless steel ones. Not as good as bronze but better than brass.

 

[Loren Beach]

If planning to keep the boat a long time, there are vendors selling TI castings for thru hulls. More expensive than bronze, but the proportionate cost might look better once you factor in the cost of a haul out / blocking / launch. Numerous vendors and the price seems to vary quite a bit.

 

[shard7]

Seacock and bronze elbow attached to it seem to be fine. No significant corrosion seen on the surface, opens and closes smoothly and no leaks when closed. Inside of the elbow looks fine.

I'm going to assume that the barbed fitting was brass and served as a sacrificial anode.