seacocks vs gate valves anyone...???

ok, my new boat seems to have ancient,
and frozen, gate valves at the through-hulls-
so, a) how do i recognize a dangerous situation
before it happens... and b) this fall when i haul
out and begin a winter re-fit, what type/make valve,
or seacock, do i want to replace them all with??

thnx,

brian smith
homer, alaska
'78 E25/cb

Marelon (or Bronze) Ball Valves

Basically (if you've not already heard this) - gate valves are nothing more than small 'gates' inside the valve that shut down on the flow of water. Ball valves have a sphere inside the valve that rotates - shutting off the water. If the gate valve fails - you can flood - the ball valve won't (and yes, it goes beyond your boat - your house should have a ball valve on the incoming water supply line from the street). If you still have gate valves, do yourself a favor and donate them to the junkyard...before something happens. This is not the kind of stuff you want to see in your slip..., you know?

I would suggest marelon valves for your boat (there are many makes - like Forespar) . I had them on mine - they were quite old, and very workable. You can also go with bronze, although the issues are just a little different.

If you're hauling out, you can replace them - or have someone do it (or assist you and do it). Regardless - for the cost and the hassle involved, the benefit is huge.

//sse

The bronze vs. marelon debate has been raging amongst Ericson owners for years. I replaced mine with bronze, for the extra strength, and they will last a couple of decades before corrosion gets them.

It sounds like you have recognised a dangerous situation for it happened. Replacing the gate valves with sea cocks is a DIY task, the only challenging part may be if you need to cut down the threads on the through hull in order to screw the sea cock all the way down.

I also had to replace the through hulls, which had started to go red. I paid for some help - no shame even to a purist with something so vital to get right.

Gareth
Freyja E35 #241 1972

Valves in use, Head Compartment

In case you wanted to see some of the Forespar Marlon "new style OEM" valves after installation, here is a picture. This is looking under the sink in our head compartment. Note that they are epoxied to backing plates, and can be disassembled from the top via the four screws. (You would first have to dive and put in a temporary plug from the outside.)

Cheers,
Loren
Olson 34 #8

Seacocks

A few years ago I had to replace the original plastic seacocks - I switched to bronze. The original thru-hulls were molded into the fiberglass and attached to the original seacocks. The yard that did the work had to remove some of the fiberglass and add a backer board using Starboard material. They then installed bronze thru-hulls and attached the seacocks to the new thru hulls. The seacocks are actually bolted through the hull, through the backer board.
Attached is a picture.

Kevin
1989 E34