[alberg30] Valves and through hulls

Jos é Campione campione at cyberus.ca
Thu Jan 4 07:24:32 PST 2001


> In December I was in an Ace Hardware in Florida looking at PVC  ball 
> valves.They are dark grey with a red handle rated at 400p.s.i. no metal
> parts,N.P.T. and very solidly built.I believe the U.S. Coastguard does not
> approve plastic valves as they are not fire resistant, but that aside I
> cannot see any reason not to replace old and corroded bronze valves with
> these tough corrosion free products.Perhaps in very cold conditions they
> would become brittle, but PVC seems to stand up to freezing temperatures in
> domestic plumbing situations. Nobody in the marina could come up with a
> logical reason not to use them,but neither was there any enthusiasm
> either.Perhaps boaters are naturally conservative.Has anyone used these
> valves or know any horror stories about them.
> Peter Amos
> Tait Tait #478

Peter,

According to Nigel Calder the main problem with plastic seacocks is that the
handle gets brittle with time and tends to break. As you said they are not
fire resistant (this means that they will melt in very high heat, not that
they would catch fire and be a fire hazard - i.e., if the boat was already
on fire, sinking might result from the melting of a plastic seacock).

My preference, particularly in salt water, would be for a PVC seacock with a
metal handle (but have never see one - my AL22 has only one seacock and it
is bronze, but I've seen the PVC type in boats I've charted). On the other
hand, if the USCG has a position on this I would find difficult to ignore
their recommendations.

One last reminder from Nigel Calder: metal or plastic they need to be
greased yearly.

Hope this helps,
-José-
----------------
campione at cyberus.ca



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