[Public-List] Cockpit Drain Seacocks

[Don Campbell]

I am with Mike on this that I can't believe there are still gate valves 
in these boats. Even in fresh water, the spindles rust through. These 
were brass valves meant for house plumbing systems. They all need to be 
replaced. I also know it is now extremely difficult to get a seacock 
that is only one metal as most have gone to bronze bodies and stainless 
valves. Wilcox-Crtittenden no longer makes seacocks and they were the 
last I know of who made seacocks and valves from one metal . The Groco 
ones have two drains on the sides of the body to drain any water from 
behind the ball. It is a bit difficult to get to these behind the motor 
and on the backside of the valve but that at least relieves the 
expansion room for freezing in these valves. Groco seacocks  are 
expensive but do work well. Groco also have a terminal built in for a 
grounding system wire but that is moot if there is crevice corrosion in 
the stainless. It is possible to replace the ball without changing the 
body. There is a difference between a ball valve and a seacock: a 
seacock has the flange and floor fastening system as an integral part of 
the construction. Seacocks are recommended because of the problems that 
arise from torque on in-line ball valves and the soft metals of through 
hull fittings. It is possible to bend or break things with just a ball 
valve that is unsupported in the line. If you have any doubts, check 
with your insurance company to see what they will pay out for or what 
their specs are for these systems. I have the feeling that you will 
expect them to pay if things fail and the boat sinks. You should not 
expect them to pay if your improvements are not to their specs and those 
sub- spec systems fail.
    There is one problem in the plumbing in these systems. Whitby used 
nipples in the gate valves rather than barbed ends so the pipe fittings 
that are on the bottom of the floor do not match the size of the barbs 
or nipples that fit on a seacock. Do not use nipples again.  It is 
really not easy if you do not live on salt water shores to get bronze 
fittings to change thread sizes here if you stay with the through hull 
from floor to bilge that is on the boat. One might want to consider a 
new through hull system for the floor drains. A second problem on the 
more recent boats is that the 1" gate valve on the through hull out the 
bottom of the boat has two 1" hoses running to it, one from the cockpit 
and the other from the scuppers. The new valve should be larger to 
accommodate the two intakes. If you want no restriction if both cockpit 
and scupper are full, then 1 1/2" full flow seacocks should be used. 
Otherwise go with 1 1/4" seacocks. The difficult piece to find for this 
is a bronze T that is 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 x 1 x 1. Bushings are then needed 
and as usual, the more pieces you buy, the more dollars that fly out to 
the boat.
    For those of you who do occasionally sail with the boat on its ear 
and don't want the ocean or lake in the bottom of the cockpit, the hoses 
can be crossed but this makes any access to the prop shaft more 
difficult. It does stop the outside water from getting in though. You 
will find yourself buying some 90 º elbows for this too.
Don

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