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SkiprJohn · 19-11-2008, 11:23

Anyone know why Perko doesn't appear in the major catalogs anymore?

Of the major brand seacocks are there any you would stay away from? Because of what I've read on a thread here I will be staying away from Buck Algonquin.

These choices are tough for me since there are no marine stores here that deal with such items. I guess I could make phone calls across island and to Oahu but then I'm not looking at the items they are talking about.

The purpose of the secocks would be for head and sink drains as well as engine intake.

All comments are welcome.

Thanks in advance - JohnL

MikeNZ · 19-11-2008, 11:36

John

I'm a great fan of Forespar marelon seacocks. No corrosion, easy to operate, simple to maintain ( a smear of grease each haulout) and no electrolysis problems. The only down-side I can see is they could melt if I had a major fire. However if my boat is engulfed in flames to the extent that the seacocks melted I'm not sure I would want it back anyway, and I'd be in the liferaft (provided it didn't burn too)!

SkiprJohn · 19-11-2008, 12:10

Thanks Mike. I do have one RC marelon 1 1/2". I notice Forespar only has two sizes, big 1 1/2" and little 3/4". Can I live without a 1" or 1 1/4"?
JohnL

MikeNZ · 20-11-2008, 12:29

John

I think it would be good to check again with Forespar as I have 2" and other sizes too. It might be that some of mine are from different marelon suppliers, but the majority are Forespar branded. I'll have look next time I'm down on the boat. Just replaced my cockpit drains with Forespar 1.5". You have to watch the diameter as marelon ball valves are generally a bit bigger overall than bronze equivalents of the same size and can cause problems if you don't have enough room to spin them on.

rtbates · 20-11-2008, 13:40

For me there's only one choice. SPARTAN, tapered bronze.

Bronze and Stainless Marine Hardware, Seacocks, Portholes, Thru Hulls - Spartan Marine Hardware and Accessories

My Cape Dory's seacocks are 24 years old and function perfecly....

I grease them every five years or so....

cburger · 20-11-2008, 15:53

I would second Randy's reccomendation about Spartan Bronze, highest quality. Serviced the seacocks on a 30 year old Dory and they where basicly as good as new. My boat is all Grocco the problem is you can't gety the old style anymore, there new design has a stainless ball valve, I would be a bit concerned about that. I have never been a fan of plastic for something as critical as seacocks, IMHO. John hope you are enjoying the weather in Hawaii in the 20's last couple of nights in NY.

Stillraining · 20-11-2008, 16:19

I will third the tapered plug bronze sea cocks..I have Wilcox cridetions ( spelling?) and if I cant locate a replacement ( PO added a thru hull ) I will go with Spartan as well.

John one thing to be aware of unless they changed the design of the Marlons is if the handel breaks off it is what holds an "o" ring in place and you cant stop the leak.

We had a big discution on this last winter over at Sailnet

ShadowRWolf · 20-11-2008, 18:46

well, geus il go with SPARTAN seeing the revues on them, need to replace all of the ones in my boat there all gate valves. the price tag on them is insane thow, o well the price to pay for safty.

Stillraining · 20-11-2008, 20:05

Twenty five year old Taper plug style valves on my boat .. all still operate smooth as glass.

SkiprJohn · 20-11-2008, 21:55

Can't argue about performance of the best. All I can complain about is the cost.
JohnL

delmarrey · 20-11-2008, 22:35

Working on, rebuilding and selling valves is my business. I can tell you that the taper plug will last a lot longer then any other valve out there as long as they are not operated too many times or get barnacles. They will not leak into the boat but will start to bypass internally (unseen problem). The Durco's have a special grease that has to be pumped in on a regular basis whether needed or not, and some have a plastic sleeve/liner.

The Twin-Seal's have a twist and expand feature that also requires lubrication but are for clean systems only.

The stainless ball in bronze bodies are not good for salt water unless they have plastic seats. But they need less lube then any other valve out there other then the gate which are self-destructive, which are usually left open/closed most of the time and mostly used for isolation purposes.

BUT, for my boat I prefer the Marelon for the septic system due to the acids that it can be exposed to. Glass reinforced plastic is some of the most durable products out there these days. It's being used in place of metal in a lot of applications.

But on the other hand Marelon doesn't like being operated much either. It looses it's lubrication and would need to be lubed often. I leave my Marelon's open all the time and only operate them just to make sure its OK before each time out.

All valves go bad over a period of time! It just comes down to how many times they are operated. If you open and close your valves a lot, you better plan on frequent replacements. And lubrication IS the key to longevity.
The really good larger valves out there will have a fitting on their side for lubrication. The smaller ones are cheap.

SkiprJohn · 21-11-2008, 09:51

So, anyone using Perkos?
Regards,
JohnL

delmarrey · 28-11-2008, 21:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by cburger

My boat is all Grocco the problem is you can't gety the old style anymore, there new design has a stainless ball valve, I would be a bit concerned about that.

No fear!

Just because the ball is shinny doesn't mean it's SS.

Chances are it's just chrome plated bronze. A SS ball would be a special order and probably almost twice as much. There are so may variations out there that if you don't buy them at a marine supplier, you will not know what your getting unless you order from a manufacture, or it comes with a tag ID-ing the trim and materials.

Bronze :: Ball Valves :: ApolloValves.com
http://www.apollovalves.com/_product.../TS_70-100.pdf
BTW Conbraco make the valves for Graco.

http://www.milwaukeevalve.com/data/pdf/BA150%20150S.pdf
http://www.goulds.com/pdf/VALVE_BALL_APOLLO_77C-100.pdf
http://www.apiint.com/ball_fxf.pdf
And this is what you probably get at West Marine
China Bronze Ball Valves. Taizhou Manufacturer, Exporter

Oceansandmts · 29-11-2008, 06:34

Anyone on this thread looking for Spartan seacocks, I have some brand new ones surplus to my project. Probably a half dozen 1 1/2" and a couple smaller ones. PM me if you want any, I would be happy with half Spartan's price, whatever that is today. I need to start getting rid of my extra stuff, I can't take it on the boat with me.