Broken seacock valve handle

[CruisingOz]

I was exercising the stern tube water inlet seacock and the valve handle has broken off. Looks like a brass type one. Should the whole seacock be replaced or can one source just the handle?

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, CruisingOz.

If brass, not bronze, I’d replace the seacock/valve, entirely.

[tkeithlu]

Replace it. The valve does not look like it's worth keeping.

[Manateeman]

Looks like a ball valve on a thru hull not a seacock .
We use Groco adaptor plates or seacocks...never plastic.
Marine How To web pages will show you how...great guy who needs support.
You might want to have someone check other critical items in the boat too.
Happy trails to you.
The manatee crew.

[kapnd]

That’s NOT a seacock, but a household plumbing type ball valve.
You’re lucky that the handle failed rather than a more disastrous failure.
Seacock are bronze, you’ll easily identify a proper one by its price tag!

[tkeithlu]

I love your answer, kapnd. Right to the point.

[Statistical]

Originally Posted by kapnd

you’ll easily identify a proper one by its price tag!

No truer words have been spoken. Then again unplanned holes letting the ocean into the wrong side of the boat are expensive as well.

[stormalong]

Definitely not a seacock. I would also question the thru hull fitting. Is that rust on it?

Contrary to what someone else posted there are plastic seacocks that are very good alternatives to bronze. Forespar and Truedesign. With plastic fittings there is absolutely no galvanic corrosion possible. The right type of plastic, used by these two companies help them last for decades.

[BilgeRat]

Yeah, just replace it with a bronze seacock. A USCG inspection might hit you up with a fine. What you have is not to code.

And if you have a steel hull put a G10 or phenolic spacer between the hull and valve. That will reduce the electrolysis significantly. That's why your handle rusted off.

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by BilgeRat

Yeah, just replace it with a bronze seacock. A USCG inspection might hit you up with a fine. What you have is not to code.

And if you have a steel hull put a G10 or phenolic spacer between the hull and valve. That will reduce the electrolysis significantly. That's why your handle rusted off.

His handle rusted off because it was steel.

Putting a spacer between the hull and seacock is about making a flat area to secure the flange. It has nothing to do with galvonic corrosion.

[BilgeRat]

Originally Posted by stormalong

His handle rusted off because it was steel.

Putting a spacer between the hull and seacock is about making a flat area to secure the flange. It has nothing to do with galvonic corrosion.

That's your opinion. I've seen my fair share of galvanic electrolysis. Dissimilar metals will always attack the weakest, especially in an electrolyte like saltwater, which would be the steel in this case.

[Statistical]

Originally Posted by BilgeRat

That's your opinion. I've seen my fair share of galvanic electrolysis. Dissimilar metals will always attack the weakest, especially in an electrolyte like saltwater, which would be the steel in this case.

Don't use the term electrolysis if you want anyone to think you know what you are talking about.

Using steel would be bad regardless. Spacer or not both metals are connected via the electrolyte (raw water). That is what causes galvanic corrosion. Two different metals connected by an electrolyte.

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by BilgeRat

That's your opinion. I've seen my fair share of galvanic electrolysis. Dissimilar metals will always attack the weakest, especially in an electrolyte like saltwater, which would be the steel in this case.

There should be no seawater inside the hull to promote galvanic corrosion. What goes on inside the thru hull and seacock is not affected by a spacer inside the hull. The handle rusted to the point where it was too weak to do it's job and then broke. The pictures reveal a lot of rust so this was a slow process over many years.

It would be interesting to see the inside of the valve and thru hull once they are replaced.

Furthermore, as I said in an earlier post replacing it all with plastic totally eliminates any possibility of galvanic corrosion.

[deblen]

This site may help. Cheers/Len


https://marinehowto.com/seacock-thru-hull-primer/

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by BilgeRat

Yeah, just replace it with a bronze seacock. A USCG inspection might hit you up with a fine. What you have is not to code.

And if you have a steel hull put a G10 or phenolic spacer between the hull and valve. That will reduce the electrolysis significantly. That's why your handle rusted off.

So a few things to note:
A. Unless it's a vessel for hire, the USCG doesn't inspect anything but safety equipment and MSDs.
B. Can you point to the section of "code" the USCG uses for seacock standards? Heck, can you just point to the "code" itself? (Hint, there's no such thing)
C. The poster you're responding to is in Australia. The US in USCG stands for United States and we didn't have a huge presence inspecting random cruisers seacocks in Australia, at least while I was serving.
D. As others have pointed out, a phenolic spacer is absolutely not an appropriate remedy for that issue.