Seacocks, bronze or maleron?

[Steve Rust]

I prefer the maleron seacocks for my particular boat. For me it's several less underwater metal fittings to worry about bonding and corrosion. The only downside I can think of is in the event of snapping off the thru hull flange in a collision. This could be taken care of by using a flush mounted thru hull if possible. The handle does seem to be the weak point on these though I have yet to break one. With a trimaran, weight is always an issue and what I save with the plastic seacocks lets me carry another case of beer. I am perfectly comfortable with plastic, if one does fail/break it is a major hassle and mess but not a boat or life threatening issue. If they were located in an engine compartment I would stick with bronze.

[Alan Wheeler]

Not being nit picky, but it's Marlon. Bronze is often used in Engine rooms because of a fire danger. The idea is that Bronze won't melt and sink the boat. I think if you have a fire that is that hot and burning long enough to melt marlon, a sinking boat isn't your main concern anyway. I have Marlon in my Engine room. If I have a fire, the extra water coming in will be a good thing. The bilge system will keep up and when the fire is out, I can easily block off the hole with a wood cone.

I prefer the bronze. collision damage is the reason. I dropped a maleron valve once and it cracked. That concerned me. I realize this may have been an exception, but I still prefer the reliability of metal over plastic. I have not had any corrosion problems with bronze. I know it happens, but so far, I have had better luck with bronze.

[ssullivan]

Now that I have them, I like the marelon. As the previous poster pointed out... one less thing to worry about when it comes to bonding/galvanic corrosion.

I plan not to collide with anything... ha ha ha

[JGI417]

I have had the marelon on my boat, but was worried about them cracking or breaking off, I think if I was going to do water sailing">blue water sailing I would go with the bronze, one less worry, Lake or coastal, I think the marelon is ok.
thats my 2 cents

[Alan Wheeler]

Real genuine article Marlon should be strong enough to take a good blow from a very heavey hammer and still be in one piece. Kai, you must have had a dud somehow. Marlon is a fibre reinforced material. It shouldn't crack. OK, there is one time it can crack. And in this situation, so can Bronze and Nylon. Over tightening. They have a BSP tappered thread. You hand tighten ANY fitting with a tappered thread. NEVER use a tool other than your hand. The force generated on a BSP tappered thread is unbelievable and will crack any material. I have even seen steel high pressure hydraulic fittings cracked by over tightening. Plastics and Bronze crack with ease. Kai, it is possible the damage was already done with the fitting and dropping it was not the actual cause of the damage.

[Lakbay dagat]

Marelon fittings are good but I prefer to use bronze below the waterline and marelon is above.

I realize it may have been defective, but if there is one there are more. Of course, my first choice would be a wood boat as well, so I guess perspective is part of it. With the few thru-hulls I have, weight is not really an issue, even on the tri.

[delmarrey]

My whole boat is made of fiber reinforced poly something or other. So, why not the thruhulls too!

Every good sailor should carry a selection of tapered wood plugs which should cure any broken thruhull........................_/)