freeing stuck seacock

[Paul45c]

Hi, all. I've been in the process of trying to buy a 55c and just completed survey & seatrial. The boat's been neglected on a lot of regular monthly type maintenance, and as a result there are 2 seacocks that the surveyor flagged that were stuck in the open position. Obviously not a good position for safety and something that would have to be cured posthaste.

I know that Vaseline is a decent lube to use for one that you can access in the closed position with the hose removed, but is there a way to free one up that's stuck open? Clearly it's a non-starter to try to remove the hose to access the inner ball. I have to confess that I've never had to take one apart (other than replacing handles a couple of times), and I've never had to deal with one totally seized.

Any help would be appreciated. If I went further in pursuing this boat, I'd really not want to have to haul again just to rehab seacocks, but if that's what it takes then that's what it takes.

[Angela]

Which seacocks are they? The larger they are, the harder they are to move. The 2.5" seacocks on my mains are TOUGH. I use a hollow steel bar, cheater bar, over the handle on the seacock to move them back and forth. On one of my haulouts, I had these serviced, and they are still difficult to move and require a cheater bar no matter how much they are greased. I bought two new ones that are onboard for my next haulout. Guess what? I can't move those either!

If you have enough room to work a cheater bar, you should be able to free them up. With the exception of the two mains and the AC pump, I freed all of mine in this fashion and have been able to operate them by hand ever since. I couldn't do the AC pump seacock for lack of accessibility, so I replaced that one.

All that said, be mindful that you could break them off when using a cheater bar and a lot of force, especially if electrolysis has gotten to them.

[Paul45c]

Two of the three are the big main engine ones, and the other is one of the a/c raw water feeds. Yeah, like you I'm leery of putting too much force to the handle with the trusty old cheater bar.

The good news is with that outstanding ER access that the 55c has (I truly COVET that engine room), it's no problem to be standing right over the seacock in question to work on it. I guess I was hoping against hope that maybe trying to penetrate the daylights out of the external body of the valve with something like PB Blaster might make way for just enough give to safely start articulating it with a LITTLE bit of cheater bar leverage.

Thanks for your input, Ang.

[Genesis]

What really needs to happen is that boat has to come out, you remove the hose, and then spray some PB Blaster down in there.

That'll free it up.

The problem with using a big cheater bar is that if you snap something off you're really screwed, especially with the big ones.

I wouldn't do it with the boat in the water.

This is not one of those things you want to say "aw shit!" about.......

[yachtsmanbill]

I can gaurantee that mine werent moved for 32 years before I bought the sub, and every one of them are now operating.
Heres the trick. Percussion. Brass on brass will corrode but never sieze. You have to remember that the handles are brass and usually pretty loose on the stem. Next step is elbows and buttocks...
With a 3lb dead blow hammer, hold the handle tight in the direction it needs to move and try to gently persuade it (that means TAP it!! ). It will probably go. If not, hold the slack in the handle the opposite direction and repeat. Once broken free, it may need to be tapped full cycle. After that, if you move it several cycles, it should feel like new, honest.
After you close it you can pull the hose and PB it if you want, but that is chasing the horse after she left the barn. FWIW. I have 17 seacocks and can move them all by hand now. I would use EXTREME prudence with a bar !! ws

[krush]

Hammer and vibration is the way to go instead of a bar....just like an impact gun can sometimes get a nut off without breaking the bolt. Air chisels are very useful at times like this too.

[GaryNW]

After the surveyor found a frozen seacock, the PO managed to break 2 of the cast bronze handles using a cheater bar and then told me it was free. Unfortunately I was too sick with intestinal flu to check it before we launched. It is still frozen. I think I will wait until next year's haulout. I am nervous about the below WL hoses and coolers on that engine.
Has anyone managed to buy replacement handles? Maybe direct from Groco?
Gary

[Paul45c]

Thanks for the help, guys...and Ang.

[StratPlan61]

Gary, I was able to purchase replacement handles for one of my smaller Groco's through West marine, it was $4-5 I think. It worked fine.

[Pete]

Another idea to consider. Remove the quarter inch drain plug and replace it with a grease fitting. Get a tube of water proof boat trailer wheel bearing grease and a grease gun. Pump her up each day for 3 or 4 days and then start trying to move it a little at a time. Give her a pump a day for maybe 10 days and keep working the handle. Only get one side of the ball, but has been enough for me in several cases.

Pete