seacock / strainer connection

[Pascal]

lost AC saturday night, cleared the somewhat dirty strainer but didn't have enough flow in when i opened the seacock, indicating a plastic bag suck in the TH. I tried to push a piece of hose on the intake side of the strainer to blow it out, knowing it was unlikely to work, and ended up with the strainer falling off the elbow fitted on the seacock.

yep... someone used a brass male/male fitting to attach the strained. the brass corroded and broke off when i applied pressure.

I couldn't find a bronze fitting so i installed a new brass fitting which i'll have to replace again... in the WM catalogue, they suggest using barbs and a piece of hose... sorta make sense.

what do you guys have... and for those with a brass fitting... check them for corrosion ! i'm going to check the fitting on the genset later on as well...

[Pascal]

i changed the thread title hoping to get some answers... :-)

i dont' like the thought of having brass fitting rotting thru, I'm really thinking about barbs and hoses unless anyone has a source for male / male fittings !

BTW, if you havent' redone your plumbing YOURSELF dont' trust what you have in there... luckliy mine broke while i was cleaning the strainer but it could have broken some other time...

[Paul45c]

what do you guys have... and for those with a brass fitting... check them for corrosion ! i'm going to check the fitting on the genset later on as well...Gee, Pascal, rough news -- here you've gone a couple of years with no probs, and now Laure Olivier's giving you the business all of a sudden. :mad:

I've got male-to-male threaded nipples between the seacocks and strainers on the inflow side, then 90 deg bronze elbows, and a short male-to-barb fitting threaded into the elbows that the big hose goes on. Well, I shouldn't put this in the plural, since I've given you the stbd side and the port is a little more complicated because of extra height and turn needed, but you get the idea.

BTW, I think you'd find what you need at B.O.W. Here's the closest one to you. it's not exactly around the corner, but it's worth the drive.

Hallandale: 1720 E. Hallandale Beach Blvd. - 954-457-5081
Hours: Mon.-Sat. 8-6; Sun. Closed
http://www.boatownerswarehouse.com/

They're great for hardware and the non fru-fru boat stuff that you need for fixes, unlike WM. They carry a lot of Conbraco and Groco, who both manufacture all the common bronze fittings that go into seacocks. They pretty much always have stock on the shelves for fittings on up to 2", and they can next-day order for anything they don't regularly stock.

If you want nice clothes, go to WM.

Good luck.

[Pascal]

thks Paul

i dont see any male/male bronze nipples on the website though, only brass. just like WM...

if you do have male / male brass nipples, check them for corrosion !

I have 2 bronze 45 deg elbows on my AC seacock, then a bronze female/female fitting and the brass male/male nipple. I can't connect the strainer to the 2nd 45 deg elbow because it's right under the prop shaft. i guess i will need to use a pair of bronze barbed fittings with hose.

that seems like the safest way. it's a little disturbing to find underwater fittigns crumbling apart !

[GaryNW]

Was the failed nipple a yellowish colored brass or reddish like copper pipe? Generally, the yellow stuff should only be used for potable water systems. The redish or copper colored nipples should be ok as is common copper pipe and fittings. Even navy boat specs use ordinary copper right from the local plumbing supply house, with silver solder for strength and corrosion resistance.

About 25 years ago, a friend nearly lost a 100' king crabber while returning to Seattle from the Bering sea on the outside. A brass nipple was installed in the seawater line to the bait freezer, which was in the focsle'. When the nipple failed it flooded the focsle'. He was running with his forward hold flooded for the best ride. So now, the fwd half of the boat was flooded except for fuel tanks and insulation. It was rough so the bow was spending a lot of time underwater. He had to pump out the hold which is dangerous because of "free surface". Headed straight into the seas until the hold was empty.

Gary

[surfdancer45]

Male to male "bronze fittings" have been in my boat for 15 years with no visible problems. Just make sure it is well grounded. I had a surveyor tell me that he did not recommend putting strainers on top of seacocks. He recommended securing the strainer elsewhere and running hose to the seacock. He said problems were more visible and and less pressure on the seacock. I have not changed mine. Bob

[Lucky Dog]

I've gone thru the same brass nipple failure, caught in the nick of time thank goodness. I don't think anybody makes a bronze nipple - at least a week of searching didn't turn up anything. Anyway, I didn't like the strainer screwed on top of the block valve - too much levered weight on the whole thing. I did exactly as described above with the remote mounted strainer, Groco bronze tail pieces and hose. I sleep better now.

[yachtsmanbill]

i dont see any male/male bronze nipples on the website though, only brass.
MAKE THEM !

[Mike36c]

Lewis Marine Supply

[captddis]

The red nipples are red brass not bronze. Nipples should not be used in the plumbing of the A/C system if they are on the pressure side after the pump. .. They suffer from erosion, and on a boat where the air cond is run 24/7, they fail quickly. Use the cast bronze pipe to hose adapters. Hatt used to use monel nipples and if you can find some they last for many years.
Dave

[Banshee36]

Hamilton Marine may be able to fix you up.
jw

[34Hatt]

You can use 316 s.s it is the next thing to Bronze on the chart. Far bettter match for it and much stronger then brass. Because you cant find bronze nipples.

[yachtsmanbill]

I am sure glad you said that Dan!! I didnt want to open that can of worms; but I believe in SS. Its the best thing since they put COKE in bottles!! ws

[GaryNW]

You have to be carefull using SS in seawater. My galvanic table is based on testing in seawater by the International Nickle Company in NC. 18-8 SS (includes 304 and 316 among others) is pretty good with brasses, coppers and bronzes if it is passivated. If it is not passivated (active) is is not so good.

I have never seen a bronze nipple. Generally, when we say bronze on our boats, we are talking castings. So we have all seen the cast bronze pipe-to-hose barb adapters for example. Cast bronze pipe-to-sweat adapters are still pretty common-just not as common as wrought products. With (2) of these and copper tubing you can make your own nipples, but not close nipples. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem using the wrought brass sweat ftgs either.

Gary

[yachtsmanbill]

We used to get wrought bronze bar stock and turn our own nipples and fittings as needed. It still machined like cast with little chips---

[REBrueckner]

Another source for BRONZE pipe fittings beside Lewis Marine is Hamilton Marine, Maine: Hamiltonmarine.com, select then plumbing, then bronze fittings.

[34Hatt]

Another source for BRONZE pipe fittings beside Lewis Marine is Hamilton Marine
Well I have my Lewis book in front of me only see Brass and Stainless They have pipe to hose but NO nipples. If you add anything like a tee you have no choice. Also do you all use Bronze screws to attach a strainer on the bottom of the boat or S.S ???? :confused: