Frozen ball valve advice

[RJM]

Pretty much all of the valves on the boat are frozen up from lack of use, I would guess. Not happy. I need to clean the a/c strainer but the ball valve is frozen. Best advice for freeing it up? Light hammer taps? Cheater bar? How sturdy are they? I don't want to accidently be staring at the far side of the hull.

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Pretty much all of the valves on the boat are frozen up from lack of use, I would guess. Not happy. I need to clean the a/c strainer but the ball valve is frozen. Best advice for freeing it up? Light hammer taps? Cheater bar? How sturdy are they? I don't want to accidently be staring at the far side of the hull.

I had seacocks survey recommended replacing. All can now be operated with just a finger or two including the mains. What I did: Liberally spray penetrating oil on the assembly; this will take days. Remove freeze plug and replace with zerk fitting and pump in grease then replace plug. During all that, backfill valve with phosphoric acid. This will drain away, but if you continue with this off and on, the residue will de-calcify the valve enough to start moving. Once you get some movement you’re on your way. Once closed, the acid treatment will accelerate. I used a cheater on the mains, but only initially when out of the water. The real Hazzard, IMO, is rounding off the valve stem. A little patience and I think you will find success.

[rsmith]

If your seacocks look like this as most pre 90’s hats have its very easy to free them up. It’s a tapered valve and the nuts on the end control the amount of friction on the valve. There is no good reason to ever replace these. Unfortunately most surveyors are morons and recommend replacing seacocks because it gives them something to say that makes them sound important. Then the owner junks perfectly good quality USA made valves for Chinese crap.

[Scarlett]

I agree with rssmith and I am a surveyor. Most do not take the time to release the nut and really check the valves, they just can’t move them so say the are bad. However there is one very important thing to check. If any sign of leaking around the threads on the tail piece is found you need to be sure the threads are not deteriorated, which can happen over 40 plus years, I have seen this. What will happen is when you try to remove a hose the tail piece will break off. If you have a broken bonding wire at a thru hull you definitely could encounter this problem. John

[oscarvan]

If your seacocks look like this as most pre 90’s hats have its very easy to free them up. It’s a tapered valve and the nuts on the end control the amount of friction on the valve. There is no good reason to ever replace these. Unfortunately most surveyors are morons and recommend replacing seacocks because it gives them something to say that makes them sound important. Then the owner junks perfectly good quality USA made valves for Chinese crap.

Interesting. None of the valves on my '78 look like this, but they also don't look like they've been replaced.......

[RJM]

This is what the valve looks like. There is no nut for adjustment on the side you can't see.


ac valve 2.jpg

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

This is what the valve looks like

Attachment 51291

Yep, same or similar to mine. I'd leave off the cheater bar on these unless you're hauled.

[Captain Ralph]

Yep, same or similar to mine. I'd leave off the cheater bar on these unless you're hauled.

Correct.
Maybe getting some grease injected with the zirk fittings will help, I would not lean on that to hard at all.
It's not the Apollo valve it self that concerns me, but the thru hull below it where it screws into the cock.
If your going to try anyway, have some tapered wood plugs, mallet and a good knife handy.

[HahnR]

Get a dead blow hammer. GENTLY tap as close to the end of the handle as you can. You should get some movement after a couple of taps. Once you get some movement, gently tap it back, then tap it back and forth, getting more and more movement as you go until it's closed. The key is the dead blow hammer and light taps, this way there is no strain put on the thruhull itself. Like the guys already said, no way I'd put a cheater on the handle. That extra leverage pulling sideways is what would get you in trouble

Randy

[bostonhatteras]

This is what the valve looks like. There is no nut for adjustment on the side you can't see.


Attachment 51291

ABYC dictates that any seacock installation be able to withstand a 500 pound static load for 30 seconds. That's in any direction. Usually this is interpreted to mean a flanged seacock and a hose barb screwed into the top, or maybe a 90 or 45 degree fitting and the hose barb. stacking lots of fittings is generally frowned upon. Better to have a single hose barb and hose that leads to a remote manifold to distribute the seawater.