Catalina 350 International Association

Wondering if anyone has gone against advice of Forespar and dismantled one of their seacocks. Mine are stroked every few months, but are very stiff and I expect a handle to break one day. Boat is about to be lifted for antifouling so was thinking of undoing the body screws and cleaning up/lubricating the ball while out of the water, but as noted above the Forespar advice is DO NOT DISASSEMBLE VALVE OR LOOSEN BOLTS EXCEPT IN EXTREME EMERGENCIES. All valves are factory pres- sure tested before shipping. Any adjustments to the bolts will void this testing and may void warranties.

Any experience with this gratefully accepted.

Russ

I disassembled the 1 1/2 inch seacock under the galley sink to do some maintenance to the sink plumbing. I installed new gaskets, lubed and reinstalled the valve. I filled the galley sink with water and searched for leaks after leaving it “under pressure” over night.This was my pressure test for the valve since it only sits at 1 1/2 feet below the surface while performing it’s function. The valve has not leaked a drop all season. I have also disassembled the head intake seacock in the v berth to change the handle location. No leaks. When the boat is out of the water I coat the ball valves with water proof grease to keep them operating smoothly. I also close all the valves when I leave the boat. These have been my experiences with the Forespar Seacocks.

George
Air Mobility
Hull#158

Thanks George, that gives me confidence to pull all mine apart while out of the water and get some waterproof grease into them.

Regards,

Marlube is the recommended lubricant. Besides the grease, there is a liquid version of Marlube. No disassembly needed. When we bought our boat 4 years ago, the thru hulls were pretty stiff. We lube them every spring with liquid marlube before launching, and they're much better now. The stuff is ridiculously expensive, but if done out of the water one person can catch the lube in a cup outside the boat for reuse.

Thanks Scott, just to be clear what do you do? Sounds like remove the hose off the valve without dismantling the valve, pour the Marlube in from the top so it sits on the ball, hold a cup on the outside, open and close the valve a few times to spread the lube around the ball, and catch any excess with the cup??

Thanks for the info

Yes, pretty much that, but I made it even easier by putting a plunger pump on the bottle with a small hose on it. For the sinks, I just pour a little down the drain. For the shower, I pull the vent / vaccuum break valve off and squirt some in the line. On our head intake, I have an inline strainer and take off the cap and squirt some in that line. For the AC, I do pull off the hose. For the engine, I squirt some down the intake hose from inside the sea water strainer assembly. The only one I've never done that way is the fridge drain. I suppose I could pump it through but I just used a brush from the outside on that one last spring. Wasn't sure if the lube could attack any of the inner workings of the foot pump assembly. We catch the extra that runs out with a cup and reuse it.