Diver said thru hull ball cracked?

I had a diver check out the boat the other day. I've used this guy before, and I guess he knows what he's doing. He told me he was cleaning some growth on one of my thru hulls and stuck his finger in the opening and noticed the ball was cracked. From his description of the location I think this would be my holding tank thru hull.

For some reason I found this surprising. Could he really tell if it was cracked just by sticking a finger in there? The water is so murky he cannot see anything he said. If it is cracked, is this an immediate haul out situation? The valve is closed.

Take the hose off and see what happens.

Ted

cardude01 said:

I..The water is so murky he cannot see anything he said. If it is cracked, is this an immediate haul out situation? The valve is closed.

Click to expand...

That's amazing talent!
Not immediate concern to me. Next haulout worklist item.

High Wire said:

That's amazing talent!
Not immediate concern to me. Next haulout worklist item.

Click to expand...

Lol. Amazing talent. That's what I thought. What baffles me is he he is having trouble finding the right zincs, but he can find a crack in a valve. But I'm not diver so....

It's not like I'm using that valve now so like you say, I'll put that on my list for the next haul out.

If this is a Bronze thruhull and valve then He is off the mark. If this is a marelon (or other plastic) then it could be.

It's a bronze thru hull and an actual seacock.

I have had a cracked valve on one of hte head discharge lines. I found it when the bilge pump was cycling, so I could tell there was a significant leak. Turned out the valve was a bronze housing with a stainless ball rotating in the middle. The ball was ok, and that makes sense, as there is no stress on the ball. The housing was cracked around the circumference of the ball, about 3/4 of the way around. It was starting to open up, so the crack was gradually getting longer and would eventually have separated the part fixed to the hull from the part fixed to the hose. Then I would have had a 1.5" opening 1 ft below the waterline.
So, I would get the diver into the water sooner rather than later, with a tapered bung and seal that sucker off until you can haul and replace it.
I my case, it was a simple replacement of what was then only a $50 valve.

You put up the photo while I was typing. That looks exactly like mine. I would think you would see any serious crack in the housing, from the inside, and anything that can only be seen from the outside isn't going to cause a potential sinking. The worst, if the ball (stainless) is actually cracked, will be a leak between the Holding tank and the sea. One way or the other, the bung is still the temporary solution.

That's a really good quality marine seacock. Do you routinely keep it shut? Do you EVER open it? Did he do the cleaning while valve was open or closed? I would think a barnacle was planted on it and he just felt the barnacle adhesive. Usually when you routinely use a seacock they clean themselves nicely, and are free. It's when the valves are left alone (either open OR closed) that they have problems. Regular use is key.

If you need to make sure, remove the hose when the valve is closed to make sure no water is passing.

It's usually closed, but I did open it about two weeks ago and it felt fine.

Either the Cappy's barnacle explanation, or the valve is not quite shut and your diver is feeling the edge of the hole in the ball with his finger nail.


Personally I could not rest easy until I had pulled the hose and satisfied myself that all is well.

cardude01 said:

Lol. Amazing talent. That's what I thought. What baffles me is he he is having trouble finding the right zincs, but he can find a crack in a valve. But I'm not diver so....

Click to expand...

22 years in the biz and 30,000 bottoms cleaned and I have never come across a cracked seacock ball.

????