Leaking Thru Hull Valve

I know most of you seasoned boaters probably know this, but I thought I would post this for the "Newbees" like me out there.Yesterday I was making A visual check in the engine room, and found the thru hull to the port engine leaking @ the handle,(a steady drip). Needless to say, I panicked. I cycled the handle a few times, did not help. Had visions of having to pull the boat out to replace the valve. I quickly checked with our on site mechanic, and he said no problem, remove the handle and tighten down the packing gland nut. Sure enough, problem was solved that easily.went to the galley and made a tall bourbon & water, and celebrated my victory in the engine room.......

Frank

Rivahrat said:

I know most of you seasoned boaters probably know this, but I thought I would post this for the "Newbees" like me out there.Yesterday I was making A visual check in the engine room, and found the thru hull to the port engine leaking @ the handle,(a steady drip). Needless to say, I panicked. I cycled the handle a few times, did not help. Had visions of having to pull the boat out to replace the valve. I quickly checked with our on site mechanic, and he said no problem, remove the handle and tighten down the packing gland nut. Sure enough, problem was solved that easily.went to the galley and made a tall bourbon & water, and celebrated my victory in the engine room.......

Frank

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Great on your success...but it depends on what kind of "seacock" (not thru-hull) you have...many new ones don't have adjustments.

psneeld, you are right, it was the "seacock" & not the thru hull, My mistake. Like I said, I am still a new bee @ this. I guess I got lucky on this easy fix. Part of the fun of owning this boat is learning the new things about her.....

Frank

Rivahrat said:

....went to the galley and made a tall bourbon & water, and celebrated my victory in the engine room.......

Frank

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Sounds like a victory to me.

Pretty much that's how i started, solving one thing after another. and with that came experience , what not to do and how much better I got after doing it three times

First time I changed the fuel filters took me half a day.
Laast time it took 5 minutes.:lol:

Besides the often confused names for the thing that is a whole in the boat. There a few more
Sea-cock.
Safety sea-cock.
Through hull,mushroom head
Then there are the special tools for working all of this stuff.
Thru hulls are straight thread. Sea clocks are straight thread. Ball valves are tapered.
Sure doesn't surprise me when people get confused.

Sd

Thanks a lot Skipperdude on the info of the hole in the boat... Now I am more confused than ever. Maybe I better go have another bourbon and think this out......

Frank

There are a few good video's on you tube. I have no idea how to post links.
Point is. It is an important item on a boat an as complicated as it can get.

As

Awesome

Well done. That's how you learn.

Well done mate. The only thing I can see that you did wrong was add water to that bourbon lol

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We love the great attitude of RivahRat! Enjoy your adventure.

IF its a proper bronze sea cock, next time you are hauled , take it apart .

A small bit of valve grinding compound will allow you to re seat the unit.

Then clean and lube it for another few decades of use.

A poor seacock that cant be tightened a bit might still have winterizing 1/8 pipe plugs installed.

These can be removed , a zerk, grease fitting installed and perhaps with grease pumped in will stop leaking.

The grease fittings also work when removed to spray in PB Blaster to perhaps free a open sea cock that hasnt moved in years .

Some folks will chose to install grease fittings from the outboard shop SS with spring balls in the fitting to make service easier.

FF, Thanks for this info. Will check it out....

Frank

Some people around here call them "Kingston" valves.

I'm hauled now and the K valve is on the list of things to do. In Alaska (when in the water) I assumed it didn't leak and left it on over night while working on my raw water pump impeller. Good thing I came back the next afternoon after getting the impeller as the bilgewater was up to my engine mounts. Feel free to call me dumb as it was stupid to make that assumption. Actually it didn't even occur to me that it may leak. Brain wasn't even in gear.

As I recall there was an excellent thread about how to service the K valve some time ago. Someone posted a link. Was excellent w good pics but it seemed like a lot of fussing around. Perhaps I don't remember clearly. Intend on finding that link and reviewing same when I get to addressing the K valve. I remember thinking it would just be easier to buy a new $60 nylon valve that should last over 10 years.

Sinking sucks and I've had my wake up call.

Rivahrat, FF was talking about tapered plug type seacocks. If you have a modern ball valve type seacock, don't use the zerk fitting trick to pump grease in. It will blow the seals out.

FF was talking about tapered plug type seacocks. If you have a modern ball valve type seacock,,

It might be worth replacing it with a real seacock that is bolted in , not just screwed to miss matching threads , and can be serviced when required .