Shipham Seacocks - Rebuildable?

[44-007]

Hi All,

A mate and I have taken up a monster of a project to save a very dilapidated 44ft Waveney Class Motor Lifeboat. She was built in 68 and repowered in 82. So best guess the seacocks are 40+ years old. There are 3no. 2.5 inch bronze Shipham seacocks. They look to be gate valves. I've attached a photo of the one that fed the fire fighting pump. Can anyone advise if I can buy rebuild kits for these or whether they could be rebuilt with generic parts? It would be a shame to throw them away.




Thanking you in advance,

Johnny

 

[O C Diver]

Not sure where you're located, the regulations you may be subject to, or if an insurance survey is required. Gate valves aren't classified as seacocks anymore and depending on the through hull fitting it may not meet insurance specifications. Typically a through hull seacock is bolted to the hull and a ball valve.

Now if you tell us that the vessel requires no inspection either by regulation or for insurance purposes, I would expect you can't find parts for a gate valve as they're rarely used anymore in marine applications. If you still want to use it, try rebuilding it with its original parts.

I apologize for being negative.

Ted

 

[Comodave]

I would indeed throw them away. They are not reliable.

 

[BruceK]

He`s in Brisbane Australia, as the posting detail shows.
Are they seacocks, or are they valves. I suppose a seacock is a sub species of valve, but take a look at the mfrs website if you haven`t already.

Shipham Valves, Highly Trusted & Most Respected Valve Manufacturers

Shipham Valves are proud to serve the global oil and gas and Marine & Naval Defence industry applications

www.shiphamvalves.com

They seem to do industrial valves, not seacocks. Yours look like industrial valves to this non engineer. And gate valves are less desirable imo.
Originality is one thing but safety is another.

 

[Bmarler]

The navy tended to use gate valves quite a bit. If they’re exercised regularly they can indeed last a lifetime or more. I had some gate valves on my old navy lifeboat from 1940 that still worked perfectly.
Looking at the valve in question, it’s flanged on both sides so the plumbing may be hard to reconfigure for quarter turn.
I would think a nicely refurbished valve like that, in good working order might pass muster depending on the surveyor. I’d bet the only thing needing attention would be the stem packing.

 

[Nautica]

The navy tended to use gate valves quite a bit. If they’re exercised regularly they can indeed last a lifetime or more. I had some gate valves on my old navy lifeboat from 1940 that still worked perfectly.
Looking at the valve in question, it’s flanged on both sides so the plumbing may be hard to reconfigure for quarter turn.
I would think a nicely refurbished valve like that, in good working order might pass muster depending on the surveyor. I’d bet the only thing needing attention would be the stem packing.

Totally agree. They may not be acceptable to survey, but I assume you want to keep the originality of the vessel.
They should indeed need little more that dissemble, gleaning and new stem packing. Maybe the sealing surfaces may need re polishing. First thing to do is to take them apart to properly assess the work needed. Gate valves, maintained, are perfectly reliable.