Thru-hulls and valves

[spring fever]

Well I finally did it-putting the Orca to sleep for the winter and checked the thru hulls-all great-double hose clamped etc as befits an old guy who sleeps half the summer on the hook. The nut that holds the lever had rusted off all 3 but you could still hold the lever on and close the valves--well 2 you could but the lever was completely gone on the 3rd. Big shout out to Port Boat House in alberni-they suggested a good valve for each one and fixed them!! Wasn't cheap but for the amount of labour and tight quarters involved I thought it was reasonable! I was facing a survey for insurance and I didn't want to sound too lame trying to explain how these were going to work. Been putting it off for a few years and wished I hadn't--maybe you should have a look at your valves--not as expensive as you'd think

 

[bigdogeh]

Were they bronze valves? bronze valve bodies with steel levers? would it have been possible to just put new levers on? would have been interesting to see what kind of shape they were in. I've heard where a few boats have been built and delivered straight from the factory with regular bronze ball valves with npt threads installed. Most through hulls use a straight thread and the npt ball valves will only thread on by a few threads before getting tight... Not safe at all. When I checked out my boats through hull system on each engine I found the same. And this was from a reputable boat builder.
I had a machinist friend fab me up a couple of adapters to go from the male straight thread of the thru hull to npt(F) of the ball valve for peace of mind. I didn't like the thought of relying on only a few threads holding the ball valve on. I bet there are many boats out there in the same situation using incompatible hardware in that regard.

 

[spring fever]

No it was not possible to just put on new levers-the spud the lever fit over was mostly gone. One lever seemed to be solid brass-they were pretty screwed up almost from the get-go and mine is a pretty expensive boat. According to Port they see a lot of plated crap. This should be fixed for awhile.