Seacock valve

[Dany]

Hello
On my 36 tri cabin I have several seacock valves on one side there is the normal 90° handle for open and shut on the opposite side of the same axel there is a T-handle can somebody exlain what this t-handle is for .
many thanks for the help

[Mac32]

Hello dany,
If your valves are the same as mine then they have a tapered rubber plug as a spool. So the one side turns the opening in the plug to allow water to flow through (or not) and the one on the other side pushes the taper sides of the spool against the sides of the valve to keep it from leaking (shaped like a old taper cork for a bottle, only with a hole in it). So when turning the valve on and off you should loosen the "T-handle" (this is what mine are) before turning the valve then re-tighten to seat the valve.

Hope this helps
Fred

[Dany]

Hello Fred
Thanks very much for the quick and helpfull info ,I was thinking in that direction but was not sure, and better ask some expert and apply any force which can end up in a mess .

best regards
Dany

[obeejr]

I don't know about the Tricabins, but the F36's have rubber plugs in the seacocks which are not tapered- the T handle screw pushes against a disk that puts force on the rubber plug, causing it to seal tightly.

They work very well as long as you move the handle back and forth occasionally, and pull them apart once in a while to lube them up with silicone grease. You can still buy replacement rubber plugs from Groco.
If one is stuck, don't force the handle- it will twist off. Instead, dissasemble by removing the side plate and pull the plug to lube it.

[Danny Bailey]

Y'all better get rid of that Groco junk and put some quality bronze and stainless steel seacocks and bronze thru hulls in there. If I hadn't changed mine out 3 years ago one of them would have failed by now and sunk her. They were rotten with pink and crumbling bronze in critical places.