hull side air intakes

[RWS]

I added a 3500 gph emergency bilge pumo to my 10 Meter and now have 4 bilge pumps.

Also plumbed a couple of 2" tees with ball valves into the raw water intakes of my engines to allow for emergency pumping and a fresh water flushing system.

I hope I never have to use those.

RWS

[TADTOOMUCH]

Hope your ball valves have a positive shut off or are locked in the shut off position or the hose is plugged until you need it. If they vibrate open or get bumped and you don't notice it, you could sink.

[RWS]

I suppose I should have specified SEACOCKS rather than ball valves.

The seacocks are a type of ball valve, however they carry a significant amount of friction load to prevent accidental opening/closing.

There are however two small ball valves for the fresh water flush system.
(same with the genset and the A/C raw water pump system)

Your post now makes me think that perhaps I should secure these valves in a closed position with some type of mechanism to keep them from accidentially opening as they could flood the boat with the engines off or could cause an air lock with the engines on leading to an overheating condition and damaged impeller.

Normally not a problem but imagine catching a shirtail on the lever while departing the boat.........

Thanks for the comment !

RWS

[TADTOOMUCH]

Glad to hear they are seacocks. You need to be able to open them quick in an emergency so wiring them in position would not have worked. They should stay put anyway. For the others you could wire them in the closed position as you wouldn't need to quickly turn them open.

[RWS]

The seacocks I'll leave alone. They are designed with friction as not to open or close accidentally.

However each of the ball valves for the freshwater flush systems, 2 engines, 1 genset and 1 air conditioner will probably get one of those mini elastic bungee cords attached just as a precaution.

THANKS for your concerned post.

Might have saved the day and tons of grief.

Regards,

RWS