Air conditioning seacock

[S Lightly Salty]

Fired up the AC today. The seacock had to be opened and closed a time or two to get things moving. The handle side is dripping a bit. Is there anything I can do or is that a “monitor until fall” situation.

 

[JVM225]

Fired up the AC today. The seacock had to be opened and closed a time or two to get things moving. The handle side is dripping a bit. Is there anything I can do or is that a “monitor until fall” situation.

Not sure what kind of seacock you have or exactly how much it’s dripping, but it should be dry.
Also, the ac pump needs to be primed whenever a boat goes back in the water.
On most boats the ac pump can be primed simply by going for a ride. On some, my old 300 Sundancer included, going for a ride doesn’t work so you can prime it easily by just removing the hose from the discharge side of the pump (with ac and pump off) for a brief second until you see water coming out of the pump, then shove the hose back on, tighten the clamps, and you’ll be good to go.
Turn the ac on and it should do the rest.

 

[S Lightly Salty]

 

[S Lightly Salty]

Here’s the seacock. AC is primes and running.

 

[Creekwood]

I would fix that. Its clearly leaking and probably needs to be removed and rebed. Also, I am not a clean bilge fanatic, but your bilge is filthy. Makes it hard to pinpoint leaks and other issues when a bilge is that dirty.

 

[S Lightly Salty]

I would fix that. Its clearly leaking and probably needs to be removed and rebed. Also, I am not a clean bilge fanatic, but your bilge is filthy. Makes it hard to pinpoint leaks and other issues when a bilge is that dirty.

Believe it or not, I spent a ton of time cleaning and vacuuming the bilge. In retrospect I should have washed it down as well. What do you recommend for a product ya d procedure for cleaning the bilge?

 

[Little Ducky]

I use Spray 9 most of the time to clean up the bilge. Spray....let it sit for a few minutes and then wipe or spray off.

When I did my oil changes this year I squirted a little Dawn in there and sprayed'er down good.

 

[Korkie]

Meguiars Super Degreaser. Cut it 4 to 1 with water for heavy cleaning. Works great on bout everything. 10 to 1 for general everyday cleaning. Leaves no residue or sticky feel. Spray on, wait 45 seconds or so, either hose off or wipe off. If wipe off, follow with spray and wipe down with plain water. Does miracles on vinyl. One gallon of concentrate goes a really long way. Google it, impressive.

 

[JVM225]

A spray bottle filled with water and a healthy squirt of Dawn goes a long way in cleaning grease stuff and is cheap.
Spray it on, agitate it with a brush, rinse with fresh water.
Biodegradable, so no problem with bilge pump discharging it in to the water. I like Dawn because it leaves no residue behind.
Purple Power sprayed liberally and agitated with a brush also does the job. It’s cheap and readily available too, but is a bit caustic so keep it off of your skin and keep the hose ready to rinse with fresh water.

 

[BlueYonder]

That kind of looks like one of the old style tapered cone seacocks. If it is, you should service it using this guide:

https://marinehowto.com/servicing-tapered-cone-seacocks/

 

[JC3]

Salty, Where is the leak weeping at? Is it at the base or handle? Either way that needs fixed now in my HO. I could not sleep at night wondering if it might (Give Way). Good luck with it and GOD bless. JC

 

[S Lightly Salty]

It

Salty, Where is the leak weeping at? Is it at the base or handle? Either way that needs fixed now in my HO. I could not sleep at night wondering if it might (Give Way). Good luck with it and GOD bless. JC

It’s leaking right where the handle enters the valve.

 

[S Lightly Salty]

Here’s a better picture of the seacock. What is the threaded handle on the opposite side for?

 

[Sublimetime]

The T-handle on the back side is the "packing adjustment". These handles are meant to have that small t-handle loosened before actually operating the large handle on the ball valve.

When you loosen the small handle it takes the pressure off the seal inside ( water will start to leak in for a second) open or close the valve then retighten the small handle to retighten the seal.

You probably just need to tighten that t-handle.

 

[Sublimetime]

In the last picture I don't think you have the valve fully open.

it should be inline with the hose for fully open and across the hose for closed.

 

[S Lightly Salty]

The T-handle on the back side is the "packing adjustment". These handles are meant to have that small t-handle loosened before actually operating the large handle on the ball valve.

When you loosen the small handle it takes the pressure off the seal inside ( water will start to leak in for a second) open or close the valve then retighten the small handle to retighten the seal.

You probably just need to tighten that t-handle.

Thank you. That was it. I’m old enough to know if you “don’t know” to ask. Your input is super appreciated. Cheers!

 

[Sublimetime]

no problem salty- that's why we hang out here. get some help and give some help, all good.

 

[Little Ducky]

WOW if that stopped the drip may all of your issues be this easy.

I like happy outcomes.

 

[Brian Hersh]

my seacock is stuck any good advice on how to get it to move bit

 

[S Lightly Salty]

my seacock is stuck any good advice on how to get it to move bit

I sprayed mine with both PB Blast and then fluid film. Seemed to do the trick.