Sea cocks

Robinetta has three fine old bronze cone-style sea cocks. One in the galley to drain the sink, an inlet for the heads and the waste outlet for the heads. Compass Marine in Maine has a fine guide to servicing these and ours were in dire need.Not being any kind of a mechanic I needed some advice as to what to use and after looking at products on the web I emailed Chemico in Solihull. Kathy Escott at Chemico came back with a brilliantly complete answer to my questions and a very reasonable mail order price. She recommended either their fine or very fine grinding paste. I felt like a valued customer at Chemico, although I was only spending a few pounds.



The inlet sea cock for the heads was very corroded. Space is quite confined and I could only turn the cone 1/4 turn without replacing the spanner.

After some time following the instructions to make full turns I went for a 1/4 turn back and forwards motion which allowed a lot more force to be applied. I rotated by a 1/4 turn frequently to try to keep the overall process rotationally symmetric and not distort the cone or the cylinder.

It went rather well.


























The outlet for the heads is much larger. When I was done, it didn't seem like the cone sat as deeply  in the cylinder as it used to. This means that it is easier to get a tight fit on the nut, but it doesn't turn as easily as the inlet valve.

All this nice patina has to go

Part-way through and there is still a lot of verdigris

The galley sea cock was out of use since we bought the boat until last summer. I tried to get it working then but not very successfully. The cone is too pitted really but the cylinder cleaned up lovely.