Reply To: 365Gl Seacock Replacement

I replaced all of the seacocks on our 45E with Trudesign this spring. It was completely straightforward. I would make a couple of comments, firstly as others have suggested the Trudesign fittings are a bit larger than DZR and therefore most of the time taken to do this job was taken by measuring, and measuring again to ensure that we had space. The second issue is that Truedesign do not make angled adaptors to fit between the hull fittings and seacocks. This requires careful planning to ensure that there is room to fit the seacock and hose tails since the change in angle must be made above rather than below the seacock. The third issue we found was that even when there was room to fit the new fittings, they could only be fitted in a specific order. A dry fit was essential to check. In order to “lock” the seacocks at the correct angle to permit free movement of their handles we fitted an extra backnut below the seacock and backed this off to lock the seacock at the correct angle (I was reluctant to simply rely on the thread sealant). Removal of the existing was easy but I would caution against cutting the old fittings off with an angle grinder. I realise this is the “standard” way of accomplishing this task BUT it is very difficult to do without nicking the GRP. Yes you can repair this damage or just rely on the sealant but in my opinion a much better approach is to “drill the flanges off the old fittings with a stepped cone drill. This is quick and easy and does not carry the risk of damage. As the cone drill reaches the back of the flange it just comes away, leaving the GRP untouched. We used a cobalt steel 48mm drill which was just starting to loose its edge by the eleventh and final fitting! I’m afraid the large fittings for the holding tank outlets will have to be removed with an angle grinder, large enough cone drills are not made.
I was horrified to see the state of the original Dufour “DZR” fittings – severe de-zincification!
Andrew