Where are the seacocks on a Hallberg-Rassy 39, and how do I service them?
I want to check all the seacocks on my Hallberg-Rassy 39 before launching this spring. Where should I look, and how do I tell which ones need servicing or replacing?
Answer
On a Hallberg-Rassy 39, look beneath the galley sink, in the forward heads lockers and beneath their removable panels, and low in the engine compartment for the cooling-water intake. Trace each hose to its hull fitting to confirm its purpose, then inspect and operate every valve; dismantling or replacing fittings below the waterline requires a haul-out.
Find every hull connection
Start with the boat's own through-hull drawing, if available. Hull number, optional equipment and previous alterations affect the layout. A drawing for an HR 36 or another Hallberg-Rassy model is not a reliable guide to an HR 39.
- Galley: follow the sink waste hose through the cupboard or adjacent access panel to its discharge valve. Move stored equipment before deciding a fitting is inaccessible.
- Forward heads: trace the toilet seawater inlet, toilet discharge and washbasin drain separately. The toilet outlet may pass through a holding tank or diverter valve before reaching its seacock.
- Engine compartment: trace the raw-water hose back from the seawater pump, through the strainer, to the intake seacock. The strainer is not the shut-off valve.
- Additional equipment: look for separate intakes serving refrigeration, a watermaker or a deckwash pump. Trace the shower and cockpit drains too, and establish which have valves.
Photograph each installation and label its handle and access panel. Do not count speed and depth transducers as seacocks: their housings need separate inspection.
Check each valve gently
A seacock installation normally consists of a through-hull fitting, a valve and a hose tail. Inspect all three, including the threads and the underside of the hull around the fitting.
On a conventional quarter-turn ball valve, the handle normally lies parallel to the flow passage when open and across it when closed. Check the valve markings and installation: a replacement handle can give a false indication.
- Stop the engine and switch off the relevant pumps, then move each valve gently through its full travel.
- Watch the valve body and through-hull as you move the handle. Neither should turn or flex.
- Look for weeping, salt deposits, cracked hose tails, loose handles and corrosion around the spindle.
- Check hoses for cracking, hardening and abrasion, especially immediately behind the hose clips.
Do not use an extension pipe to force a seized handle. The extra force can break the fitting. A moving handle does not prove that the ball has moved or that the valve seals.
Service valves and hoses
With the boat ashore, inspect the outside openings and remove marine growth without damaging the fittings. Operate each valve and inspect the bore with a torch where access allows.