Remote seacock operation

[Razorbill RIBs]

as title.... Have a seacock in a difficult to access place, no way of having a hatch above, so long levers /rods are out, to save craling through a hole am keen to find a mechanised and or electric remote way of operating.....

Its in the bilges so would need to be water proof solution (if electric).....anyone able to point me in the direction of a solution /piece of kit to suit?

Many thanks

[SDGANDER]

How about a local lever actuated by a pull cable? Would only work one way unless the cable was stiff enough to push it the other way though.

SDG

[Razorbill RIBs]

Originally Posted by SDGANDER

How about a local lever actuated by a pull cable? Would only work one way unless the cable was stiff enough to push it the other way though.

SDG

Had looked into this, but TBH want to be able to open and close daily, so think a motorised solution poss best....thanks anyway

[Erin]

Hmmm. I do remember reading about such a thing a little while back. If I can remember the details I'll let you know.

[SDGANDER]

We had one the same on the fisheries rib but that was to meet the coding in case of engine 'room' fire. That certainly pulled closed but I can't remember if if was remote opening.

Be aware if coded an electrical one might need a mechanical back up for closing too.

Have you tried somewhere like RS?

SDG

[Erin]

How about this

[chris123]

A few options that I have used over the years:

Valvestock - Actuated Products

SAFI - Thermoplastic Valve Solutions

Worcester Controls

Essential to have a closed / open indicator on the console (the electric actuators have limit switches fitted for this purpose).

Cheers

Chris

[chewy]

To meet the coding does it need to fail closed?
How much space have you got where it needs to be fitted?

[Pikey Dave]

We fit many actuated valves from 1/2" to over 6' (yup that's feet), even the "cheap" 1/2" ones cost the thick end of a grand. Knowing the failure rate, I wouldn't use one on my boat as a seacock An 1/2", 1/4 turn actuated ball valve is still a bulky thing to get under a deck. I'd be looking at fitting an access hatch in the deck & having a "proper" manual valve.
I've not come across any 1/4 turn ball valves that fail closed. They usually drive open & drive closed. If they fail, they will fail in whatever state they were when the power went off.

[Razorbill RIBs]

Cheers all, some good suggestions there, will follow up leads on Tuesday....and report back.

Chewy - There is a lot of space, but (and in partial response to PD) there is no possible way of getting a hatch above (definately - we have looked at every possible way)..... Currently you can climb /upper body through a side hatch into the bilge and operate the seacock, but not ideal /would like to do it from the helms position.....BTW it is /would be just deep enough to lie in down in there, once you've made it under the prop shaft

I have seen some US sites /systems with 'fail shut'......

The other idea I had was (working on the basis that the main concern /risk etc is failure of the joint /pipe where the flexi pipe joins onto the sea cock body - if the skin fitting failed then there would be nothing you can do in any case) to have a solid pipe which mechanically screws to the seacock (so little /no risk of failure) and which then remains solid until it gets to an easily accesible /much higher point (alongside the engine above deck level) where it could then have a valve inline (if required) before going to the flexi-pipe and on to the filter..... But working on the basis that the sponsons will always be above water level, then the water inside the pipe should never be higher than the solid pipe......would still have the manual op seacock at low level /as is.....and no worries about leaving it on a Mooring..... any thoughts?

[9D280]

....a bit like my battery - sat on a shelf in the console so the terminals are above "swamp level". I guess if you could guarantee the solid pipe's connection to the hull there's no reason why that woudn't work. You could of course take that argument to it's logical conclusion and say" do I need a valve?"

Back to something vaguely sensible, how about using a lightweight throttle / gear bowden? - then you get push and pull. Alternative #2 - same idea as a lot of tiller control cables- you have an open & a close cable.....

[Razorbill RIBs]

Originally Posted by 9D280

....a bit like my battery - sat on a shelf in the console so the terminals are above "swamp level". I guess if you could guarantee the solid pipe's connection to the hull there's no reason why that woudn't work. You could of course take that argument to it's logical conclusion and say" do I need a valve?"

I agree, the valve would be pretty redundant.... Guaranteeing the connection is the tough part

Back to something vaguely sensible, how about using a lightweight throttle / gear bowden? - then you get push and pull. Alternative #2 - same idea as a lot of tiller control cables- you have an open & a close cable.....

A bowden could just work if we made a bracket to hold it at 45 degress from Horizontal..... Hmmm

[Cookee]

A control cable is the only way to go in your situation - we have one on the race boat with a suitable bracket - it's the dump for the 250 litre bow tank and works very well indeed. Reliable mechanised is going to be V expensive!

We could fabricate something for you but would at the very least need the seacock/valve then you would just need a single operation control of your choosing.