Centreline Ballast Valve

[Lease]

After inadvertantly towing the boat with full ballast tanks last time we went out, I had a bit of a look on the weekend to see what went wrong. I hadn't filled the tanks in the first place, so was a bit surprised that they had filled on thier own.

I have a '95 X, number 851. It is fitted with the centreline ballast valve under the companionway that is meant to be the main means of filling, and is the one that I primarily use for this job since running back to close the gate valve with water pouring over the cabin sole doesn't appeal.

Poured some water into the tank and went under to find it dripping happily out onto the driverway. Also noted that lots of mineral staining that seems to suggest that this isn't a new thing. I pulled the valve out and took a look. There was a bit of pitting in the rubber seal, so I cleaned it and flipped it over so now there is more, or less fresh meat to seal against the hull. The rubber itself is still flexible and shows no signs of hardening. Then I took a look at the seal plate and noted that it was slightly concave - that is, it was bent up in the middle where the threaded rod pulls by about 1-1.5 millimetres when viewed against a straight edge. I straightened this with a heavy hammer and refitted the whole thing. Water goes in, water comes out -slowly, but it still comes out. It seems to be comming from the front part of the seal plate which seems to sit a bit proud of the boat. Spinning the plate 180 degrees makes it worse.

One other thing that I noted was that there are two set screws welded to the plate, over which the rubber seal is placed and lock nuts over that to secure the rubber. Evidence marks on the rubber face showed that one of these is not in the right place in relation to the filling holes in the bottom of the boat. In fact, it is so off-centre, that it seems that the washer under the lock nut overlaps the fibreglass. Thinking about the area of the seal and the nature of the underside of the boat, I don't think that this is the problem.

So where do I go now? The options appear to be:

1. Order a new valve and hope that fixes the problem

2. Take to the boat surface with some coarse paper and see if that helps

3. Replace the rubber on the seal (anyone know how tight the locknuts ought to be?

4. Glue the whole thing down and never open that valve again


I would greatly appreciate any thoughts, or previous corrections that folks may be able to provide. (just don't tell me I shouldn't have straightened the plate )

[maddmike]

Lease,

At least you ran into this problem while the boat was on the trailer. My boat was also manufactured in '95. Few years back while at sea I went to tighten the ballast seal because it was leaking a bit and the all-thread seperated from the bottom valve (which proceeded to the bottom of the ocean) and I found myself standing in the cabin with the threaded shaft in my hand and a nice little stream of water spurting from the hole. Didn't have a plug the right size for the hole, but did have an extra one for the water level check hole. So, it all ended up turning into an interesting exercise with me drilling a larger hole in the floor of my boat with the cordless drill; needless to say as the inflow of water hit the drill bit it went everywhere. Thought it was kinda funny standing in the cabin drilling a larger hole in the floor of the boat 200 miles from the nearest beach. The plug worked fine and is still in place.

Next time the boat came out of the water I glassed over the intake and only used the back drain for filling. Now I have a watermaker and small pump in the tank, I exclusively use fresh water ballest. Regardless of using fresh water ballast, I vote for #4, because my bet is that eventually your all-thread will also rust through and you too will be standing with the thing in you hand (hopefully, not while you are on the water)!!! MM

[delevi]

Unfortunately, I don't have a solution to suggest but reading stuff like this makes me cringe. Loosing ballast while sailing is a grim proposition. Good luck in finding a solution. I think the safest bet is to replace the whole valve unit.

[Richard O'Brien]

Lease, These valves are available from most Recreational Vehicle stores here in the U.S. For The M's ? They are simply standard 3" waste valves. You didn't post what model you had? The stainless rod is the only custom piece, and is easily replaced. It might be worth a look?

[Don T]

Hello:
My 95 had the same problem. During production The hole in the top of the tank is not perfectly above the surface of the hull at the seal. I ended up taking the seal off and bending the rod so the seal plate was parallel to the surface of the hull. Now it takes very little tightening to have a perfect seal. Make sure you don't over tighten the retaining screws as this will dimple the seal.

[Lease]

Thanks to all.

DonT, that sounds like it could be the problem. The front sits proud no matter which way the plate is facing, so that would indicate that the hole in the cabin is further forward. So I'll bend the rod forward and see how I go.

Thaks again.

[argonaut]

Thanks Don! I noticed mine was leaking last weekend on my '97 after I trailered back home, there was a bit of ballast left in the tank from emptying via the aft valve.
I guess either my seal's kaput too or the plate is not sealing. Maybe both. Now I know what to check. I'm sure the rubber seal is standard hardware store stuff.
(kidding...)

[Night Sailor]

Almost any RV dealer and service center will have those 3' waste valves on hand and even parts for them. the pull rod is the only part that might need fabricating, or replaced with a cable arrangement. Perhaps even an electric valve that newer RVs have. The parts are inexpensive in part or whole. If you are not near a RV place, try www.campingworld.com online catalog.
Hope this helps.

[tidalwave]

I replaced the ballast valve with an electric one from Camping World...
worked like a charm until the end of the season...
Totally dead when I went to activate it to put the M back on the trailer!

I ended up cutting off the electric lead and replacing it with a standard 3 inch waste valve.

The idea was great but...I believe that a waste valve designed for just intermittent road spray just cannot handle the constant spray it receives being on the stern.

[Night Sailor]

Thanks Tidalwave for experimenting with the electric valve. I had considered it and wondered if it was designed for immersion or just road spray. You answered my question.