Catalina 350 International Association

This is not new stuff but.....

There is a recent thread on the C34 message board regarding failure of a Marelon valve. The C34 owner, while underway, for some reason decided to remove the screw that holds in place the valve handle and the O-ring that together keep water out. With the handle out, the O-ring popped out, resulting in a lot water coming into the boat.

This happened to me years ago on our C320 when I was opening a thru-hull, the screw came out and the handle pulled out, water came in at a pretty good rate. In my case these valves were very hard to open/close and the strain on this handle was too much, it broke loose. ( Its a tiny little screw ) It is very concerning when you have a valve you cannot close that is leaking/gushing at a gal/min. I wrapped the valve with a rag, that was close at hand then wrapped that with rescue tape. I alerted the CG and headed to the nearest marina, about 3 hours away. The bilge pump kept up. All worked out fine, I located an O-ring and had a screw on board that solved the problem. ( I put in a new Marelon valve at my next haul-out)

I learned that these valves need to be lubed with Marelube. This is a key to reducing strain on the handle and keeping the valves working smoothly and easily. Its also wise to check that the screws are all snugged down.

Just some thoughts.

Totally concur about using Marelon lube on the through hulls. I had routinely stroked the thru hulls on Avalon but they were getting stiffer and stiffer and I was sure sooner or later a handle would just break off so I got some Marelon lube, and while hauled blocked the outlets in succession, poured lube down the inlet either directly or down a sink outlet (whichever was easier) and stroked the valves many times while full of lube. Has made a huge difference, they all stroke with a comfortable level of force now, and they are 19 years old and apparently in otherwise perfect condition.