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Post by Mistroma on Mar 13, 2015 1:18:11 GMT
I believe that even some (or all) of the "quality" Scandinavian yachts also use cheap brass valves now. Certainly Jeanneau, Beneteau and Bavaria all fit valves made from brass.
I blame the EU Recreational Craft Directive (RCD) to some extent.
The RCD was meant to harmonise construction standards for recreational craft, regulate some exhaust and noise emissions and so forth. I suspect that it had many unintended consequences. Builders used to consider seacocks as something that should not fail and used kit that pretty much went on forever. The RCD only required something along the lines of "must not show significant signs of corrosion for at least 5 years". Builders realised that they could save money and still comply with the RCD. Brass valves can be fine for 5 years (assuming electrically isolated and no galvanic effects from shore power etc.). It's cheap and meets the RCD requirements (on a good day with a following wind and a bit of luck). Just my opinion.
I noticed the comment about previous "US designed boats" having decent quality fittings. The US market should be competitive and builders would want to drive down costs, so would use brass if allowed. It would be interesting to know if this is the case or if they still use bronze on normal production boats.
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Post by DUET on Mar 13, 2015 23:19:40 GMT
Thanks for the comments. I have a lot better understanding now. The two US boats I had were an Express 37 I I (last one made 1988) and a Cambria 44 (1986) and both used bronze. As for the several C & C's, I wasn't aware of the issue then.
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