215 explorer sea cock question

[MTBfish]

sorry to barrage the board, but since I never got a manual for my boat, and I am green in boat ownership, I have lots of questions.   The sea cock on my explorer is totally corroded, but what i most puzzling is the wire that leads to it.  is there some type of electronic shut off valve, or maybe some type of grounding wire?   The rust is so bad that I do not want to touch it until i'm ready to replace and don’t want to find out what the wire does the hard way.. any info appreciated.

[slvrlng]

I would bet its a grounding wire. Can you trace it? What color is it?
Pictures are always good.

[terntwo 24]

Ya most likely a bonding wire all metal thru hole fittings should be bonded or as slvrlng said grounded. If the boat is left in say a marine you have a lot of stray currents around and bonding them together keeps them from being eaten by electrolasis (sp). just like zincs. on larger boats they have a bonding plate in the hull. I think the right color should be green,just replace the seacock and reattach the bonding wire good to go.

[Capt. Bob]

They are correct.
It's a bond for corrosion resistance.

If you replace the cock with a marelon fitting, no bond is needed. http://www.forespar.com/MarelonPlumbing ... bout.shtml

Wire is probably green.