Cleaning fresh water strainer—dumb question...

[PlanetoSea]

Hello all,

I have been searching all day on these forums and also online and looking for a manual for the Jabsco Pumpgard low profile inline strainer on our 2018 R29-CB, to answer what is probably a dumb question. I see it written everywhere that checking and cleaning the strainer is easy, but nowhere does it says if I can simply unscrew the strainer cap with water in the tank, and there will be very little water spill (just what’s in the cap), or if I need to empty the tank first (or check/clean when tank is empty through normal use). I do not see any shutoff valve between my water tank outlet and the strainer, so it looks like if I unscrew the cap, whatever water is in the tank will free flow out. Is that the case, or is there a check valve of some sort in the strainer that allows you to unscrew the cap and clean the filter while water is in the tank? I thought there would be a video or description on steps to take to clean your strainer, but I cannot find anything for freshwater strainers that shows actual steps. I’m sure there are many of you who have done this, so I figured it was time to just ask for help.

 

[knotflying]

Your pump is higher than the tank so very little water will come out. put a towel under to sop up some water. The strainer unit and fittings have quick disconnects and I find it easier to remove it to then unscrew the cap and remove strainer. There is a small O-ring to seal the cap. When removing the cap look at the O-ring placement carefully. Quite often people do not reinstall properly and the O-ring does no seal and you will suck in air and the pump will cycle a lot more.

 

[PlanetoSea]

Thanks Knotflying! For mine, the pump is pretty much on the same level as the tank outflow hose. So, the water tank itself is on the same level as the pump with the lower corner outflow hose feeding directly to the strainer on a flat plane. I disconnected the line with the strainer from the pump itself and it was gravity draining at full speed until I put it back in place. It left me with little confidence that if I unscrewed the strainer cap it would not just dump that freshwater tank contents unless I screw the cap back in place. Am I just paranoid

 

[Wee Venture]

Can you lift the tubing? On our unit I can disconnect the input tube coming from the water tank and quickly lift it above the level of water in the tank. Not much spills out that way. Then I use a bungee to keep it lifted while I do the work.

John

 

[knotflying]

Thanks Knotflying! For mine, the pump is pretty much on the same level as the tank outflow hose. So, the water tank itself is on the same level as the pump with the lower corner outflow hose feeding directly to the strainer on a flat plane. I disconnected the line with the strainer from the pump itself and it was gravity draining at full speed until I put it back in place. It left me with little confidence that if I unscrewed the strainer cap it would not just dump that freshwater tank contents unless I screw the cap back in place. Am I just paranoid

The outlet is at the top of the tank. You may have some initial siphoning going on or the water flowing out from the water lines to the faucets etc. There are only two connections. Get some rubber plugs to put into the connections to stop the flow if that is your concern. Never had an issue with a large continuous flow. I assume you turned the pump of before disconnect?? 😀

 

[Wee Venture]

Thanks Knotflying! For mine, the pump is pretty much on the same level as the tank outflow hose. So, the water tank itself is on the same level as the pump with the lower corner outflow hose feeding directly to the strainer on a flat plane. I disconnected the line with the strainer from the pump itself and it was gravity draining at full speed until I put it back in place. It left me with little confidence that if I unscrewed the strainer cap it would not just dump that freshwater tank contents unless I screw the cap back in place. Am I just paranoid

The outlet is at the top of the tank. You may have some initial siphoning going on or the water flowing out from the water lines to the faucets etc. There are only two connections. Get some rubber plugs to put into the connections to stop the flow if that is your concern. Never had an issue with a large continuous flow. I assume you turned the pump of before disconnect?? 😀

Different installations may be done differently. On ours, the outlet is at the bottom of the tank, and the pump is typically below the water level.

John

 

[BB marine]

The installation in my C26 is the outlet is on the bottom of the tank and there is about 8" of hose between the tank and the suction side of the pump at the same level as the outlet of the tank. Cleaning the filter required an empty tank and a Bunch of towels. After one filter cleaning the decision was made to install a ball valve inline between the tank and the pump. This allows for pump filter cleaning and pump servicing without a mess.

 

[knotflying]

If the issue of location is as stated the ball valve is the best permanent idea. And then there are these https://labsociety.com/lab-equipmen...c4-_F4MWmlxAdYoR0WCfPKvr_bEESGmYaAmuXEALw_wcB