Consider also lubing the o-rings.
Last summer, I decided to check my strainer after going through some shallow areas with a group of other boaters when we were exploring the sloughs of the lower Columbia. The bronze top started to come off, then bound up and wouldn’t budge. I recruited two of my boating friends, one of whom is young and strong, and the other of whom is a savvy old salt who seems to understand all things mechanical about boats. They tried a stout breaker bar across the bronze tabs, but it didn’t budge. The savvy old salt felt sure that the o-ring was dry and had compressed into the threads. I found it hard to believe an o-ring could be the cause. I feared I had cross-threaded it somehow. He and my other friend finally freed it through gentle coercion — about 20 minutes of using a ping hammer to tap first on one bronze tab, then the other, to get the top to turn evenly in very small increments. Off it came, with the bronze threads perfectly in tact. We were lucky: at the time, we were in Astoria where there was an excellent fully stocked chandlery within walking distance which had o-rings of just about every size on the planet. I got a replacement o-ring on the spot, and of course, a couple of spares as well.
I think what happened was similar to the issue described in this thread:
http://www.tugnuts.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15326&p=101362&hilit=sea+strainer#p101362
I had a different o-ring issue this last December. I was mid-way through the 3 week period of Christmas Ship parading when I began to notice a small amount of water under the strainer during my day checks of the engine and all fluids. I reached out to someone at the factory (Tim, probably), who pointed me to a small drain plug at the base of the see through bowl. He said it was a likely source of the leak, and could need (a) tightening; (b) a new o-ring; or (c) a new bowl (it isn’t common, but the plastic bowl can crack due to very cold weather, etc). In my case, I closed the sea cock, drained the bowl, lubed the o-ring, and tightened it up. Problem solved.
The experience caused me to get a full complement of replacement parts (o-rings, drain plug, plastic bowl) and keep them in my stock of spare parts. Fisheries Supply carries them. Lubing those o-rings is also now on my list of things to do regularly.
Gini
