Water Strainer

baz

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
6,083
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
I was checking things this past weekend and decided to ensure the water strainer was clear of debris. I attempted to undo/unscrew the hold down bolt that secure the blueish plastic dome using its plastic 4-spoke head and could not budge it. I presumed this should be hand tightened and thus could be loosened with one's hand.

I see that I will need to get an open adjustable wrench on the 4-spoke head to loosen it. However, before doing so I thought I would ask here that this procedure was a safe thing to do and would not break anything. Things that are plastic these days do not take much force to break
 
Baz,

We had no trouble opening our seawater strainer the first time - don't recall but we may have needed some gentle mechanical help. Our problem was that dear husband hand tightened it too hard when he replaced that strainer lid and proceeded to crack the plastic. Given that you will flood your boat with a broken seawater strainer lid, we were out of commission until we could find a replacement, which had to come out of Seattle or Florida. Guess what is in my spare parts kit? A spare $65 strainer lid.

Oh, NEVER OPEN the Seawater Strainer without First CLOSING the ENGINE SEACOCK!!!

Sparky
Starry Night
 
Sparky:

Thanks for your insights and the advice about the engine seacock. 🙂
 
Sparky,

Good advice about the seacock and the sea water strainer. On my R-21 EC they're in separate areas and it could be easy to forget about the seacok if one was looking at a clogged sea strainer.

On my Albin trawler the seacock and sea water stainer were about six inches apart. And the sea water strainer was a huge brass device with a glass bowl, not plastic.

Gene
 
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