Sea Strainer recommendations....
 

Well after my overheating problems with the seaweed, im thinking a sea strainer wouldnt be a bad option.

Is there any recommendations for my setup?

94 Baja 272 w/ 330hp Merc 454 and Bravo drive.

Thanks!

Pros and cons of different models would be great, as I have never used a strainer before.

I have Marine Machine strainers - they seem to be a REAL nice piece....

Are those the ones with the aluminum tops and the stainless can? If so have you had any issues with the tops galling?

STAINLESS MARINE ,,,,, nothing else ,,TOP OF THE LINE !!!!!!!!!!

agreed.

Yes - mine appear to have coated aluminum tops and the Stainless cans.

I haven't had any problems with them at all - look brand new.

Get something you don't need a tool to open. I got those for the MTI...

Hardin marine bought them through Keith Eickert Marine

http://www.keitheickert.com/images/620-913206.jpg

http://www.keitheickert.com/detail.aspx?ID=8918

My boat was built with Marine Machine strainers. They are very solidly built units and I'd recommend them in a heartbeat. My years of experience with them tells me that it is critical to use a lot of anti-seize on the lids to prevent them from seizing up given that the buckets are Stainless and the lids are Aluminum. There have been threads here with some ugly pics of lids needing to be cut off. I had to cut mine off about 3-4 years ago. I had the lids off to clean them out and wiped off what I felt to be excess anti-sieze off the threads. Then I hosed down the bilge to clean it. The open spaces between the vanes on the lids trapped water which seeped down the threads and they seized up. Had to remove them which was awful in my boat and used a die grinder to carefully make two cuts in the edges of the lids to get them off. No problems since because I make darn sure I goop them up real good. This was entirely my fault. For what its worth....

Good Point - that is one drawback to mine is that you need an open end wrench to get them off.

Thanks - I am going to put some antiseize on mine next time I take the cover off.

Im happy with the livorsi unit as well.
 

http://www.livorsi.com/catalog/sea_strainers.htm

Very happy with my Livorsi sea strainer.

Definitely get one you dont need tools to open.

Chasing sockets and wing nuts in a dirty bilge is a bummer when your trying to get back underway.

Cant imagine boating without a sea strainer anywhere- there is so much crap everywhere these days. Lakes, ocean kelp beds it all ends up in there.

Uncle Dave

Oh yeah- I also like the fact that the the nut, lid, and strainer basket all come off as one piece ( you can separate them later if you want) but its a quick process with no small parts to lose.

Get an integrated flush out so you can screw the hose right into the boat, it will help dramatically with flushing and keep the impellers running longer-

Make damm sure you keep the length between the strainer and teh impeller as short as possible- too much length and youll lose impellers left and right.

Uncle Dave

:kiss:I agree wing nut searching is not fun!They have been working well on my boat for many years!:kiss:

So I am assuming by your statement, the sea strainer goes on the inlet water hose, before the raw water pump, then feeds from the strainer to the raw water pump?

Anyone got a used strainer kit out there they want to part with???

I have a brand new ,,,well ok 2 races old Stainless Marine with fittings ,,,650 bucks.
And yes thats how u plum it,,but dont forget to put a ball valve right at the intake ,,,Just in case.:eek:

Stainless Marine. You can stand on them, nothing will break. The super strainers I have were around $1K each new. $650 with fittings isn't a bad price.

Pretty much- make sure to respect the strainers in-out direction and you should be fine-

I should have said keep both pieces as short as possible.

You could put an additional sea cock in line, but with a newer unit you can pull and dump so quickly you wont take much if any water.

Fact is when it comes to this particular component there are plenty of really high quality choices.

When you get it in you need to know it will be even more sensitive to a dry impeller and that this maintenance might go up.

Be aware of how long between firings- if its been longer than 3-4 weeks always "pre-charge" the strainer with water before you hit the ramp.

Let us know how you go.



UD

Has anyone tried this type?

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...70&classNum=71
Not as pretty as the Marine Machine strainer, but it seems it would still function the same and cost is about 1/4 the price of the Marine Machine strainer

Where are you going to mount it? That's the only reason I don't have one.

Sea Strainer
 

I am running Livorsi (Teague) 5" sea strainers on twin 600SCI's in a Cobalt 343. They work well but clog up quickly in the Key West Bay area. I am thinking of going to the 10" cans for longer run time between cleaning (it's no holiday when you have to climb into the hot bilge while in the ocean). Is it possible to add some 3 or 4 way valves and backflush the strainer?

Marine Machine, they give you a wrench and its one twist and cleanout, I had them on my Mistress. I have Eddie marine on my top gun. They are ok, but hard to get into. You need to loosen 12-16 screws each

I have 4 Stainless marine strainers listed in the swap section, for less than half the price of a new one.

Sea Strainer
 

I am running Livorsi 5" cans on 600SCI (twins) with Merc XR low water pickup. They work very well but need to be cleaned out after 1 hour of running through Kelp patches and Turle Grass. I would like to change to something that has a "back flush" feature to dump the seaweed into the bilge. Anyone know of a product that has this? Or can I make up a systme with ball valves and hoses to create a back wash?

Those are Gil/CORSA units, which I have on my boat. The band clamp can be a bit tough, depending on where you have them mounted, but as long as you keep a little silicone grease on the lid o-ring, they work very well. No tools required and reasonably priced. Available in several different right- and left-hand layouts.

Not likely, as for many this means directly putting salt water into the bilge. Do your strainers have removable baskets that you can pull out and shake out overboard? If you do not, I would advise finding some that do. The ones with fixed baskets/screens are kind of hard to clean.

dave whats to much length? mines like 18 to 24 '' on a Gil strainer its worked 15yrs, but I am using a large one on the blower motor which should be about the same so what do you call to far thanks. art

no way cheapest is a gil = harden marine also livorsi GS bought them out it should be about 250 to 279 now.

the GS is THE OLD GIL =274.00 its easy to take a part and for a stock big block is fine, I used it with 650hp.

Good question "too much" can be answered a couple of ways.

Any length more than the minimum necessary to make the run is one definition. Ive see then plumbed from right at the stern 8 inches from the sea pump to all the way to under a ski locker between seats- its common to mount them in front of the engines for convienence but the hose length gets long pretty quickly.

The longer the hose the harder and longer the water pump runs "dry" before getting wet.

Too much is any length too long to fill the strainer when completely dry before eating an impeller. I learned the hard way to ALWAYS prime up a strainer after the boat has sat and drained down completely.

Uncle Dave

Correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding on something that hasn't been addressed so far is if your boat comes out of the water, the sea strainer will hold some water so the impeller doesn't become dry, and the 10" would hold more water then the 5", which means it would better protect your engine.

Yes, and bigger strainers can buffer "air time" better than small ones and can fill back up quicker than teh suction load on them.

The issue with line length is the dry run time at start up and the amount of vacuum your pump must pull to prime the system first shot.

UD.

I had one of those and thought it was a bit of a pain in the ass. The rbber o-ring had to be aligned just perfectly or it would leak. It would take a few times till you got it just right.

I have a couple Gil/CORSA units and they work fine. I agree with ActiveFun, they can be a pain to get sealed back up and the clamp can be hard to deal with also.
I have a question about mounting....Is the height of the strainer critical? I want to move mine up say 2" rite now they are flush with a floorboard in my motor compartment and that makes dealing with that clamp a bear. Can I safely move them up?

Sea Strainer
 

Thanks Brian. I am just looking for a better way to access the strainers or clean them out. they do not have the removable baskets but regardless, getting to them when the engine is hot and you are swaying in the ocean waves is a pain.

I'm running the one with the wingnut bolts red ring much beter than the OLD GIL style