I bought a pair of Gil strainers off of E-bay last year and when they arrived the mating surface was loaded with RTV blue silicone. That leads me to believe they leaked. Thats probably why they were on E-bay huh? There is a rubber O-ring in there for sealing that may be flattened somewhat although it looks fine. I'm in the middle of my motor change and now is the time to install a strainer (I only need one). I don't want to install one of these and have problems down the road with the tight engine bay of a single 25'.

Has anyone had problems with leaks? If so, are they correctable?

Should I put the pair back on E-bay and buy 1 new one? If so, recommendations of longevity and easy cleaning?

I cleaned the blue silicone off of one.

How do they come apart for cleaning?
Do you have to unbolt all those bolts? Will you be able to get to it easily?
I have a new Gil Strainer, it has a single clamp and a thumb nut to clean it if needed.

I have the newer style, and after 2 years of use, it leaked out the cap. I called Gil, and they sent me a new O-ring, and no problems since. I think it was 8 bucks for the 0-ring. Try that first.....

I'd recomend putting wing nuts on the cap. Otherwise cleaning those strainers would be a major project and most of those nuts will end-up in the bilge...

I think they came with wing nuts and maybe the person I got them from had problems with them loosening. The planned mounting location will not be a problem for cleaning, just a problem to R&R if I have leaks or problems. This must be an older version of the one GEOO has pictured.