sea strainer install info needed

[Fishermanjm]

I'm ready to mount my sea strainer, i think in most pics that i have seen they are mounted on the shelf in the engine compartment next to the engine,,, correct or not correct??? i got the perco with the flushing port built in to it. I'm gonna use brass fittings to tee it into the exhisting intake line. I also replaced the sea pump with a brass or bronze pump instead of the factory pump.

[Carl C]

Here is mine. I have to make sure it is full before starting the engine since it doesn't self prime. That just involves loosening the wing bolts a little and it self fills. I do not have a valve before it but the one time I had to open it on the water twice to get seaweed out I ended up with only a couple gallons of water in the bilge. The alternative would have been a tow with a clogged fresh water system. I got out of the channel and sucked up tons of weeds!

[Fishermanjm]

so the problem is primeing,,, there is no way it can get mounted below the pump, i can't see how or where i could mount it along side the engine or even get to the transom area

[Carl C]

Mine usually stays filled after the first run but sometimes not. It's not a big deal on mine to crack loose the wing nuts. I always open the hatch first anyway for a quick visual and sniff test. You could also just watch your pressure gauge on start up.

[roadtrip se]

And I haven't had to worry about a thing at start up, as it stays primed. As Fixx said, you do want a ball valve, period, for safety reasons. The few times I have had to open it up, this is a great place for it, because the sight line is easy, and you don't have to worry about becoming a hot dog on the headers to clear it out.

[gcarter]

I took a substantially different approach......
Of course I'm using a transom pickup (Stainless Marine), and that made it a lot easier to hard pipe some of the plumbing including the 1" SST ball valve.
In this picture, you can see the valve, the slightly oversized Perko strainer (I couldn't pass on the price), and the oil cooler mounted to the top of the inner gimbal plate.
So, the water enters the pickup, through the transom, hard pipe, valve, hose to the strainer inlet. After the strainer, hose to the oil cooler, hose down alongside the stbd side of the engine, through the power steering cooler and to the crank driven raw water pump.
And, yes, I can access the valve and strainer w/the engine in place.

[Fishermanjm]

OK,,, i'm gonna mount it in the front like RT... tons of space there,,, i was thinkin bout moving the
batteries to the front to make the space for the strainer. I got the same strainer as George has, it
has a built in flushing port with a lever on top, thanks for the idea's... RT, is that third hose for flushing?
Should i run the origional intake hose under the engine??? add some to it to reach the strainer???
also should brass elbows and piping be used to make the turn around back to the pump???
My exhaust project is almost done, i was holding off on the port side so i have the room to make my
connections to the pump. I went with the SM system,,, I will post pics when she is complete,,,
thatks guys for the ideas agin, cant wait to get out on the water,,, Carl made me soo jealous gettin
out there already, the winter was soo woosey compard to last winter, and still the cover isnt off yet

[roadtrip se]

Fishermanjm said....

OK,,, i'm gonna mount it in the front like RT... tons of space there,,, i was thinkin bout moving the
batteries to the front to make the space for the strainer. I got the same strainer as George has, it
has a built in flushing port with a lever on top, thanks for the idea's... RT, is that third hose for flushing?
Should i run the origional intake hose under the engine??? add some to it to reach the strainer???
also should brass elbows and piping be used to make the turn around back to the pump???
My exhaust project is almost done, i was holding off on the port side so i have the room to make my
connections to the pump. I went with the SM system,,, I will post pics when she is complete,,,
thatks guys for the ideas agin, cant wait to get out on the water,,, Carl made me soo jealous gettin
out there already, the winter was soo woosey compard to last winter, and still the cover isnt off yet.

RTSE responds...

-Yes, the third hose mounts on the bulkhead to a hose bib, which makes it very easy for flushing and running the engine on the hose.

-I would buy a complete, new intake hose to the proper length and run it flat under the engine pan. I would not segment any hoses in the bilge, as you are introducing a potential failure point that isn't necessary, and that would be bad..

-My elbows are a combo of stainless and plated brass. I would use fittings only for the turn/connections. Solid pipe is a potential failure point, and that would be bad! KISS is better...

I would like to see some pics of your install when completed and good luck...

[gcarter]

Everyone has their own opinion on how their boat should be rigged.
The through transom Stainless Marine pickup has 1" shedule 40 SST pipe going through the transom. It's terminated w/a 1" NPT thread. All the rest of the plumbing to the ball valve is also sch 40 SST pipe and fittings, except for one 45* street ell which was unavailable in SST.
The main reason I like pipe between the pickup and the valve is hose in that area is very hard to access and will eventually fail. There's been more than one member's boat that happened to and boats were almost lost except for beaching.
That won't happen to my boat as the valve can be turned off before any hose.
To me, it's a lot of peace of mind.
OTOH, the amount of solid pipe I'm using is quite short, w/the most of it being hose.

[roadtrip se]

Solid metal is going to break, before rubber tubing, especially in a a high stress and unforgiving environment, like performance boating. Don't use metal over rubber, unless you have no choice, period, as rubber is more forgiving every time.

Remember KISS. Complexity may sound cool in the shop, but doesn't prove out on the water. Rigging opinion or not, I have been running on the big water for over 20 years, and KISS works every time.

[yeller]

Maybe my thinking is backwards, but I intentionally mounted mine above the pump so I wouldn't have to prime it. I've never had to prime mine because the hose up to the pump stays full of water. The only thing I have to do (if I remove and drain the canister) is to fill it up afterwards.