Raw Water Strainer

[Guest]

Whenever anyone is researching things like weed filters, the Yachting & Boating World forums are a good source of knowledge and experience of all things to do with boats.

 

There's many threads on there about Vetus strainers, mostly in seagoing boats, so safety and long term reliability is an even greater consideration than inland cruising on the Broads.

 

In this thread for instance, it seems to be favourite, with several long term test experiences.

 

Quite a few suggest mounting the strainer directly over the intake pipe, so that it can be poked right through from above to clear any blockages in the skin fitting.

 

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?418800-Which-Seawater-strainer

[Oddfellow]

Seems rather strange to fit what is designed to be a remote weed filter directly above the sea-cock for rodding purposes. I sure appreciate the need for this, but this type of strainer is designed to be bulk-head mounted in an easily accessible position. Why then go to the trouble of cutting a short length of hose which will be challenging to fit in confinded spaces only to use the filter in a manner that it wasn't designed for?

 

This is horses for courses.

 

A directly attached filter to the sea-cock is easy to rod (which is occasionally necessary) but may be more difficult to regularly check.

 

A remote filter is easy to check (often just a visual) but can't easily be rodded (unless you have designed the entire water flow to work in a straight line).

 

Is there a simple solution to both problems? I would suggest that any solution involving multiple fittings would introduce failure points beyond reason.

[Guest]

....A remote filter is easy to check (often just a visual) but can't easily be rodded (unless you have designed the entire water flow to work in a straight line)........

 

Aha, but they have thought of that Andy.

 

If you read some of the threads on the YBW forums, you will see that quite a few seagoing yachtsmen use a suitable diameter flexible reinforced hose to poke out any obstructions in the skin fitting. That can be easily pushed down from the remote strainer, following any bends in the hose.

 

So you can have the best of both worlds, a remote strainer easy to get at, yet still able to poke right through to the skin fitting, without needing to be in a straight line.

 

..and as regards the hazard of unneccessary multiple fittings, there's still just the skin fitting, the ball valve, and the remote strainer.

 

I would think there's a lot less mechanical stress on a very short skin fitting connected to a flexible hose than having a rigid bronze filter tube extending up a about a foot above it, and the potential freeze ups inside the rigid bronze tube......

[BroadAmbition]

We replaced the single brass tube filter with a pair of Vetus items - Much better.  Vaseline on the rubber seals helps.

 

Apparently there is a key type shifter that you can buy, but by the time I had heard about it I had made one of these:-

 

 

Griff

 

 

 

[C.Ricko]

I am sure there is a key like Griff says...

the beauty of the vetus strainer is that the inlets can be anywhere, we generally try to put separate intakes either side of the keel  as far apart as possible, 

 

There is no point having a rodable fitting with a strainer on it.. 

[JennyMorgan]

 

 

It was suggested that an exchange could then be maintained by just one man and a dog.

 

What was the dog for ?

 

 

 

He was there to keep the man off the equipment... 

I thought that they had sheep for that sort of thing, or is that just in Wales?

[Oddfellow]

The key made by French Marine looks exactly like the one that Griff has made. It's uncanny! Only theirs is plastic

 

Regarding roddable remote strainers, best not have a strainer scoop and certainly no elbows or tight radiuses then. Reinforced spiral hose can be difficult to rod as the spiral also exists (to a lesser extent) on the internal bore too which can catch whatever you are using as a rod.

 

Having some form of pump to jet any blockage back down the tube would be handy too as mentioned by someone earlier.

[Poppy]

I've just had to replace one of these on my boat - £32 including VAT

 

http://www.asap-supplies.com/marine/remote-bracket-mounted-water-strainers-plastic/vetus-raw-water-intake-strainer-150-filter150

 

The clear lid had somehow developed a crack over the winter( boat stored ashore, cooling system fully drained down). Mind you, it was the original and nearly 30 years old .

[Gordon]

So what was the man for ? Simple it was his job to feed the dog. Fortunately it took the company "bean counters" over 20 years to realise they needed neither man nor dog. Took a lot of people nicely up to a suitable age for early retirement

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mowjo]

Well I solved the water strainer issue! I mentioned in my resto thread that a previous owner had built a seat type box over the floor in the rear cockpit, meaning you couldn't remove the rear section of floor without taking the seating bit out! to get to the seacock you had to lift a front section of floor, lean in and reach through a nine inch hole in a bulkhead to turn the seacock off, I decided I didn't like this idea so I re-built the seat box and cut the floor just in front, meaningi could remove it easily to get to the seacock, grease the rudder and get to anything else lurking in there, what did I fing lurking in there fixed to the bulkhead, YES! a nice Vetus raw water strainer half full of cr*p, now I have no idea who made the seat box, but it looked like it had been there a while, so how did they check the filter?? it took me nearly half hour to remove the box and unscrew the floor that is normally loose fit, the previous owners must just have been lucky that the filter never got blocked or they waited until it was blocked and had to remove everything, I now have a nice new seat box, a removable section of floor and a nice little hatch where I can get to the seacock without arm extensions and can now see and check the filter, I've had boats for over thirty years now and I'm on boat No 7 now but it never ceases to amaze me what some people do and how they get away with it for so long, I thought my Freeman 25 was bad wired with with what looked like bell wire and a few bits of orange lawnmower cable and it hadn't gone up in flames, If I was a new boter and knew nothing about boats, with a simple thing like the weed filter I could end up with a blown engine, my new bit of advice to all new to boating now is! never take anything at face value, because you never know what a previous owner may have done, and always try and get someone that knows about boats to check things over with you, you have to remember that brokers are just that! they sell other peoples boats, and arn't liable for anything the owner has done to them, perhaps it's a good thing to have a survey done if you love and like a boat, at least if anything is wrong you have a bargaining point on the price,,,,,

 

Frank,,,,

[johnb]

I believe my strainer is a Vetus 330. I have had much trouble removing the top, I want  to get a remover (handle with rubber belt type) but I don't know if they are going to be long enough. Does anyone know (roughly) the circumference of the top? I was hoping to get one before I visit the boat, before I bought one that seemed quite long but wouldn't reach. Thanks

[DaveRolaves]

The vetus 330 strainer has a raised cross on the the top of the screw on lid. Vetus do a plastic spanner that fits over the cross so that it can be unscrewed. If you want you can make a spanner out of ply to fit over the cross so that you can unscrew the circular threaded lid which can be difficult to unscrew without the proper tool. When refitting the lid put some Vaseline on the threads and on the o ring seal that will make it easier to remove next time.  Dave R.........

Edited October 22, 2015 by DaveRolaves
more info given

[Guest]

I believe my strainer is a Vetus 330. I have had much trouble removing the top, I want  to get a remover (handle with rubber belt type) but I don't know if they are going to be long enough. Does anyone know (roughly) the circumference of the top? I was hoping to get one before I visit the boat, before I bought one that seemed quite long but wouldn't reach. Thanks

3.142 x 148mm = 465mm

(from https://www.frenchmarine.com/product/Vetus-Cooling-water-strainer-FTR330-602-98  )

I keep the longer type of cheapo rubber strap wrench aboard my boat, it's also useful for the fuel and oil filters.

 

[LondonRascal]

While we have the the rare and beautifully crafted 'removal key' and have oiled up the seals with Vaseline we still have the joy of not being able to remove the clear plastic tops.

No weed is visible in them but perhaps one a maintenance visit when we've got the buggers off, a dab of grease around the seal may last longer than Vaseline and a little less tightening of the lid would help

[BroadScot]

While we have the the rare and beautifully crafted 'removal key' and have oiled up the seals with Vaseline we still have the joy of not being able to remove the clear plastic tops.

No weed is visible in them but perhaps one a maintenance visit when we've got the buggers off, a dab of grease around the seal may last longer than Vaseline and a little less tightening of the lid would help

The joys of ownership, eh Robin?

Iain.

[Guest]

While we have the the rare and beautifully crafted 'removal key' and have oiled up the seals with Vaseline we still have the joy of not being able to remove the clear plastic tops........

Wow...  If you can't undo them with the leverage on Griff's spanner, then they must be very near to stripping the plastic thread.

I never use the wrench to tighten my covers, only sometimes to loosen them when they've been on for a while.

[johnb]

Thank you for the helpful replies. I will put the sledge hammer away.