Stuck weedfilter lid

[Guest]

Hello everybody. Has anyone got any tips on how to open the lid of a weed filter? Being made of plastic I don't dare put to much pressure on it.

B

[jillR]

hi bjorn

if the bowl of the weed filter assembly is above the waterline, you may be able to unbolt the unit to

get better access and free it off.

im not familiar with the plastic ones

does it have a sea cock at the point where it comes through the hull that you can closed 1st ?

my main concern would be trying not to put strain on the hull fitting.

jill

[Mowjo]

If it's the same type of filter as fitted on my Freeman, mines not a weed filter though it's the one that seperates the oil and water from the bilges, one trick I've used is to get and old tea towel or something, soak it in as hot a water as your hands can stand and wrap it around the threaded part of the lid, leave it for a couple of minutes for the lid to expand and it should come of ok, I've had to do it a few times with mine, the other problem if it had a fine thread is it could be cross threaded, or for any type of thread it could have got grit or something on the threads when it's been removed before, in both cases it'll be just brute force and a prayer to remove it, but reading Bjorns post again I wonder do you mean the weed hatch lid as fitted on some boats and narrow boats???

[jillR]

one trick I've used is to get and old tea towel or something, soak it in as hot a water as your hands can stand and wrap it around the threaded part of the lid

sounds good to me mowjo

jill

[Mowjo]

I'm a mine of useless information Jill, the old bloke on the boat just next to me said, if if don't move and it should WD40 or heat, if it does move and it shouldn't Duct tape,

[Antares_9]

If it is of the large diameter Vetus plastic type then a strap wrench and gentle pressure will see it off in no time flat. It is a good idea to keep one aboard if you have this type of filter as you may need to clear quickly it in anger one day and find it stuck again.

[Gordon]

If you don't have a strap wrench handy you can inprovise get a length of rag tied in a loop then twist it with a bar or screwdriver, table knife etc torniquet style then you can use the bar as the lever to turn it. If it slips too much give it another twist. I have been using this method for oil filters for years, no strap wrench ever seems to fit in the available space. Pay heed to Jills warning re stressing the hull

[Guest]

Thanks everybody. I've been offfline for a long time now and unable to look at your advice. It is a vetus weed filter and i ended up openeing it with a self made cricket bat like tool that fit over the crossridges on the top of the lid. It ain't pretty but it worked. It turned out that was not the problem with the engine though. Seems like the impeller has gone so that the raw water is not sucked in. Might come back with a question regarding this new problem in the near future. And again, Thanks for being so helpful.

B

[jimbo]

Dont forget to back flush the tube stack before fitting your nice new impeller Bjorn