How to install a raw water strainer/flusher

[Jetdriver]

Hello fellow Tige' enthusiasts! I posted a little while ago in the general forum about piecing together a raw water strainer/flusher for my 2007 22VE. Although my specific build was tailored to fit a specific space in my boat the procedure would be very similar in any boat.

I started by figuring out a rough idea of the design/functionality I was after and then looked around my boat for a good location that would involve minimal hard turns for the hosing and obstructions to other parts of the engine/trany/drive/etc. I wanted to have a strainer but also wanted to incorporate a place to attach a garden hose so I didn't have to crawl under the boat and mess with the fake a lake anymore.

Here's what I came up with for a design and also a part list and where I sourced the parts. I elected to mount it behind my rear seat in the engine compartment.
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[Dandy]

Jet - Nice write up and list. Was there any marking on the strainer indicating what the mesh/micron of the filter is? Curious since I have access to agricultural sprayer components at OEM pricing and could source this strainer much cheaper. Truth be told, their strainer looks very much like either a Hypro or Ron-Vik strainer, both of which I have access to. I am assuming that a very coarse strainer could be uses as it is better than what is currently there.

Thanks

[Jetdriver]

The only change to my parts list was that I sourced the brass hose bard from Fisheries Supply. It was a tad more expensive but discount marine supplies sent me the wrong size and when I called them about it they insisted it was the correct part. It wasn't.
I decided to save some cash by using schedule 80 NPT thread poly fittings for everything after the valve. Doing it in all brass will add at least 50-75% more to the cost. Everything is 1.25" inner diameter since that is what the water hose was.
The most expensive items were the strainer and hose. I couldn't find anywhere that sold the hose by the foot. Purchasing 12.5' from discount marine supplies was th cheapest I found it but you most likely only need about half that.
After I had it all ordered I stumbled on these...IMG_4361.jpg

Using these with my design you could eliminate 2 nipple fittings and about an inch or two of total width. Oops.

[Jetdriver]

Dandy, I'll look when I get home today.

[Jetdriver]

After deciding on my mounting location I realized that there isn't any starboard behind that seat. It is fiberglass about 1/4" or so thick. This was a problem because I had planned on screwing it to the seat back. I took the seat back off and tried to figure out a way to mount it. What I came up with was drilling from the front then countersinking the holes for the stainless bolts. This presented another challenge as the mount for the strainer has only three holes drilled in it, two on the top and one in the center. I decided to drill two more on the edges so I had a good square mount. The problem I ran into was that my drilled holes weren't perfectly symmetrical so when I placed the strainer mount up to the seat back to mark the holes I realized it would need to be reversed. I got a piece of cardboard and marked the hole pattern on it then drilled out the holes using a bit the same size as the mounts holes. I then flipped the cardboard around and marked it on the fiberglass. I used the center seat cushion bolt as one of the top mounting bolts.
BTW, the seat back had 4 bolts holding it on. Three roughly equally spaced, then a forth that was hidden behind the carpet right by the walkway, I assume for extra strength in that high traffic area.
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[Dandy]

Any reason you didn't mount it to the white support bars on either side of the engine - below the cover - where the engine divider panels attach to?

[Jetdriver]

Here's a pic of the strainer/flusher after assembly. I used a small bit of 5200 on the first 1/4 inch of the threads for a good seal.
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This garden hose attachment allows you to swivel both sides of it separately so it was perfect for this application.
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The strainer itself is directional but you can flip it and rearrange the pieces to have the garden hose attachment on the opposite side if that makes it fit better in your boat.

After letting the assembly dry for a few days I bolted it in place and started on the hose routing. Getting the factory hose off is a bit of a chore. I used a small flathead screwdriver to push under the hose to break the seal. Between that and using a twisting motion it'll slide off. I attached the end to the water pickup, measured and marked it, cut it with a utility knife and a pair of wire snips(the hose is reinforced with metal to keep it from collapsing) then connected the hose from the strainer outlet to the drive the same way and fastened everything up with new stainless hose clamps(two on each joint)

[Jetdriver]

Here's a couple pics of the finished product.



It was mechanically a very easy project. Just a couple bloody knuckles and scraped arms trying to loosen hoses off the drive and water pickup and then tightening the hose clamps on the same spots. These spaces are just really tight. Besides that it just took a little planning. It all worked beautifully upon testing it. The hose attachment has a real slow drip when the hose is attached and you're flushing it but I was expecting that. It drips into the bilge anyhow. I did order an extra brass cap to keep in the boat in case the poly cap on the hose attachment fails. Any specific questions feel free to ask!

[Jetdriver]

Any reason you didn't mount it to the white support bars on either side of the engine - below the cover - where the engine divider panels attach to?

There just wasnt enough room there in my boat but I did consider it.

[boonecragun]

I have this same setup too. So nice to have. Mine seconds as an anchor though with all the brass fittings I used. Be careful not to lose the rubber gasket on the strainer when you clean it out. It will suck in too much air and not cool the engine. I have also forgotten to open the valve back up after flushing and had the engine heat up too next time out on the water.

[Jetdriver]

Thx for the tips Boone!

[Jetdriver]

Dandy, here's a couple pics of the filter screen. It's a Groco WSB-1250 1.25" strainer.

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[Jetdriver]

I wanted to post an update to my thread to warn anyone that purchases the Groco strainer that the screen is too fine. It needs to be a little bigger so that it doesn't clog so easily. I overheated my engine as a result of this happening and was lucky to escape with minimal damage. I'll update again when I find a suitable replacement.

[Jetdriver]

I finally found a good replacement for the Groco screen that was causing me trouble! My friend has an RZ2 with a Sherwood strainer in it and I swapped the screens between our systems. They are interchangeable so I ordered a Sherwood screen online. The cheapest I could find one was at Pumpagents.com for $29 to my door. You could sub the Groco out with a Sherwood strainer but the Sherwood doesn't come with the mounting bracket (extra $21+shipping) so all in all it's prettty much a wash either way. I’m attaching a pic of the two strainers side by side, the Groco is much more fine than the Sherwood. Cheers

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