Servicing Groco Sea Strainer

[JDCAVE]

My Groco Sea Strainer was weeping a bit and has furred up with excessive verdigris from salt water contact so I want to clean it up and replace the gaskets etc with the Groco service kit. CMS has attached a link to “rebuilding a bronze sea strainer.”

https://marinehowto.com/rebuilding-a-bronze-sea-strainer/

He does not indicate how he removed the verdigris. I think that the verdigris will interfere with the proper seal of surfaces. Is there a chemical bath (acid) that would be an effective approach or is that too aggressive?

NB the strainer is bonded and seems to be effective, although I will test for continuity.

Jim

 

[DavidM]

The verdigris is a very thin copper compound that should not interfere with sealing. But if you really want it removed, soak it in Barnacle Buster, Rydlyme, CLR or even diluted muriatic acid to remove it.

David

 

[JDCAVE]

Thanks. I have full strength muriatic acid. How dilute?

Jim

 

[DavidM]

Thanks. I have full strength muriatic acid. How dilute?

Jim

Three parts water, one part acid should work fine. Let it soak for a few hours. Should come out nice and shiny.

David

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. JD. When I reassemble bits and pieces that may have to be taken apart again, I usually apply a thin coat of grease to threaded items. A coat of Vaseline on the gaskets might not hurt either.

 

[rgano]

After the chemical bath, I shine my stuff up with a wire brush attachment on my drill and put silicone grease on exterior and threaded surfaces. And for safety, add the acid to the water, not vice versa.

 

[Seevee]

Thought.....
If you're replacing the basket at the same time, be SURE you can get one. I've replaced a few older units when I couldn't find a basket by itself and the cost wasn't bad... $150 - $200 range for a good bronze one for raw water to the AC units.

 

[JDCAVE]

Thanks guys!

Jim

 

[Insequent]

Be sure to inspect the plastic strainer housing carefully. I only had a very slight weep, a fair bit of verdigris and when recently dis-assembled the source of the weep was revealed as a small crack in the plastic housing.

 

[ranger58sb]

Be sure to inspect the plastic strainer housing carefully.

Yep. One of ours had a fracture in the bowl -- just waiting to ruin my day. Some of the threads in the bronze, where the bowl attaches to the top, were also a bit loose. We replaced the whole thing. Along with the hoses.

And we added Groco's flush adapters -- for winterizing, cleaning with Barnacle Buster and etc., while we were at it.

-Chris

 

[Fish53]

Search online for bronze screen, it's quite easy to fabricate your own strainer basket at a fraction of the Groco price, plus you'll have enough material to make a spare. Make sure to get the same mesh size.

 

[JDCAVE]

My strainer basket seems ok.

Jim

 

[janice142]

Aboard our 40'er we always dropped a few copper pennies (in the US 1982 and earlier pennies are all copper) into the strainer basket. I do the same on Seaweed though when pennies are unavailable a couple chunks of 1/4" copper pipe suffices. Copper is a biocide, thus nothing is supposed to grow.

Many of you probably keep some 1/4" copper pipe aboard. It makes a great butt connector for 8-gauge wire. Of course shielding is required, or heat shrink. Anyway, just a reminder from my boat to yours.

As previously mentioned, grease on the threads makes removal easier. I often use Vaseline petroleum jelly though I also have an old tube (from our boat, so probably 30-plus years old at a minimum) lithium grease whenever I'm concerned about gaskets....