Engine raw water intake screen

Attached is a picture of our raw water intake screen, the couple specks you see is the only light coming through, in other words, completely clogged up, probably contributed to our engine blowing a couple of months ago. Having trouble finding a replacement screen and we aren't seeing a way to remove the screen. Any suggestions?

Is it possible to put it on the hard, remove and have a new screen made?
Ought to figure out a way to back flush the screen too.
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Then I read somewhere about run-dry impellers. Basically, they can survive a little bit longer than a standard impeller.

Nice piece of hardware. I’ve never seen one like it. I’d bet it is very old and no longer made. Nobody uses that much bronze anymore.

You’re going to have to get the screen out and McGiver a new one.

HopCar said:

Nice piece of hardware. I’ve never seen one like it. I’d bet it is very old and no longer made. Nobody uses that much bronze anymore.

You’re going to have to get the screen out and McGiver a new one.

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She's already on the yard, no sign of brand name, like you say, got to get the old one out and MacGyver another one in, or replace the entire unit. To be continued.......

Any way to pull the top cap off? Looks like that may be the access point.....

Well a little bit of McGivering, washed it with baking soda and white vinegar several times, put a vacuum cleaner on top to see what would come out and low and behold we discover it was a one way flap not a screen! Scrubbed the inside real well, cleaned barnacles out from the underside and it's squeaky clean. Been a good day.

Our Groco sea cocks have metal strainers. When we're in salt water, after washing with a brush and water, I put them in a plastic pail with a cup or two of On Off hull cleaner.

STAND BACK! Make sure the pail is where the fumes won't affect something else. They come out shiny like new.

These guys make custom strainers. I had them make new ones for my WWII strainers.

Custom Strainers & Baskets for Commercial Applications

I have two large bronze Sen Dure Y in line strainers for the engines.
They were missing their screens, likely had decomposed on a previous owner.

I made new screens from plastic mesh made for some kind of stitch craft bought from Michael's arts and crafts store. Bent them into a cylinder, (may have to use a heat gun to soften to prevent cracks) and use a light weight copper wire to stitch it together. So best thing it is works and the plastic can not corrode.

Turner said:

Well a little bit of McGivering, washed it with baking soda and white vinegar several times, put a vacuum cleaner on top to see what would come out and low and behold we discover it was a one way flap not a screen! Scrubbed the inside real well, cleaned barnacles out from the underside and it's squeaky clean. Been a good day.

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That’s strange, no strainer. Do you have a strainer elsewhere in the line?
I would bet it originally had a strainer screen in it.

I have those strainers in our boat. The top unscrews and the strainer just sits inside. I’ll grab a pic of the strainer this week for you.

Thanks, that will help.

Lepke said:

These guys make custom strainers. I had them make new ones for my WWII strainers.

Custom Strainers & Baskets for Commercial Applications

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HopCar said:

That’s strange, no strainer. Do you have a strainer elsewhere in the line?
I would bet it originally had a strainer screen in it.

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We do, it's mounted on the engine that hasn't arrived yet. It makes sense that a strainer would be there.

As promised. They just slide up and out on ours.

Beautiful piece of bronze and what looks like monel. AND, is that a hose barb fitting that also has internal NPT threads? Nice design!

Airstream345 said:

As promised. They just slide up and out on ours.

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Extremely helpful! That's exactly like ours. Is there a flap at the bottom of the housing below the screen?

That’s a nice piece of hardware. I wonder who made it? Any markings on it?

This is a gadget I use to back flush from the strainer through the hull.
It is only a temporary installation because the hose fitting is just brass. When I pull the basket for cleaning, I put the cleaned basket back, hook up the hose, back flush for a few minutes then replace the original strainer housing top and everyone is happy. It has saved me the cost of a diver more than a few times.

I’ll have to check for any flap and markings. Traveling for work this week and next with a break in between. If I make it to the boat I’ll check for both.

While that looks like a nice piece of gear, I much prefer the very much larger sixes of Groco sea strainers with the see-through glass/acrylic bowls.

Agree with rgano. Although it's a really pretty strainer, you can't see inside it, and I can't imagine that it can flow a lot of water, with the holes in the SS cylinder as small as they are, and so widely separated. If nothing else, I'd put a different strainer in - maybe make a plastic one like sdowney717 showed.

I was at the boat again this past Friday and double checked for part numbers - there are none. Also there doesn’t appear to be any flap as you’ve described.

Regarding the strainer style, they have been working just fine for the Ford Lehman’s they’ve supplied with raw water for 38 years. I check each strainer as part of our pre-startup ER checklist to ensure the strainer is clean.

I ran with Groco's for over a decade. 1250's in size. No problems at all with them, but not sure the translucent bowl is a huge feature. You can maybe see if the water level is not right, but as far as seeing the contents inside the strainer? Not really. The holes are far too small. The top needs to be unscrewed for filter inspection.

The only reason to use a plastic body strainer is it’s cheaper and it’s pretty strong. You can’t see what’s inside the basket.

Groco actually makes all bronze strainers for situations that require more strength.

Airstream345 said:

I was at the boat again this past Friday and double checked for part numbers - there are none. Also there doesn’t appear to be any flap as you’ve described.

Regarding the strainer style, they have been working just fine for the Ford Lehman’s they’ve supplied with raw water for 38 years. I check each strainer as part of our pre-startup ER checklist to ensure the strainer is clean.

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Thanks for the update. We only noticed the flap when we put a vacuum cleaner to it.

HopCar said:

That’s strange, no strainer. Do you have a strainer elsewhere in the line?
I would bet it originally had a strainer screen in it.

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Yes, there is a strainer just before it enters the engine. We've put a screen in the thru hull strainer that used to have just a flap. Our new Beta Marine engine arrived from England today, should back in the water by the end of next week.

Airstream345 said:

I’ll have to check for any flap and markings. Traveling for work this week and next with a break in between. If I make it to the boat I’ll check for both.

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Update on the raw water strainer. After 45 min. of hammering from underneath the hull, we finally got the cylinder strainer out. I don't think it had been removed for 34 yrs.! Attached are some pictures. Significant corrosion inside the cylinder, we took a cylinder honing tool rented from auto zone to clean out the cylinder. The strainer itself is too small for a honing tool so we are soaking it in white vinegar and baking soda over nite. As you can see we have a flap on the bottom of the strainer which brings up some questions. Is it needed? What if it sucks up mud which won't be able to get out, even after shutting down the engine, it would just sit on the flap waiting to get sucked into strainer number two when the engine is started again. Looking at the inlet hole which is 1/2 the dimension of the cylinder, it appears to be rather small for the main water supply to the engine. Any thoughts from any of you? We are having our engine installed tomorrow and for the time being we will.use the existing strainer after all parts of it has been thoroughly cleaned. Any input is appreciated.