fitting a raw water strainer, above or below the water line?

[pvb]

I am about to fit a Vetus Strainer. Vetus recommend that is a minimum of 150mm above water level but to have it an accessible position I need to have it at 300mm. I assume that the additional height will not matter?

The extra height won't matter. Be careful that you plumb the strainer correctly. The inlet pipe ends close to the lid. This means that when the engine is turned off, the strainer is more or less full of water - this is the water which primes the pump when you next start the engine. If you plumb it the other way round, you'll have problems.

 

[Ian_Rob]

Thankyou.
Surprisingly, my Dufour 360 GL (D1-30B/130 Saildrive ) wasn’t supplied with a strainer (none of them were, so far as I am aware) so I am rather unfamiliar with their actual working. I don’t want to suddenly find that I have to prime it or that there is any resulting issue with the flow. That being said almost every other boat has one so ......??

 

[Halo]

It is best to close the sea cock , remove the strainer lid, fill both sides of the strainer, screw the lid on , and then open the sea cock. If the water on the sea cock side drains down you know it is not sealed. Have a spare o ring and plenty of lube because they don’t all seal. One elephant trap is if you rinse out the strainer basket in very hot water it can change shape and get in the way of the seal.

 

[Caer Urfa]

If you are re sighting the raw water filter also a a good idea to mount it 'in line' above water line directly above the raw water sea cock, this way you can easily rod out any blockage easier and don't have to mess with shutting off the raw water seacock especially if problems offshore

 

[Ian_Rob]

I don’t think that that is physically possible but I’ll check. It can’t be be far out. Thankyou.

 

[penfold]

Even if not completely straight rodding may be possible with something bendy, like a piece of welding rod, electrician's mousing tool, fishing rod etc.