Grated or Non-Grated Inlet Seacock?

[Babylon]

Need to fit a new larger cooling-water skin-fitting seacock. The question is whether to fit a grated or non-grated one (the old one has an integral grate fitted to the outside). I understand that some people prefer non-grated so they can remove the hose and poke any blockage straight out the seacock.

What multifarious opinions do the esteemed members of the panel hold?

Thanks

B

PS I think I might just add a poll to make the survey a more 'scientific' one...

 

[Csail]

Rather than either of your options i would use those two little bar things that push debris away but also allows you to poke stuff out if it is caught.

 

[prv]

I'd rather have any kind of grate, strainer or filter inside where I can get at it.

Pete

 

[Freshbreeze]

Non-grated with a seperate Internal Filter/strainer - so you can see the debris if any!

 

[Poignard]

Non-grated with a seperate Internal Filter/strainer - so you can see the debris if any!

+1. With a Vetus clear lidded filter that I can see into. Also useful when wanting to run the engine ashore to flush it. All you have to do is to take the lid off and poke a fresh water hose in. Any excess overflows down through the seacock.

 

[Tranona]

Yes, non grated ball valve with the Vetus filter directly above it - above the waterline. Problem with grates is that they are impossible to clean fom inside and can be a magnet for marine growth such a little mussels and barnacles.

 

[vyv_cox]

When we transited the Canal du Midi I lost count of the number of times that I had to push a brazing rod down the entry cock to remove leaves that had blocked the inlet. Well over 20 times I would think. It would probably have not been possible top do this with a grille on the outside. Later I used the dinghy inflator to do it, perhaps possible with a grille but perhaps not. This was with the combined type of seacock with a nylon strainer basket inside a cylinder in the boat. This also blocked regularly.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

When we transited the Canal du Midi I lost count of the number of times that I had to push a brazing rod down the entry cock to remove leaves that had blocked the inlet. Well over 20 times I would think. It would probably have not been possible top do this with a grille on the outside. Later I used the dinghy inflator to do it, perhaps possible with a grille but perhaps not. This was with the combined type of seacock with a nylon strainer basket inside a cylinder in the boat. This also blocked regularly.

I thought the idea of the grate was to stop the leaves blocking the inlet in the first place? My Blakes all have a convex strainer on the outside and small holes. Nothing ever blocks the outside. But little stuff does get through to the inner basket. A wire coat hangar can still be pushed all the way through as the inlet strainer holes a bigger tuan the coat.

 

[vyv_cox]

Most of the leaves sat on the outside of the skin fitting, although some were certainly sucked inside. You would think that when the engine stopped they would fall off, but of course they didn't.

 

[ianat182]

Non-grated for me. I have the clear water filter ,at about knee level ,that I am able to view and empty the filter, but I also poke a curtain wire and round brush on a wire to clear out the barnacles and baby mussels that infest the inlet and piping.
I bought a pump from aldi for £2 that either sucks through the debris and can blow outas well. The fitting supplied on the nozzle is about 15mm dia so fits the bore of the tube perfectly; a dinghy pump with the correct adaptor would do it too (blow out that is).
If you don't already have one I recommend the clear filter, though there are ones as good at much less than Vetus price available. Force 4 chandlery have some at £24.95 to suit 3 bore sizes from 3/4" & 1" to 1.5".The Vetus jobs are £96.95 !!!Page 94 in F4's Catalogue.

ianat182

 

[Malish]

I have no visual proof but a couple of times for each of the last couple of seasons I lost raw cooling water flow after exiting the lock from the marina. The seacock was grated. The only thing that cleared it was an underwater scrub of the inlet with a brush, no weed evident at the end of season lift so I'm pretty sure crud was catching on the raised grate.

 

[alahol2]

Non-grated with filter directly above allowing a good poke out when necessary.

 

[Leighb]

Mine is grated, as was there when bought. I have no issues with it, except I have to carefully clean out the narrow slots before antifouling, and I use a small brush for that to avoid blocking the slots.

If I was fitting new I think I would go for an open one such that any blockage could be poked out from inside in an emergency. However the upside is that so far I have never had any blockage, and the internal strainer is always clean.

 

[Impaler]

Mine was already grated and it has blocked at sea a few times, I guess with weed. I fitted a T-piece with a valve and bit of hose in the water line down stream of the inlet strainer filter. This enables me to stick my gob over the hose, open the valve and blow back down the line and blast away the snarlies etc, it really does work. It's also used for flushing when ashore.

 

[Norman_E]

Mine is grated, and has not clogged, though If I were fitting new I would go for an ungrated one. I have used a thin file whilst ashore to to clean the slots, and can poke a wire down it from inside in need. The water cooled fridge compressor has one with a grid of small holes, and I have cleaned and slightly enlarged all the holes with a drill because I though the flow was a bit poor. Only after that did I discover a very well concealed filter in the inlet hose, and after cleaning it I realised that the skin fitting was not the problem.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Mine is not grated and I have had no real issues with blockage. I check the strainer every 24 hours of engine use. Other seacocks have grates over them and they have been a pain to clear on the low use seacocks. The Blakes appear to have a spigot with the grate over the spigot. Critters grow in the dead space outside the spigot and over the edge into the main orifice.

On my current seawater inlet skin fitting I have a ball valve threaded onto it, then a strainer threaded on top of the ball valve with the hose fitting from the strainer to engine.

Last year the thread between the ball valve and skin fitting developed a leak. I reckon that the combined mass of the ball and strainer has been vibrating about and caused the leak path to develop. The total height from hull is about 12" to the top of the bronze filter housing.

Next month I will remove the fittings, withdraw the skin fitting and replace it with a combined valve with hose tail type (probably a Blakes). I will then fit a new remote mounted raw water filter.

I am sure that the current set up is a replacement for an older unit which had an integral ball valve. The point is be aware that a stack up of individual components may introduce further problems down the line.