mobocracy
Active Member
(I hope this title was click bait enough...)
This summer I've had multiple weed obstructions on my generator raw water intake. The filter basket is empty and with the valve open there's barely a trickle of water. I take the boat out at planing speed for a bit, run the generator (which stays on, but with obviously less cooling water output), check the basket and find little in there.
I have one of those little cable-actuated grabbers that I can stick down past the strainer (but not far enough to get more than 6" from the through hull) and never pull anything out. I ginned up a fitting with a plastic elbow, some silicone putty and connect it to my shop vac hoping to blow out the obstruction with not much effect.
A week or so later? Like magic, the water flow with the generator on is back to normal, meaning whatever was stuck is now unstuck.
My "genius" idea? Putting a quick-release fitting from McMaster-Carr on the through-hull side of the hose that runs to the strainer. This would let me get right at the outside obstruction easily by just disconnecting the hose.
Is this a dumb idea? I'm kind of worried about persistent drip leaks from something like this. They the cam and groove style connectors look like they would seal pretty well, but the overall size looks too big. The sleeve-lock style looks like it would fit the space available better, but I'm not sure how well it would seal (though they seem rated for insane pressure).
I'm gonna have my haul out guy check it more closely for something that's really snagging growth or other more durable issues. The impeller I will do next spring, but I'm thinking the impeller probably isn't that bad as it has maybe 20 hours on it, installed spring 2019.
This summer I've had multiple weed obstructions on my generator raw water intake. The filter basket is empty and with the valve open there's barely a trickle of water. I take the boat out at planing speed for a bit, run the generator (which stays on, but with obviously less cooling water output), check the basket and find little in there.
I have one of those little cable-actuated grabbers that I can stick down past the strainer (but not far enough to get more than 6" from the through hull) and never pull anything out. I ginned up a fitting with a plastic elbow, some silicone putty and connect it to my shop vac hoping to blow out the obstruction with not much effect.
A week or so later? Like magic, the water flow with the generator on is back to normal, meaning whatever was stuck is now unstuck.
My "genius" idea? Putting a quick-release fitting from McMaster-Carr on the through-hull side of the hose that runs to the strainer. This would let me get right at the outside obstruction easily by just disconnecting the hose.
Is this a dumb idea? I'm kind of worried about persistent drip leaks from something like this. They the cam and groove style connectors look like they would seal pretty well, but the overall size looks too big. The sleeve-lock style looks like it would fit the space available better, but I'm not sure how well it would seal (though they seem rated for insane pressure).
I'm gonna have my haul out guy check it more closely for something that's really snagging growth or other more durable issues. The impeller I will do next spring, but I'm thinking the impeller probably isn't that bad as it has maybe 20 hours on it, installed spring 2019.