bmac
Well-Known Member
- Jan 11, 2008
- 1,845
- Boat Info
- 2006 58 Sedan Bridge, Walker Bay Generation 390 RIB w/40hp Yamaha, 2014 Wellcraft 232 CC w/Yamaha
- Engines
- MAN 900 CRM
I ran "South Bay" strainers (named I believe from their use on Long Island's Great South Bay to avoid fouling from the tremendous amounts of eel grass we see, but I digress. I've always left the strainer and baskets in use as well. I don't think I've ever seen South Bay strainers used in lieu of the traditional strainer and basket arrangement, though I don't know of a reason you couldn't. YMMVSOUTH BAY STRAINERS
Has anyone removed the internal basket strainers for the main engines and replaced with external "South Bay" strainers?
Our Parts Manual says we have 3" thru-hulls, 3" seacocks, and 2½" "pick-ups" (external scoops).
8 491217 SEACOCK, BRZ 3"FPT
9 490250 THRU-HULL, BRZ 3"
10 186502 PICK-UP, BRZ WATER INTAKE 2.5" (SCOOP ONLY)
I'm looking at the idea of removing the internal basket strainers, and replacing the function with external Groco APHS Series strainers.
https://www.groco.net/products/raw-water-strainers/hull-strainer/aphs-series
Their Service Sheet for strainers maybe suggests our external scoops are actually Groco's SC-2500s (given the Sea Ray Parts Manual description), and the ratio of open screen area to 2½" pipe (max) is 1.35. (Which seems to be less than ideal, given we have 3" thru-hulls?)
If I changed to external APHS-3000 strainers, the ratio of open screen area to 3" pipe (as we have) would be 3.31. That seems to me to be an improvement in water flow...
But my real reason for considering all this is to maybe be able to slightly declutter the forward end of the engine room. That assumes I could remove the "criss-cross" arrangement that connects the starboard thru-hull to the port engine strainer basket... and vice versa...
Then I could also see adding an inline service valve, such as I already have on the AC intakes, to be used for winterizing:
https://www.groco.net/products/valves-seacocks/accessories/ssc-series-service-adaptor
I've also read that a) the "South Bay" strainers are also a good idea for AC intakes too, and b) it's not a great idea for genset intakes without some care about pushing too much water through. I could see replacing internal basket strainer for both ACs, and leaving the genset as is...
What do we think about the whole idea, the minor details, etc.?
-Chris