OK, so the new Beta is installed and running. The old Bukh had a 1/2 inch raw water feed and the Beta
has a 3/4 inch feed and I've been told to increase the size of the skin fitting and ball valve to 3/4 as there is a
danger that at higher revs there will be insufficient water. I agreed with that so right now the boat is on
the slip getting that done along with the annual antifoul. I have also been told (in the past ) that inlet strainers
are a waste of time as they reduce water flow. The Bukh had an inline strainer that never presented any
problem and was cleaned regularly. On one occasion I had left the element out and motored out into
Pittwater where the temp alarm sounded. A small fish had lodged in the pipework having gone through
the element less strainer. Now there's no way I'm going to cook my new engine so an inline strainer is
going in. Has any forum members had a bad experience with or without a strainer ?.

Thanks FC. The strainer on my boat is one of those simple inline ones with a removable element for cleaning.
Simple it may be but it does stop crap from getting into the water works and I don't know why I've been told
strainers are useless. Does this only refer to them if they are not cleaned on a regular basis ?.

You need a strainer Sam.
Just need to make sure the valves/piping/hoses are the right size.

Yeah agree, I have the above Whitworths one too I think, it's easy to see when there is a build up of weed through the top and easy to clear if it starts to get clogged without having to replace anything. Unless you get too enthusiastic getting the lid off! I would hate to think of all that crap going through the engine cooling system.

Had one of these V?tus strainers for my Yanmar. No problems. It was good to be able to see the water moving throug it at it always seems to have a small air bubble caught under the lid.

www.vetus-shop.com/vetus-raw-water-strainer-type-140-inlet-and216-19mm-p-1019.html