Hi HG

Have you seen this www.speedseal.com/SpeedsealLife/SpeedsealLife.html

It doesn't sound like a bad idea and protects the impeller if you forget to turn the water on or the supply gets blocked

Regards Don

Donk107 said..
Hi HG

Have you seen this www.speedseal.com/speedseal.html

It doesn't sound like a bad idea and protects the impeller if you forget to turn the water on or the supply gets blocked

Regards Don

Like that one Donk Oh Yes I certainly do
theres a nice lathe at work

Here is a application chart

http://www.abetterwaytogo.com.au/f.ashx/Speedseal-Life-campatibility-chart_2.pdf

The red rockets are on page 2

Regards Don

Donk107 said..
On the website it looks like a nice bit of engineering

Regards Don

I would still like to lower the sea strain below the water line doing that should over come any problem other than forgetting to open the engine sea-cock
I do internd to have a decal with that written on it
But that upgrade is well worth looking at also Donk

Yo

HG02 said..

Donk107 said..
On the website it looks like a nice bit of engineering

Regards Don

I would still like to lower the sea strain below the water line doing that should over come any problem other than forgetting to open the engine sea-cock
I do internd to have a decal with that written on it
But that upgrade is well worth looking at also Donk

You could probably store the ignition key beside the sea cock handle as a reminder to turn it on before starting the engine

Regards Don

Donk107 said..
I think that the oring seal on plate instead of a gasket and the knurled thumbscrews instead of the countersunk originals would make it a heap easier to replace the impeller without the need for any tools

Regards Don

Yes that was my thoughts to Donk would not be to hard to spin up a piece of bronze with an o ring groove even studs with wing nuts would work ok

The cheapest way is to have your engine start key on a yellow and red tag. When you finish for the day, shut off the seawater seacock and hang the starter key on the seacock.

I prefer to train my brain so that it does not forget important issues - rather than create a complicated mechanical backup system.
The the raw water intake is just one of several things that must be in order.
We use an acronym system and recite it (and act on it) every time we step on the boat or off the boat. It's FWWBEBIL and stands for Fuel (turn on tap), Water (turn on seawater inlet valve), Water (turn on galley water tap), Batteries (switch on start battery and house battery isolation switches), Epirb (place it in cockpit), Bung (check rear gas compartment bung), Instruments (switch on instruments circuit breaker), Log on or off (log on or off with local sea rescue group).
Although relatively new to the yachting scene we have never yet forgotten anything important.
To remember the acronym FWWBEBIL just make it sound like a word and recite it until it sticks in your brain.

On the subject of starting the engine without opening the sea cock It would not be too hard to mount a plunger switch wired to make/break the cranking circuit next to the sea cock in a position where the engine would not crank unless the sea cock was open and the handle was depressing the switch to complete the circuit (much like a neutral safety switch on a auto transmission vehicle)

I know It would be overkill but would make it foolproof regardless of who was starting the boat

With your strainer question HG I think you realise from your above post that it can go above or below the waterline as long as if it mounted below it needs to have sufficient strength to not fail and allow water to enter the boat

Regards Don

MorningBird said...
They are usually above the water line for a reason, as Don says, to prevent the boat flooding if a leak develops in the cooling system. Best left where it is and use one of the methods proposed above to remember to open the cock.
My strainer is below the waterline and can't be placed above it, a concern at times.

It's sort of a trade off morning bird either way