Perko water strainer

[Cap'n Kirk]

Got home last night and noticed a severely reduced flow from ac water pump. Discovered that somehow a fish got into the water intake. Cleaned it out but noticed that the piping and strainer are in poor condition. Replacing this Perko water strainer looks to be hugely expensive and cannot get one right away. Anyone know if I can use a different strainer?

 

[dsharp]

What part is in bad shape? The strainer part can be replaced. A picture would help.

 

[Cap'n Kirk]

The perko strainer has 493 500 on it. Not sure it is bad but the plumbing from the seacock had some parts that looked to be galvanized. One of the wing nuts on the sea strainer itself is stripped but tightens to a point. The gaskets seem to have gone away long ago. The galvanized parts are so deteriorated that I cannot use them again. I cannot easily source the sea strainer either and wanted to know if I can just use a different sea strainer. I am very new here and to this Hatteras so need to figure out how to post pictures.

 

[Fanfare]

Groco makes great stuff especially strainers but as always you have to pay for quality. www.groco.net

 

[Captain Ralph]

galvanized parts

Galvanized parts are usually a big No No on boats.
I hope this is just ugly hardware your looking at.

Perko, Groco and any other mfg will be expensive.
IMO, the Perko line is easier to get whole or parts for.

Just need the pipe size and you can order any part from many sites, including Amazon.

https://www.perko.com/images/catalog/pdf/Fig. 493 & 500 Instructions.pdf

 

[Cap'n Kirk]

 

[Cap'n Kirk]

Those are pictures of the strainer

 

[bostonhatteras]

IMO the internal sea strainers are way overrated. I would use a Buck Algonquin external scoop strainer. No internal basket to get clogged and make a huge mess disassembling, less fittings, less seals, absolutely adheres to the KISS principle. Whenever a leaf or eel grass or a fish comes close and its sucked into the intake, instead of going into a basket for you to clean later its held against the exterior of the SS perforated plate and released as soon as suction is gone or the boat makes headway. The old Sendure external sea strainers were better i think but they are gone unless you find them used.

 

[Briankinley2004]

You should be able to clean up and replace damaged parts and gaskets. Here is a link to the part numbers

https://www.perko.com/catalog/underwater_hardware/103/intake_water_strainer/

 

[dsharp]

Take the top off and see if the “basket” is in the housing. Mix a gallon of muriatic acid with a gallon of water in a 5 gallon bucket. Put the strainer in and it will come out looking like new. You can order gaskets or cut them out of rubberized cork. There’s nothing wrong with the strainer that you have.

 

[lake of the woods]

Cap'n Kirk,

There is a lot of good advice on this thread. In the end, if you need to replace the Perko strainer I have some used ones i'm selling on the used parts thread. Look for "Lake of the Woods" Perko strainers.

Mark
lake of the Woods
1898 40 DC, Hull #377

 

[whoover]

Looks like the hard work is done, you have it out. Clean it up, replace the basket and gaskets with the correct perko parts and get rid of all of the galvanized fittings. You will have it repaired properly and nothing but regular cleaning and maintenance after that.

Walt Hoover

 

[Play'N Hooky Too]

As stated above, there is nothing wrong with that strainer that a little soak in some dilute muriatic acid or Rydlyme wouldn't solve. Short of unchecked electrolysis, those bronze fittings and housings can last for many decades.

 

[Pascal]

Parts are available so it should be an easy rebuilt. New gaskets, new rods and new “glass”. Good to go

A few months ago we had to rebuild one of these monsters on the “office”. One of the SS rods had broken.

That said, as mentioned many times I m a big fan of South Bay strainers.

 

[Cap'n Kirk]

Thanks all. Not sure if I mentioned it or not but a fish was actually stuck in the through hull. After an "in-line" dissection, we were able to remove the fish. In actuality, it was a blessing as we discovered that some of the line between the through hull and on both sides of the perko strainer were galvanized plumbing. They had deteriorated horribly and mostly crumbled in our hands. A small miracle indeed. Were able to go to the local big box store to get pieces to put things back together. The strainer itself seems okay except one of the hinges is kind of stripped. Cork gaskets are all but gone. Managed to hook it back up and secure it so that it does not leak currently. Got the AC's running again. The only one running while we were gone was the one in the Master Bedroom. It seems as if it may have sustained some damage but had an AC guy look at it and he will be back next week to do further diagnostics. It is an old Cruise Air that looks original to the boat and still blows cold. AC guy said it was fine to run for now. He suspects that the "windings" may be damaged. Doesn't sound good but I do not know too much about AC units. The plan is to use the mesh reinforced hoses and eliminate elbows and most of the fittings. Using the kind of hose that you use for exhaust but smaller (don't know the name of it). Mounting the Perko strainer where it is much more accessible. Removed a check valve that was installed between the seacock and the strainer. Doesn't seem to have a problem keeping water in the line for the pump. Ordered a new hinge set and cork gaskets. Also got rubber gaskets. Not sure which is better. Overall, about 12 hours spent so far. Just bought this boat so getting used to her. So much for the survey report!!! I think an old tech did a temp job and then forgot to go back and make a perm fix several years ago. Won't make that mistake this time.

 

[Pascal]

Galvanized?? Make sure you don’t have any brass fittings in there, a common mistake. Especially male male nipples.

 

[bigbill]

if you bought pipe fittings from a big box store they are probably brass, they wont last very long in saly water, you need bronze from a marine supplier

 

[jim rosenthal]

If some of the threads are stripped, maybe it's time to replace the strainer.

If the mesh hose is that clear material with the mesh reinforcement, I would not use that below the waterline. I'd get black Trident or something like it, rated for marine water intake or exhaust.

Groco Industries makes, in my opinion, the best underwater fittings such as these. They do cost a bit more, but they are made here in the USA, not just sold here, and their company is in MD- I've been there. They back up what they make and sell, I can tell you from experience.

Perko used to be better. That was a while ago.

You might be able to find a used similar old Perko strainer and recondition that, which would be fine, too.