What's this, a water filter?

[danfarrell]

Deep in the voluminous aft compartment of my 1894 Baba 30 is an old looking thing that I guess is a fresh water filter. Anyone want to correct that? It looks neglected to me.

Sorry the pictures arent properly oriented. The close up is sideways and the overview is upside down.

[ttex]

I haven't crawled around in the butt of my Baba yet so I can't really help but I just wanted to say nice boat!

Seems it would be some kind of cartridge filter if I had to guess. Looks like you could pop it open by removing those long bolts and the hoses to have a look.

[ranger58sb]

Sea strainer? For raw water to ?engine?genset?aircon?

-Chris

[DougR]

Looks like it's connected to the thru hull valve via the Y valve.....guess that makes it a sea water filter...
DougR

[scargo]

I think it's this. Raw sea water strainer from GROCO

https://www.groco.net/products/raw-w...ner/arg-series

Originally Posted by danfarrell

Deep in the voluminous aft compartment of my 1894 Baba 30 is an old looking thing that I guess is a fresh water filter. Anyone want to correct that? It looks neglected to me.

Sorry the pictures arent properly oriented. The close up is sideways and the overview is upside down.

[danfarrell]

You all are awesome, thanks.

[HopCar]

I don’t think it’s a Groco Strainer. It looks a lot like a Groco SA series strainer but the cap is wrong and it doesn’t seem to have a center rod. This is an important piece of hardware. It should be opened and cleaned fairly often.

[notiesbob]

It's definitely an instake strainer for seawater cooling. Groco, Perko, Buck Algonquin or Wilcox Crittenden - no matter what brand the brass cylinder IS NOT original to the unit. It should be acyrlic to be able to see the strainer inside for debris/growth. All those brands will have a logo or name on the castings.

[Cheechako]

It's a seawater strainer, likely for the engine. It sounds like you need to delve through your entire boat and learn what and where everything is! Have fun.

[MV Wanderlust]

Agreed. It's a sea strainer. The main cylinder is so murky and cloudy, it almost looks solid. Good idea to close the through hull valve, open the top of the cylinder, remove and clean the basket inside, and then put it all back together. Never forget to reopen the through hull valve. This procedure needs to be done periodically. It ensures plenty of decent-quality raw water is reaching your engine or generator.

You mentioned it looked like it had been neglected. It certainly needs to be cleaned inside. The basket should be emptied and hosed out and the inside of the cylinder could stand a decent scrubbing. If you're referring to the green patina and corrosion-like stuff, that's pretty normal and doesn't really harm anything but some, like moi, find it a bit annoying. Spread some SnoBowl toilet bowl cleaner on the green stuff and give it about five minutes. Scrub it off with a brush, rinse it with water, and let it dry. Should look much better after that. Once it's clean, I've heard some people even spray clear lacquer on the brass parts to keep them looking clean and green-free.

[CarinaPDX]

Agreed - it is a seawater strainer. I have had one in Carina since the beginning. It is actually redundant if the intake thru-hull has a screen incorporated - I have never found anything inside the strainer besides sediment, which settles in the bottom. It's paid for and it's mounted so it stays...


Greg

[HopCar]

Originally Posted by notiesbob

It's definitely an instake strainer for seawater cooling. Groco, Perko, Buck Algonquin or Wilcox Crittenden - no matter what brand the brass cylinder IS NOT original to the unit. It should be acyrlic to be able to see the strainer inside for debris/growth. All those brands will have a logo or name on the castings.

I had assumed the cylinder was just dirty acrylic but you may be right that it is brass or bronze. Actually Groco did produce a strainer with a brass cylinder. They use stainless steel now. They also produce strainers with cast bronze single piece bodies, no separate cylinder.
https://www.groco.net/products/raw-w...ner/asd-series

[danfarrell]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

It's a seawater strainer, likely for the engine. It sounds like you need to delve through your entire boat and learn what and where everything is! Have fun.

Lol, so true. I have a lot to learn. Sailing rigs are the easy part. Engines are much more complicated :P. I'm in over my head, but starting to doggie paddle.

This makes sense. In hindsight it's obviously a raw water strainer and I hope can be restored to decent shape. I'll let ya'll know if I can ID the strainer - or if I can't. 35 year old Taiwanese boat that's been around a bit.

I think it would be crazy not to have one - that sediment is precisely the kind of thing I don't want in the heat exchanger.

[danfarrell]

Ive not been able to find another like it, but it looks like the Perko filters, but without the wing nuts . It has a 4" perko branded acrylic cylinder and cleaned up okay once I got it open. Maybe a Taiwanese part that only approximates the perko version, idk. I wonder if it was leaking; it's awfully green on the bottom.

It's definitely the engine raw water strainer. The 3 way valve is to switch from through hull inlet to bilge inlet so it can function as an engine powered bilge pump. Since the engine is freshwater cooled, I'm not sure how useful that is- does the freshwater pump function all the time? I'm not sure.

[HopCar]

Dan, it sounds like you are a bit in over your head. A fresh water cooled engine is cooled similar to your car engine but instead of a radiator it has a device called a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is cooled by raw water so yes the bilge pump valve will work. Only use it in an emergency when your electric pumps can’t keep up with the incoming water.

You really need to do some reading about the various systems on your boat. Major systems on your boat would be the propulsion (engine, shaft and prop), the electrical system (both low voltage and high voltage), and the sanitation system (toilet, treatment or holding tank).

Buy this book first: https://www.amazon.com/Boatowners-Me...gateway&sr=8-2

Next get Peggie Hall’s book on marine sanitation: https://www.amazon.com/New-Get-Rid-B...gateway&sr=8-1

Then Caulders book on diesels: https://www.amazon.com/Marine-Diesel...gateway&sr=8-1

Feel free to ask questions here.