strainer cover

[special k]

ok, while under the boat prepping bottom i notice a lot of barnicles inside the sea water strainer/cover.

with multiple coats of paint i can't tell if this cover is removeable or how. a assume if i chip away the paint there will be screws.

does this cover come off without upsetting the integrity to the thru-hull assembly!
what is the best way to clean this out? haven't checked if accessable from the top.

cheers! mick

(Post moved to Maintenance by Moderator)

[DougSea]

Hi Mick!

The answer, like always, is...it depends. Some thru-hulls have a strainer "foot" attached to them and don't come apart:

OnePieceThruHullStrainer.jpg

Some, like most of the Groco line, have a mounting ring and you can un-screw the grill. I'm attaching a PDF from Groco, see the last one on the page.

Groco-thruhull.pdf

I'll be honest, in the past I always just got up into the raw water intakes with a piece of wire to bust out the little ba$tards and then used a small brush to get a reasonable amount of bottom paint up into them. If they really just seperate as the document shows I'm going to be mad at myself!


(Now I have to add this to my list of things to look at on the new boat!)

[Cape Codder]

My 2003 28TE raw water strainer was near plugged closed with barnacle growth.
After taking some paint off, it has 6 phillips head that removes it from a permanent oval ring bonded to the hull. Pretty easy on and off.

Once cleaned, I did what I did to ALL underwater metals (except prop and shaft)

The strainer was brought down to the bare metal, inside and out. One coat of Pettit 2-part underwater primer, two coats of Pettit Tie Coat (rubber paint). Then, 2 coats of Pettit Vivid Anti-fouling. (all applicaations inside and outside of stainer).

The results on the strainer (and all other metals) was ABSOLUTELY NO GROWTH.