Plugged Raw Water Intake

[Tom Spohn]

I had a new one last week returning from a month long trip from Tacoma to Nanaimo. On leaving the marina at Kingston, Wa. I was shocked to see that the engine temp. was rising and very little water was coming out the exhaust. No problem, I sez, I went below and cleaned out the raw water strainer which had lots of eel grass in it. But the engine was still running hot with next to no water coming out. OK. It's a hassle, but I went below and changed the impeller, while two fellow boats cruised nearby. Still no water out the exhaust. At this point I was towed by a friend to Eagle Harbor. He handed me a homemade valve gadget that I inserted into the intake side hose just before the water pump with hose clamps. Hooked up to water on the dock and back flushed the line from the raw water pump to the through hull. After a minute started the engine and it ran perfectly. I have now put together a homade valve gadget of my own and am considering carrying a washdown pump if I ever have to clear out the intake in the future. Has this ever happened to anybody else?

 

[Stu Jackson]

Yes, and another solution

like yours with water, is to use the dinghy foot pump and blow air through. That assumes you have a dinghy! Advantage is that you don't need running water.Tom, good post and a great reminder. Must have been a great trip. We were up off Satellite Channel visiting our folks last month, great scenery.

 

[Gary Wyngarden]

Yes and still another solution

Remove the hose that connects the through hull for the raw water intake to the strainer from the strainer. Insert the hose securely into an aerosol signal horn and blow. The aerosol blowing back down the line clears the through hull. Works great. No mess. No fuss.Gary WyngardenS/V Wanderlust h37.5(Credit goes to John Nantz)

 

[patrick]

Put a T fitting on the through hull

with the middle of the T going to the water pump inlet. Put a plug on the top of the fitting and you can remove it to gain access. I use a brass garden hose adapter and a cap which I can quickly remove by hand. Keep a stick or bottle brush handy and use that to push the stuff back out. You will get a little water into the boat so be careful.

 

[Jim]

Darn eel grass

I had the same problem. The grass gets catght in the hose where it enter the stainer on at the pickup outside the boat!

 

[Tom Spohn]

Stu and Gary

Yes we had a dinghy and two inflatable kayaks on board and two air pumps! One the foot operated type and the other electric which I could have plugged into my inverter. For some reason it just didn't occur to me. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Paul Akers]

It Happened to me, too!

I used my dinghy inflation pump and put it over the nipple of the raw water intake (after I removed the hose). I gave it a blast and cleared it out. I heard that a hand-held horn will do the same. I have since installed a slotted clamshell fitting over the intake. No problems since. This was all precipitated by 5 clogs from rockweed up in Maine. The final capper was when I sucked up a jelly fish in Newport, RI harbor while charging my batteries following the Maine cruise.

 

[Bob V]

Lots of good ideas here

I wish I had read them all before it happened to me. I used a needle nose pliers while free-diving under the hull in a tide rip off Turn Point Light. It was more exciting that way but I might try one of those other methods next time.