Wire mesh size for A/C and engine seawater intake strainers

[4Winds]

My 2005 Hunter 33' boat uses Shurflo water strainers in front of engine and a/c seawater intake pumps. What is recommended mesh for the stainless steel screen? 20? 50? The previous owner had a fine mesh on the a/c and a less fine mesh on the engine. Not sure what sizes they are but i am guessing 20 and 50, respectively. Is there an alternative recommendation?
Thank you!

 

[Rich Stidger]

This may not be as helpful as you might like, but I use Groco strainers and they offer two types of baskets. One is stainless steel and the other is a poly basket. I use both interchangeably. Both are durable and the water flow is just fine. My aux and genset pump about 5 gallons per minute. Groco does not specify the size of the basket screen, but perhaps you can compare the attached pictures from Groco to what you have and make a decision.

Edited to add: I also use the same baskets on my A/C water input. If the "20" and "50" specify holes per inch, my baskets are probably closer to 20.

 

[4Winds]

yes this is definitely larger ... i am guessing 20 also. curious, what is the length and diameter of the screen?

 

[Rich Stidger]

yes this is definitely larger ... i am guessing 20 also. curious, what is the length and diameter of the screen?

About 2" diameter by 6" high.

 

[4Winds]

hmm the shurflo screen is 1-1/2" diameter and 3-5/8" long. I think i have a solution but nothing that can be achieved in less than 7 days. supply chain issues ...

 

[Rich Stidger]

Curious- Why is this a concern? Are you having constant strainer plugging issues or overheating? If it's not broken I do subscribe to the notion of not trying to fix it.

 

[4Winds]

the current "stainless steel" screen has disintegrated. I need to replace it. If I can find an appropriate piece of vinyl I'll make my own. Also, I need to get a gallon jug to measure water coming out of the boat, but I think the 50 mesh that was in it is too fine (I cleaned it two weeks ago and it is already beyond salvage) and was also slowing the waterflow speed. So a 20 mesh seems like what I want if i can get it.

 

[kloudie1]

Those strainers can be pretty coarse to reduce plugging and help flow. The air conditioner pumps are centrifugaland can generally pass things in the vicinity of 1/8" so 20 or slightly more open will not be a problem. The engine pumps can easily tolerate 1/16" so there, a 20 is fine as well. There are typically no smaller clearances in the systems than the pumps.

 

[4Winds]

I had come to same conclusion for same reasons after lots of second guessing. who knew sailing required plumbing experience thank you for opining As soon as I get a seller on ebay to confirm the dimensions of the shurflow steel screen I'm stocking up!

 

[Terry Cox]

Our 1991 boat came with a Perko brand sea water strainer, model number - 0493006PLB, that serves dual heat pumps. The strainer has a screen hole diameter of .077", which seems quite adequate for the purpose, with no issues after many years of use.

 

[DeniseO30]

The strainer baskets are actually expensive, it's less expensive to actually buy the whole strainer 50 measure larger anything less clogs really quick, also where your boat is located has a real bearing on how fast they clog up, I was doing mine every other day when at low little tide I think she was just pulling in mud,

 

[4Winds]

That sounds about right. I asked 6-8 vendors on ebay selling the shurflo screens and strainers if the "kits" (screen only) measured 1-1/4 x 3-5/8" (size of my 20 mesh screen), and not one had the slightest idea. These resellers do not know the products they are selling. So I bought one, will know the answer in about 5 days. I had a 50 mesh and it is too fine ... I really hope the screen fits, otherwise I will need to stock up on the whole asssembly, and they are more expensive($50-70) than the replacement screens alone ($24). Or change manufacturer.