Raw Water Intake Tee

[doogymon]

Hi

Some sailors install a Tee in the Raw Water line with a valve for easier Winterizing.

Others have a strainer they can do the same.

Both my C&C36R with A4 and my C&C27MKIII with YSM12R do not have strainers nor Tees

and it is usually a chore in the cold to get the dang hoses off in order to suck up a jug of Antifreeze.

Any recommendations for a proper Tee (& valve) appreciated.

Should I have strainers? In the Great Lakes. I see other boat having problems on occasion with strainers some times (no prime).

Thank You

Doog

[toddster]

I use a garden hose tee with a cap. It is in the hose between the through-hull and the strainer. Barb x barb x 3/4 hose. A 4-foot long hose is kept coiled under the intake. Just takes a few seconds to uncap the Tee and screw on the hose. It's the $1 solution - works about as well as the $50 solution. Takes up less room, too.

Theoretically, this Tee also allows one to use the engine as a back-up bilge pump, if that ever became necessary.

Looks like this one, but has a cap.

[Sam]

I set up a lady friends' 77 Catalina which had gate valve on thru hole - very similar but instead of the cap added 6 in of galvanized pipe with another gate valve and barb to facilitate short piece of hose. Last day before haul out while boat is still in water with warm engine close thru hole and open top valve with added hose to facilitate sucking antifreeze. On my Morgan 34 of 43 seasons in Chicago with 1966 A4 I close the thru hole and run warm engine for few seconds, stop, and unscrew 3 brass engine drain plugs , manifold and block, and drain engine water. Never have added antifreeze fluid. Engine does sit fairly level in boat.

[tenders]

YMMV, but I really don't care for household/garden-quality nylon or plastic fittings below the waterline.

My setup goes: throughhull, seacock, bronze tee, with tee path #1 going to the engine intake and tee path #2 normally plugged with a square-headed bronze plug.

To winterize: close throughhull, remove bronze plug, replace with nylon nipple, fit 4' hose from nipple onto another nipple threaded into and sealed onto a screwtop for an antifreeze bottle that can be reused each year. Open bottle, break seal, attach modified screwtop, invert bottle, poke hole in bottle with marlinspike, and hold bottle well above engine level. Run the gallon of antifreeze through idling engine while a helper squirts fogging oil into carb intake. (Join the Cirque du Soleil, or thank your boat designer, if you can do both of these activities yourself.) Replace bronze plug, and then squirt a little MMO into each spark plug hole.

I prefer to sit the winter on the cradle with the intake seacock open.

Notes:

If you forget to close the throughhull, the antifreeze will dump directly from the bottle and onto the ground, bypassing the engine entirely. You may or may not notice this when it happens. No need to ask how I know this.

If you forget to properly tighten each spark plug after you squirt the MMO, you might have fumes in the cabin for the next season and wonder if the exhaust is failing. No need to ask how I know this either.

Caveat: my engine has no thermostat, the lack of which facilitates this winterization process considerably.

[doogymon]

Thanks for the great tips.

My A4 is a late model.

Can't wait to tinker and make her tiddly.

Sailing may get in the way so the journey is long term.

Always wondered if I'd get a boat with an A4... : )

All the Best

Doog

[toddster]

I confess that the hose Tee has been on the boat since before I bought it. But there is no strain on the fitting, and it doesn't seem to be more dangerous than, say, the water-flow sensor, farther down the same hose.
I do have some full-port valves, bought but not used for a different project. It has crossed my mind to swap-in one of those, with the hose permanently attached. But I'd have to find room for it, somewhere.
That's assuming that everything came through last nights arctic chill OK and I don't have worse things to worry about. Just discovered shattered plumbing in the greenhouse. Haven't looked in the boat yet. (The hatch is actually frozen closed with a couple inches of ice.)

[Ujin]

I've got a Groco SSC series service adapter.

From the Groco website, "A simple quarter turn quick release plug*adds safety and flexibility*to any water system.* Add SSC to the top of a seacock or raw water strainer outlet (in-line valve required - see SSCV series)*to allow instant emergency bilge pumping, or to simplify winterization and cooling system flushing."

Works well for me on my A4.

[toddster]

One more use for the intake Tee: If the intake gets blocked by kelp or something... that's where you blow. Might factor into choosing a location.