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Indmar Strainer / Flush Kit


ahopkins22LSV

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ahopkins22LSV

I know other options are out there and other engine marine companies have had similar options available, but this looks pretty cool. I am interested depending on the price point. Our lake is fairly shallow in spots around docks so this would be nice to have. Plus if it really does help with invasive species that will be nice. Having the garden hose connection on it will be very nice as well.

Strainer / Flush Kit

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The 90 degree inlet would have saved me a lot of time on my direct drive. I may switch out my Perko for this. I wonder how strong it is, after the Perkos failed and they added the metal band I'm a bit skeptical. It must have a one way valve built in too, but it's hard to tell.

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The invasive species claim doesn't appear to be that the unit filters invasive species, but rather that it makes it easier for you to flush with warm water later.

I don't see a check valve either, so this is going to probably require you to close your raw water seacock on the hose.

Seems like a real convenience for new indmar owners to have a built in flush kit, but I don't see any reason to abandon an already installed flush pro for this. Then again, I don't boat where strainable debris is a real issue. The lakes where we do suck stuff up it's very fine suspended silt that the filter won't catch anyway. In the 300 hours I put on our MB with a sea strainer I don't think it ever "caught" anything.

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ahopkins22LSV

I'd be a lot more interested if it cost twice as much and used a metal body rather than being a big piece of clear plastic.

Curious why? Should be under little to no load. I can understand metal handling cold better but won't be doing much with this while it is cold.

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It's located on the raw water suction side, so internal pressure is nil...and actually since plastic doesn't rust, and they make some strong plastics nowadays, that's a good thing versus metal.

  • Like 3
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Curious why? Should be under little to no load. I can understand metal handling cold better but won't be doing much with this while it is cold.

Because vibration cracks plastic, and clear plastic always seems to be the most brittle type.

Then there is the issue of having to torque it around to clear the filter rather than dropping a bowl.

Edited by oldjeep
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Clear is good since you can see flow thru. Regarding vibration, ensure you have sufficient alignment and/or use pipe hanger/bracket(s)

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A couple of my friends operate test boats for Indmar. They have been using these strainers for a good while now. I have seen the installation on 23lsv and 24mxz as well as in a DD malibu. It is neat and clean compared to all the 90 degree fittings with other strainers. I had a chance to get some details on this unit from an Indmar engineer recently. Here is the general run down of what I got from the engineer.

Current style strainers have a raw water flow loss of about 4 gpm. This one is 1 gpm loss. Also, the inline flush devices that are mentioned above are about 3gpm flow loss. If your boat has a typical strainer and the inline flush device, it costs you about 7 gpm water flow. Typical raw water pump flows about 30 gpm at wide open so 7 out of 30 is a big number. If the impeller is tired or worn, it is more of an issue for proper cooling. 1gpm loss is far better than 7 and it is fewer connections and joints.

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ahopkins22LSV

A couple of my friends operate test boats for Indmar. They have been using these strainers for a good while now. I have seen the installation on 23lsv and 24mxz as well as in a DD malibu. It is neat and clean compared to all the 90 degree fittings with other strainers. I had a chance to get some details on this unit from an Indmar engineer recently. Here is the general run down of what I got from the engineer.

Current style strainers have a raw water flow loss of about 4 gpm. This one is 1 gpm loss. Also, the inline flush devices that are mentioned above are about 3gpm flow loss. If your boat has a typical strainer and the inline flush device, it costs you about 7 gpm water flow. Typical raw water pump flows about 30 gpm at wide open so 7 out of 30 is a big number. If the impeller is tired or worn, it is more of an issue for proper cooling. 1gpm loss is far better than 7 and it is fewer connections and joints.

Thanks for the info!

Do you happen to have any pictures of the strainer installed?

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  • 8 months later...

A strainer is a must on any inboard. My first Hydrodyne had one and it saved me every spring catching whatever came off the trees into the lake. Every year guys would be taking boats out to get their cooling system worked on while all I did was clean the screen once or twice a day. So when I got my 1st Malibu in "99" I installed a strainer and have had "zero" problems with any FOD in my cooling system for over 1000 hrs. and still going strong with the same plastic housing . Cheap insurance for a expensive investment. Should be standard on all Malibu's like its on some other ski boat manufactures.  

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If I were to install one I think I'd rather have the more conventional design with metal where the hoses connect and where the basket and filter comes off without having to wrestle around those thick suction hoses to get at the basket.

http://www.starmarinedepot.com/groco-raw-water-strainer-bronze-arg755p.html?gclid=CNHh_re_-M8CFYOFaQod22YEFQ

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  • 5 months later...

Over the weekend, I installed the Indmar strainer on my 2014 Malibu MXZ.  I used a reciprocating saw to cut the hose in two spots.  Be careful when using the saw not to cut other wires/hoses in the area. Watch out for the steel wire as it will cut your hands. I used a set of dikes to trim the exposed wire after cutting with the saw. It took me about 15 min to install.  

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ahopkins22LSV
6 hours ago, dmclarke90 said:

Over the weekend, I installed the Indmar strainer on my 2014 Malibu MXZ.  I used a reciprocating saw to cut the hose in two spots.  Be careful when using the saw not to cut other wires/hoses in the area. Watch out for the steel wire as it will cut your hands. I used a set of dikes to trim the exposed wire after cutting with the saw. It took me about 15 min to install.  

Did you use it to start the boat with a hose or have it on the lake yet?

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 month later...

I have it on mine. One of those things that adds an easy step to ruining water instead of a fake a lake, but nothing to special to brag about. I did notice it got clogged up a bit over use. 

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  • 1 month later...

How easy is it to open so you can clean the filter? It looks like the black top just twists open by hand? Then you would bend it apart 3-4” to remove the basket?

is this correct?

and to those who installed it ... the straight side — did you just bend the hose or somehow connect another 90 deg somehow?

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