Page 1 of 2

Gaskets for San Juan Bellingham strainer

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2018 11:53 am
by jennis9
I am replacing the impellers in my 86 express/318 twins.

The port strainer is showing signs of air, as well as overheating - while the starboard is a full water flow and normal temp. I am doing one adjustment at a time to see what affects the outcome:

1. change impellers - use dawn soap for lubrication, check hoses, back flush trannie pump (need help on this one - what do I do?) and check thermostat for any stray impeller shards

2. change strainer O-rings - I need help finding the part for a San Juan Bellvue model 199

Any leads on finding the o-rings?

Anything else I should be looking at for the air intake? silcocks?

Re: Gaskets for San Juan Bellingham strainer

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2018 2:39 pm
by bill
BigM
Found this from Fastjeff in the vendors list. :arrow:


Yeah; make your own out of 1/8 inch vacuum hose (and you'll never be sorry!)

Buy a couple foot of it (for ooops) and cut a length that JUST fits into the strainer. Next, using rubber cement and a short length of wire (that slips loosely into the hose) glue the works together. Nothing to it! Then make another as a spare.

Best of all, THIS gasket won't slip and fall into the strainer when you're not looking, causing all kinds of hell. I did this a few years ago and not once did I ever have a problem with the strainer gaskets.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff ;)

bill

Re: Gaskets for San Juan Bellingham strainer

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2018 7:18 pm
by seef158
Nothing wrong with good old bulk cork and rubber gasket material either. Napa carries both and I keep a supply of each on my boat.

Re: Gaskets for San Juan Bellingham strainer

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 12:26 am
by Rockit
And several years ago I found rings that worked on Amazon. Plus there's Google: http://catalog.orcamarine.com/item/mari ... ets/501841

Good luck!

Re: Gaskets for San Juan Bellingham strainer

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 7:25 am
by Fastjeff
I made my on (very successful) gaskets from rubber tubing. After cutting it to the right length (a few times), I inserted a wire into both ends and glued the ends together with rubber cement. It was vacuum hose, as I recall, of about 1/16 inch size.

Jeff

Re: Gaskets for San Juan Bellingham strainer

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 1:33 pm
by jennis9
Thank you for the replies! I did buy a sheet of cork/rubber from autozone to cut the ring. I was expecting this to be a large diameter O ring sandwiched between the cap and the brass (but, I honestly don't know). Now, I don't know what/where this o-ring will be - i thought it was this big gasket indicated by the red arrow.

And, I don't understand the hose/wire/contact cement process, but might once i dig in. if you're using vaccum hose, that's not very big. any additional help?

Re: Gaskets for San Juan Bellingham strainer

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 1:45 pm
by jennis9
thank you, rockit. I did cal orca and ordered 6 of these rings! thanks for the replies, I am curious on the DIY from Jeff -- I will figure that method out as well, I am sure it will come in handy with one of the other many pieces/parts I will need to get/construct.

Re: Gaskets for San Juan Bellingham strainer

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 4:16 pm
by jralbert
jennis9 wrote: I don't know what/where this o-ring will be - i thought it was this big gasket indicated by the red arrow.
Just to be sure -- it's a gasket (flat seal), not o-ring (tubular) that you are going to replace. And you have correctly indicated the place by the red arrow. An o-ring might work but the flat seal would be better, I think.

You could home - make something and it would probably work but the proper gasket, though a little over-priced, will probably last years and will keep air out of the system. And, yes, be careful it's properly in place or it will get sucked into and clog the water flow.

Re: Gaskets for San Juan Bellingham strainer

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 7:06 am
by Fastjeff
An O-ring works just as well as that square gasket and tends NOT to fall in on you. On my homemade, I rubber cemented the wire that I stuck inside the tube ends and pushed the pieces together. Piece of cake and they worked perfectly for years.

Jeff

PS: My homemade O-ring was a bit thicker so, being anal, I shimmed the screen at the bottom down with a flat washer to compensate. I know...

Re: Gaskets for San Juan Bellingham strainer

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 7:58 am
by bpboater
I found my San Juan strainers were hard to seal because the shelf or lip where the gasket sits had depressions or casting irregularities in it. I bought some underwater sealant, put it on the strainer seal surface, covered it with wax paper and reisntalled the plexiglass top on the strainer. After the sealant had set, I removed the top and wax paper, trimmed the oozed excess sealant away, reinstalled the gasket and top. Never leaked again.