Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
Finally decided it was time to switch out the Raycor before the summer fun begins. I tried several times last Fall but I couldn't budge the filter and gave up, putting it on my "later" do do list ---the previous owner mounted it in a really awkward place so I couldn't get a strap or a wrench on it.
So yesterday I tried spinning off the plastic clear collection bowl---I finally got it loose but it just kept spinning. WTF?
Then I unscrew the entire mount and finally get the filter off the mount. Once the unit was in my hand I realized what was going on---the internal guts of the filter had broken free of the outer Raycor can---no way to remove the plastic collection bowl because the threaded portion of the filter was just spinning in place.
The first thing I thought of was: thank you Lord for making me see the Raycor light in my driveway rather then broken down in Queen Charlotte straits next July....
I finally resorted to unscrewing and removing the drain-****, jamming a rat-tail file up inside the filter so it would more or less hold the threads of the filter steady, and was able to finally separated the plastic collection bowl from the filter
So what do I find? The previous owner somehow thought that the thicker black foam gasket (the one that's supposed to be placed on the TOP OF THE FILTER before screwing the filter on the mount) should be placed on the bottom threads of the filter (that attach the clear plastic collection bowl).
He somehow jammed both the black foam gasket (and the thinner "proper" orange ring gasket) on the bottom threads of the filter and got them compressed enough to screw on the plastic collection bowl (which in the process, applied so much inner pressure to the Raycor filter that it basically disemboweled it)
I tell this story as a warning to anyone who is buying a pre-owned boat---go through the boat and the engine with a fine-toothed comb.
The same guy who did the Raycor filter install in such a whacked-out manner also over-torqued one of the brass fuel fittings to the point where it got a hair-line crack and sucked air--I found that mistake on my first sea-trial---I broke down in the middle of Puget Sound during a 30 knot blow (both engines dead in the water because they were sucking air instead of fuel).
I literally shudder every time I think about a mistake like that being discovered out on the water instead of in my driveway, like maybe going past Slingsby on an ebb tide at 2 Pm or some place equally as sporty...
Always remembering what the prefix of the word "assume" is sharpens the sensibilities ---check out the critical components with your own eyes and hands before getting the boat wet.
So yesterday I tried spinning off the plastic clear collection bowl---I finally got it loose but it just kept spinning. WTF?
Then I unscrew the entire mount and finally get the filter off the mount. Once the unit was in my hand I realized what was going on---the internal guts of the filter had broken free of the outer Raycor can---no way to remove the plastic collection bowl because the threaded portion of the filter was just spinning in place.
The first thing I thought of was: thank you Lord for making me see the Raycor light in my driveway rather then broken down in Queen Charlotte straits next July....
I finally resorted to unscrewing and removing the drain-****, jamming a rat-tail file up inside the filter so it would more or less hold the threads of the filter steady, and was able to finally separated the plastic collection bowl from the filter
So what do I find? The previous owner somehow thought that the thicker black foam gasket (the one that's supposed to be placed on the TOP OF THE FILTER before screwing the filter on the mount) should be placed on the bottom threads of the filter (that attach the clear plastic collection bowl).
He somehow jammed both the black foam gasket (and the thinner "proper" orange ring gasket) on the bottom threads of the filter and got them compressed enough to screw on the plastic collection bowl (which in the process, applied so much inner pressure to the Raycor filter that it basically disemboweled it)
I tell this story as a warning to anyone who is buying a pre-owned boat---go through the boat and the engine with a fine-toothed comb.
The same guy who did the Raycor filter install in such a whacked-out manner also over-torqued one of the brass fuel fittings to the point where it got a hair-line crack and sucked air--I found that mistake on my first sea-trial---I broke down in the middle of Puget Sound during a 30 knot blow (both engines dead in the water because they were sucking air instead of fuel).
I literally shudder every time I think about a mistake like that being discovered out on the water instead of in my driveway, like maybe going past Slingsby on an ebb tide at 2 Pm or some place equally as sporty...
Always remembering what the prefix of the word "assume" is sharpens the sensibilities ---check out the critical components with your own eyes and hands before getting the boat wet.
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