Intake Grate

[newbote]

I was crawling under my boat looking for a slow leak that I found while my 2 month old boat (16 242 limited S was in the water all week in Anna Maria - and found the pic below. obviously not related to the leak. I have no idea how that broke - I am pretty confident it was not me as I would have had to have heard a strike that hard. My bet is either the fork lift (it is dry stacked) or the straps when they lifted the boat off the trailer when I bought it. Question - do you think I should push hard for the dealer to fix it? Also - how risky do you think it is to run the boat this way? I guess the biggest risk is if a large object got sucked up there.

 

[GTBRMC]

I would get it replaced before running in the water like that. Photo is a bit hard to see details on my notepad, but from what I do see:

a) it will probably cavitate like crazy from the induced turbulence in its current condition
b) the grate is providing less than normal protection to the impeller against ingesting a larger object
c) the grate itself or pieces of grate could come loose and get sucked into the impeller (you DO NOT want that)

 

[Ilmmct]

I broke one when I sucked up a rope and the anchor it was attached to (which were left by someone else in the waterway), you are right about hearing it. You would not miss the sound of the metal snapping.

 

[newbote]

I would get it replaced before running in the water like that. Photo is a bit hard to see details on my notepad, but from what I do see:

a) it will probably cavitate like crazy from the induced turbulence in its current condition
b) the grate is providing less than normal protection to the impeller against ingesting a larger object
c) the grate itself or pieces of grate could come loose and get sucked into the impeller (you DO NOT want that)

I don't think the rest has much of a chance to detach as they are very solid - I would have to hit something for them to come off I think. I also have not noticed any cavitation due to this. I have noticed the past 10 hours or so I can't seem to get over 46 MPH but have not noticed any cavitation. I hope the dealer will replace without charge but will see what they say.