Ever had a Groco strainer with stripped threads on the cap ?

[Milacron]

As of today, I do. Fairly large one too.... Groco ARG-1250... feeds all the AC units. Took the strainer out today to clean it, back in tighten the cap by hand, then just a little more with the special spanner wrench...no hammer or anything...just a little more by hand....and it stripped..went loose on me.

Strange part is both inside and exterior the threads look ok... decent looking crests and roots... almost like it wasn't made quite right from the get go and years later the small amount of threads interlocking finally gave out. Maybe just the cap wasn't right and a new cap would fix it.

A whole new strainer isn't all that expensive but would be time consuming to change out. Actually it probably wouldn't leak if I just hand tightened it without the wrench and let it go at that, but the fact that apparently there is so little thread contact worries me too much to leave it like that.

I might hand tighten it and drill/tap a couple of small hole vertical holes for extra screws to hold it for now.

Anyhoo, just wondering if I'm the only lucky dog this has happened to.

 

[Andy B]

Ive ,had those strainer caps fail just as uou described, groco sells plastic replacement caps.

 

[captddis]

Same here and it was on a 58 Viking and on the A/C strainer.

 

[Milacron]

Ive ,had those strainer caps fail just as uou described, groco sells plastic replacement caps.

Did you buy a plastic cap and did that one engage the opposing threads more securely ?

 

[seasalt]

I had exactly the same problem and had to replace the whole strainer because the female theads were gone..

The new one had a plastic lid.

 

[jim rosenthal]

You can call Groco in Maryland, and they may be able to sell you a replacement cap. Ask for John in customer service. If that won't do it, they may replace the unit for you, but no guarantees on that.

 

[SeaEric]

You can call Groco in Maryland, and they may be able to sell you a replacement cap. Ask for John in customer service. If that won't do it, they may replace the unit for you, but no guarantees on that.

+1 on calling Groco. They are very nice folks who will help you solve this problem. There are only a few of their really old units for which they have no repair parts. All the rest is fixable. http://www.groco.net/

 

[Andy B]

Did you buy a plastic cap and did that one engage the opposing threads more securely ?

The plastic cap tightens down nicely and you really don't need the spaner wrench.

 

[Milacron]

I had exactly the same problem and had to replace the whole strainer because the female theads were gone..

The new one had a plastic lid.

Seems like a poor design for something so important not to come loose... boat would sink if that cover ever came off and you didn't know it for awhile. Enough water to easily overwhelm the bilge pump. If there is enough "meat" on the sides I think I'll drill/tap mine from the top to add some small bolts so there is no way, no how that cover could ever come off unless I want it to. I might need bronze bolts to avoid galvanic corrosion issues.

 

[Milacron]

+1 on calling Groco. They are very nice folks who will help you solve this problem. There are only a few of their really old units for which they have no repair parts. All the rest is fixable. http://www.groco.net/

Called them yesterday at 4:20 and supposedly all techs leave at 4:00. Called again this morning at 8:45 was put on hold for tech for at least 15 minutes, gave up, hung up.

Looked at the strainer this morning...not enough material there to drill/tap for vertical bolts. Then realized the generator strainer, even though a different Groco model (shorter), had exactly the same screw on cap. To my slight surprise the generator cap was quite a nice fit thread wise on the AC strainer...no slop at all...in fact was a little difficult to get it started on the first thread it fit so well.

So, problem solved for now..can run the Cruisairs 24/7 with confidence and take my time getting a new cap from Groco.