www.iFourWinns.com

The raw water strainer is not in engine compartment. Should be down in cabin in the rear berth. pick up the cushions and underneath there is a hatch (wood). lift off and you should see several things:

1) bilge pump (this your forward bilge)
2) seacock & strainer for A/C
3) seacock and strainer for Generator
4) possibly pump for A/C

Like I saidb4, close off the seacock valve (perpendicular to hose). open wingnuts on top of strainer and pull out basket and clean, put back tighten, then re-open valve.

IMHO you should know where this is and how to clean. If you ever have a leak you may need to close these valves in an emergency.

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2006 348 Vista
"Cruisin Home"
Hampton NH

Thank you so much! Got it!

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2002 348 Vista

If you are a little more daring, check the gen impeller. you will find it near the side of the generator that faces bow, near bottom. a water hose is fed into from bottom. you will see like a 3" square box. 4 screws holding faceplate. close the gen seacock. then undo the four screws and remove faceplate (has a gasket). (hex head). inside you will see little black rubber impeller. should have 6 fins. If it is missing any fin or any broken off then you need to replace. should do every year. pull out carefully with pliers.

total time to replace should be 15 min .

IMHO a great thing to know how to do especially if on long trip. carry spare.

Going farther is to then learn how to do engine impellers, but in your case better left to mechanic. Should replace after 2 seasons but definitely after 3. If you dont have history on your boat then I would replace. Cheap insurance.

Good luck tonight.

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2006 348 Vista
"Cruisin Home"
Hampton NH

Thanks Cruisin,
One more thing. When I remove the cushions and hatch to turn off the seacocks, are they usually labeled? I should be able to replace the impellor on the genset with no problem, the engines are a different story, might want to tackle that in the spring.

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2002 348 Vista

yes they should be lableled. Mine have a little nameplate attached to each one.

My A/C rarely gets as much stuff as the generator. This has to do with the type of thru-hull scoop on the intake. four Winns has put a pretty aggressive scoop on the gen which tends to suck up more stuff. If you use in plces where water is clear of debris you will have to clean less. We use up the merrimack river where there are often leaves, sticks and other floating debris.

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2006 348 Vista
"Cruisin Home"
Hampton NH

another thing you should checkout is your shower sump pump. pull up carpet in cabin and located in hatch below outside of bathroom.
three inputs:
1) shower drain
2) kitchen sink drain
3) A/C condensate drain.

1 output goes to thru hull on side of boat.

keep this sump clean by putting in some bleach periodically. do not flush food particulate down kitchen sink, will clog the pump and cause overflow. This sump will overflow and you will not notice until you come back someday and the cabin smells a little rank. you will eventually open compartment and see dirty water in bilge.

Eventuially you may wish to do what I and some have done which is make a separate overboard drain for the kitchen sink. Now we wash food to our hearts content. still have to keep sump un-gunked by adding bleach or something periodically.

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2006 348 Vista
"Cruisin Home"
Hampton NH

Good Point about the draining for the draining of the overboard of the kitchen sink. I would assume you did this yourself and drilled a hole on the side of the boat and ran a drain line? Or did you T it off with another hose running out there? Sounds pretty difficult, but it does sound like it would work much better than being stored in the tank.
I think I will tackle that next year. Sucks we only have 6 months of boating season in NE.

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2002 348 Vista

I wanted to drill but could not fit! Not that I am big, but when you pull out drawer and even refrig there is very thin space. Got a teenage dockhand to crawl in. Ask your maina mechanic to do it, shouldnt run you too much. well worth it!

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2006 348 Vista
"Cruisin Home"
Hampton NH

Make sure you drill well above the water line!

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2008 V358 Two-tone Blue V/P Dual Prop 320 HP
Lake Winnipesaukee, NH

Ya that would suck if I didnt drill above the waterline! lol

I went and checked the boat out last night and was able to get to the seacocks and cleaned the ac and the genset strainers (thanks for the instructions), they weren't dirty at all, so we are good to go. Just need to figure out the genset now. The mechanic thinks it may have to do with the cooling, which I dont know, we will find out today.

One thing that I wanted to ask is when I got on the boat last night, I started the engines just to let them idle for about 5 minutes, I havent turned them on since sat, so i wanted to start them and let them run. I let them run for about 5 minutes and then shut them off. I went down below into the cabin area and about 5 minutes later both of my Carbon Monixide detectors went off, I asssumed maybe some of the engine fumes got in there and figured they would turn off after a few minutes. I waited for about 30 minutes and they were still going off! They are very delicate I can see. I ended up having to leave with them still going off, I opened a side hatch window and I am hoping they turned off by themselves at some point. I will know later this morning when the mechanic comes back to finish up the genset work.

Another thing I wanted to ask is my slip has two 30 amp plugs where I plug in both cords to. I am thinking of moving down a few slips that is available that I have been wanting for some time. The only problem with the slip (not sure if it is a problem or not), it only has one 50 amp breaker. Do I buy a splitter and plug into that or do I have the marina change out the breakers to (2) 30 amp plugs? Not sure what to do there. I am assuming I can buy a splitter and everything should work fine right? Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks!

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2002 348 Vista

The CO detectors may be worn out, they are only good for a few years. They can be rebuilt by the manufacturer. In general they are very prone to false alarms. Learn how to disconnect them, you may need to do it at 2AM. I have a seperate CO detector with a numerical readout. My built ins have been giving me fits since new. They go off at the dock, nothing running, mid-week no one in the marina.

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2008 V358 Two-tone Blue V/P Dual Prop 320 HP
Lake Winnipesaukee, NH

Ya sounds about right, all the other boats I have owned had the same problem. I will get them replaced. It should be easy to disconnect. Thanks for the info!

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2002 348 Vista

I always made the marina change out the breakers but there may be a cost associated with this. It costs $100 to move slips at our yacht club but this includes them moving the boat, lines, dock boxes and installing correct breakers.

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Current Boat: 2000 Four Winns 298 Vista
Previous Boat: 2000 Carver 406MY

They are not charging me to move at all, I have to contact them to see if they will change the breakers and if so, what the costs will be. I was more or less wondering if there is a Y I could buy and not have to worry about any of that. One thing that I am wondering is if there is one 50 amp circuit and I am use to (2) 30 amps, is this going to cause any problems with lack of power with the 50 amp or am I not going to notice a difference. I did see a Y at West Marine for connecting to a 50 amp and pluggin 2 30 amp cords into it. Just want to make sure there is going to be no problems.

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2002 348 Vista

I'd buy the Y connector. Especially if you are going to do some cruising. We often get into a spot with only 50Amp power. Never tripped the main even with A/C running. They are expensive but real good to have.

In certain following winds we have problem with exhaust getting into cabin when we get back to dock letting engines warm down. You did the right thing open all hatches, we even run blower in the head. CO detectors very sensitive, but you want them to be. good to have backup. They can also go off with low battery which we found out late at night.

Probably need new Gen impeller. Really not a hard job, but if you feel unsure, try watching someone else do it first. It is really something good for you to know how to do because it may fail on a cruise. Get to know the people in your marina that are mechanically inclined. Lots of people will offer help/assistance especially when rewarded with cold refreshments!

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2006 348 Vista
"Cruisin Home"
Hampton NH