Posted: October 15 2006 at 23:52 | IP Logged

You don't tell us the year or model of the boat or the type strainers you have, but here's a guess at a solution for your problem:

More than likely you have Perko strainers with cork gaskets in the caps.  Cork is compressible and at some point the wingnuts were likely over tightened to stop a leak in the cap to strainer body joint. The cork compresses and stays that way. The strainer may hold water but when suction is applied by the punp the compressed gasket will let air in and you lose your prime. Hose routing has nothing to do with it. The fix is to replace the cork gasket with a new rubber style gasket from Perko.

Hope this helps...............

Frank

Posted: October 16 2006 at 08:55 | IP Logged

It's a 1994 300 Sundancer.  It has a thru hull with a seacock and a South Bay strainer.  I was planning on swithching to a scoop type strainer in the spring.  The hose has no additional strainer in place.  I don't have a generator, I can only use the AC at the dock. 

Thanks,

Mark