Hardin Marine 620-700 water plumbing

[The Buda]

I'm installing a Harden Marine cooler and have a question regarding the raw water plumbing. The old oil cooler was mounted on the engine bell housing, the Harden cooler is too big and needs to be relocated to the stringer.

Is it possible to run the raw water from the inlet through the strainer to the cooler then the raw water pump instead of strainer, pump, cooler as it was with the old system? Basically running on the suction side versus the pressure side of the pump?

If the answer is do not run on the suction side, why??

[Chris]

Any restriction on the suction side will cause cavitation. You can probably pull it of in a low-po application, but I don't think I'd try it on anything that needed a significant coolant flow. Plus, anything before the sea strainers is going to be susceptible to clogging. Getting seaweed out of an oil cooler probably wouldn't be much fun- especially in a disabled boat pitching in the waves.

[The Buda]

Chris,

Did some research and haved decided to go on the pressure side of the pump.
I had planned to run through the strainer before the cooler just for that reason you mentioned.