I hope I don't have to go into the mud box at all but I suspect I shall need to clean the filters fairly regularly especially on the Nivernais where I'm based as it has suffered from lack of maintenance and dredging for some time and the bottom is too near the top. The duplicated filter system means that you can close off one of the big valves and clean one filter while leaving the engine running, in an emergency, and then repeat the process, if necessary, on the other filter. I've never had a raw water cooled engine before so it is going to be a learning process re the frequency of cleaning. Roger
I have a similar system for the boiler feed from the canal with two filters. I can use one but in practice have the flow through both; the slow flow means that a lot of the mud falls into the baskets at the bottom of the filter. There's also a pre-filter with a plastic screen (like plastic perforated zinc) which traps duckweed etc. I clean them daily as part of the maintenance routine; I also have a drain in the bottom loop of the pipework where the mud collects (at this point it is 2" diameter). Adamant's boiler uses something like 10 gallons a mile so I guess mine is similar. You get used to keeping an eye on the quality of the water overside; my chief grouse is following someone who can't be bothered to keep in the channel and stirs the bottom up. Sean
