OWB - Filter for debris?

[sw18x]

My OWB got a makeover this summer (major rust out, hole the size of your fist on the top of the water jacket). I'm in the middle of getting it up and running again and noticing a lot of left over rust particles in the water. I'm going to try to flush out what I can, but I got thinking, wouldn't it be a good idea to have some kind of filtering system on these things? Sooner or later, every boiler is going to see some level of internal rusting, and I imagine those little bits of rust play havoc on the pumps. I've got two new Tacos on this thing and don't want to waste them if I can't get all the debris out. There's a braided steel line connected to the circulator pump, I'd love to rig up a filter there to catch the worst of it. The only question is, what kind of filter could I use? I'm tempted to try an oil or hydraulic filter. I figure water is a lot thinner than oil so flow shouldn't be a problem, run it a few days then pull the filter apart and check how bad the paper is. What do you think?

 

[superwd6]

Go to your plumbing wholesaler & buy a Y strainer. That's exactly what you need .They backflush the screen when installed properly

 

[Turkeyslayer]

The Y strainer is a great idea!! I am working on my homemade OWB install and am going to get a strainer before I fire up the system. Thanks

 

[showrguy]

are you using rust inhibitor in your water ??
mines been running 10 years and water is still clear..

 

[sw18x]

I am...can't say the same for the previous owner. Like I said, it already rusted out and what I'm seeing now is leftover from before the refab.

I ended up just flushing it out real good...the logical place for the strainer would be inline with the circulator pump which is fed from the top by a braided steel line...problem is, the line connects to some threaded pipe which has already rusted so bad that the visible threads are almost gone. NO WAY I was trying to pull that off when I'm this close to being up and running, that had a 3-day headache written all over it.