SEALINE T46 STERN GLANDS & SEACOCKS

splosh

splosh

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 Apr 2002
Messages
226
Location
Hamble
www.hamblecharter.com
Help!.. I saw at the boat show, Tides Marine Shaft Seals:- http://www.tidesmarine.com/shaft-seals.html.
If anyone has a T46 then they will know how difficult it is to get to the stern glands. Has anyone fitted these Shaft seals, are they good?.
Also, my main engine seacocks are practically impossible to get to to turn them off. My surveyor says to fit remote levers to the handles, Has anyone any ideas for an easier operation?.
P.S. any other T46 input / experience would be appreciated.
 
Shaft seals are very good unless they fail.

The old type packing glands are basic but very reliable,

To fit a new seal if one fails, cost of a lift, let go shaft, ect

Can get expensive!!!!
 
They normally fit 2 seals per shaft, so if the one in use fails you rip it off and slide the new one into place. So you dont have to move the shaft to fit a new seal.

Re seacocks, fit electric ones from Vetus. I fitted one of these, it's great. You can fit it immediately above your existing seacock, so no need for lift out. Couple of hundred quid each though...
 
Splosh

We've had a T46 for two years and its a truly wonderful boat. Why do you say changing the seals is complicated? I had them done when we bought the boat and it seemed fairly straightforward, though I didn't do them myself.

I'm rushing off now, but will post some thoughts on the boat tomorrow, or if you want any specific info then PM me.
 
Had gland seals re-packed in June when we bought the boat. It was easy for Sealine engineers then because they had removed the exhaust elbows and exhaust hoses to renew the exhaust hoses.
Now glands dripping slightly, but to get to the glands and tighten them is near impossible. Boat has air con, so there is the air con sea water pump and hoses in between the glands which makes it even more cramped to get into the area, PLUS, sea water strainers are just inboard of the gearboxes. If i was 4ft and six stone I might be able to crawl through and get to them
Excellent boat, well built apart from this niggle... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Thanks for reply, you have confirmed my thoughts, Boat coming out in Feb so I will give these seals a try + 2 x vetus electric seacocks. I will take som pics and post on forum. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
MIne are always leaking and I have them re packed every season. Ive looked at the tides marine seals but 2 things put me off.

1 Every person I talk to says be carefull they are not as safe as the traditional stuffing box. When they go its a serious leak.

2 The cost is circa £1,500 to fit and you can have a lot of re packing done for that.

I wonder if the Teflon gland packing is a compromise as many users say its a complete seal that lasts for seasons??

Anyone got any other thoughts on this??

Am I right that Sunseeker now fit tides marine seals on all their boats.
 
I agree that the one major shortcoming of the boat is access to the seacocks, raw water strainers and glands, though being quite slim I can now fairly easily wiggle through and work on them. Sounds like your sea cocks and strainers are further forward (mine are right back against the bulkhead), which may make checking them easier but make climbing through to access the glands more difficult.

Incidentally I had the glands done in December 2003 when I first bought the boat and they haven't leaked at all since. Do you use the boat in Essex? The surveyor told me that glands wear very quickly there because of the silt in the water acting like fine sandpaper.

Do you have the dinette or 3 cabin version? We have the dinette and did a cheap and simple conversion which means we can seat 6 adults round the table for dinner, and then quickly convert to a double berth with a privacy curtain. That's why I love the boat so much, it's effectively a three double cabin boat, with a saloon and seperate dinette, a big galley and a full length flybridge, all squeezed into a 46 foot boat. We've yet to find anything else at that size that comes close.
 
Yes, we use the boat in Essex. Had a F37 previously from 2003 - 2005, and re-packed the stern glands myself 2 years ago & never leaked.
I bought the boat from Sealine Hamble in june last year and they told me they had done the glands, but I wasnt there. I know that if I do my own work it is done methodically. Perhaps thats why they are leaking.
We have the third cabin with bunks, but we tend to use the cockpit a lot for entertaining.

If you are at the Boat Show it is in St Katherines until Sunday.

I think I may of seen your boat last April!.

Another thing I want to change is the engine intake skin fittings to the scoop type with fins, the round hole skin fittings look ready to suck up a bin liner or carrier bag as they are quit large in diameter!. Did this conversion on the F37 and never had a problem with weed or debris in the strainers!.

Have got to chat to you more. will send p.m. and pics
 
The elect seacocks are pukka. There's a motor drive and a worm gearbox, so the open close action takes a good 30secs becuase the gearbox ratio is huge, to provide enough torque to operate the cock. Then there's a microswitch at each end of the seacock travel, to tell you positively that the open close action has occured. Hence you run a 5 core cable, 2 cotres of which are signal wire from the microswitches. The gearbox clicks off if you ever need to operate the cock manually, with a key or spanner

The Vetus supplied switch is ugly but if you bust it apart you find it is actually a Carlingswitch underneath, so you can add a carling rocker front to it, then it blends into the switch banks on your dashboard and looks all original fit. Highly pukka
 
I would be interested on how you get on with the electric seacocks - I was thinking about them myself as Harlequin has a gene mounted almost over the top of the seacocks and makes for some interesting stretching manouvers to reach the lever.

Steve
 
ok. If all of those fit them, they cant be that bad re the risk of failure and water intake. Anyone got any idea of life of the tides marine unit and fitting cost?
 
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