bumblefish
Well-Known Member
I was impressed by the fitting of this product in the recent PBO, are there any competitors in the UK for comparison?
Tides Marine Shaft Seal
- Thread starter bumblefish
- Start date
dickh
Well-Known Member
The best in my opinion is the PSS Seal which I think is better engineered but more expensive. Also Deep Sea Seal which is similar. Saying that I've just fitted a Volvo rubber seal which seems to work fine!
vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
I was impressed also and have discussed buying one. The price seems to be competitive. I then found through another forum that another owner of a Sadler 34 bought one a year ago. His setup is not quite the same as David Rainsbury's in PBO, as he does not have the pressurised water supply. Instead he simply has an open tube that extends to above the waterline at any possible angle of heel. He tells me that not a drop of water has entered the boat through the seal.
It seems to me that the main problem might be that the shaft is insufficiently smooth, round and undamaged for the lip seal to run on. Given these criteria it seems to be a very good option.
It seems to me that the main problem might be that the shaft is insufficiently smooth, round and undamaged for the lip seal to run on. Given these criteria it seems to be a very good option.
mireland
Well-Known Member
I think the Manecraft seal has an advantage since the seal is not between the seal and the propshaft but between the rotating and static faces of the seal itself. See here Manecraft seal
lumphammer
Well-Known Member
I fitted one to my Achilles 840 as the Volvo wouldn't fit the stern tube. So far very satisfied, construction seems good, and there are no leaks. I did fit new prop shaft at same time so no problems with the smoothnmess of the bearing surface.
I have cut into the cooling water between the anti syphon and the feed into the exhaust elbow to supply cooling water to the seal.
Customer support was excellant, I emailed a question about the seal on the web site and was phoned back the next day with the answer.
Now I'm glad I didn't fit the Volvo seal, as I don't have to worry about squeezing grease into it. It is also simpler than the PSS seal; somehow relying on a watertight joint made by pressing a carbon seal to a stainless ring by a bit of rubber tube doesn't seem as seaworthy.
I have cut into the cooling water between the anti syphon and the feed into the exhaust elbow to supply cooling water to the seal.
Customer support was excellant, I emailed a question about the seal on the web site and was phoned back the next day with the answer.
Now I'm glad I didn't fit the Volvo seal, as I don't have to worry about squeezing grease into it. It is also simpler than the PSS seal; somehow relying on a watertight joint made by pressing a carbon seal to a stainless ring by a bit of rubber tube doesn't seem as seaworthy.
mireland
Well-Known Member
No Connection
Forgot to say. I have no connection with TT norris or Manecraft seals. I have a manecraft seal on my boat and looked at the others before replacing it.
Forgot to say. I have no connection with TT norris or Manecraft seals. I have a manecraft seal on my boat and looked at the others before replacing it.
grimmy
Active Member
Hi, I have recently fitted one of these to my boat albeit with a new shaft as well. I think you would need to make sure that any existing shaft was in good enough condition. The unit is quite long, so the seal might well line up with an unworn area of the shaft. The one I have now seems to be working fine, I understand that you would only need the water supply if it is on a high speed craft otherwise you can just vent it above the waterline. However, if you buy one of these do make sure you test it before you relaunch as the manufacturers obviously don't! The boat previously had a Halyard deep sea seal fitted, this appeared to well engineered but relied on a sleeve fitted over the shaft and held in place with 3 very small grub screws.(urgh!!!). Over time these became loose and allowed the shaft to turn inside the sleeve causing substantial wear, this went unnoticed until one day the sleeve obviously moved, allowing quite a lot of water in! Halyard no longer make or support this seal but it may be that other makers use the same idea. The simplist idea seems to be the Volvo one which I had on a previous boat for many years with no problems. It only needs to be greased once a year and this is not really a problem. If you buy the grease in a small tube you can cut the bottom off it, bend it round the shaft, push it under the lip of the seal and squeeze the grease in. I hope some of this is useful.
Robin
Well-Known Member
My vote goes to the PSS seal.
Our boat had a Deepsea seal when we bought it but the soft bellows was starting to split so we replaced it. We had also had an idea of what could happen if it failed because the adjustment on this original 'slipped' after Berthon checked it as part of the re-commission service I paid hugely for, and we had water over the floorboards on the delivery trip. Fitting the replacement it was apparent that not only was the adjustment very critical (a guage was supplied) but getting the face at 90 degs to the shaft was also essential and very difficult to do in the usual location stood on your head bent through 3 x 90 degs. We had our excellent club engineer do the job and also add 2 jubilee clips as backups behind the bellows to stop any slip.
The following year I decided to replace the Deepsea with the PSS seal which is a much more robust piece of kit, with a substantial convoluted bellows and IMO a much more easily and consistently aligned seal face. This is a substantial S/S collar that slides onto the shaft, seals to it with O-rings and is held in place by 3 grub screws, it is easy to get it at 90 degs and the collar is easily backed up with a couple of jubilee clips behind it as a safety stop. The collar doesn't rotate on the shaft so the O-rings are merely stationary not rotating seals, the seal itself is between the collar and a carbon flange on the stationary bellows on the stern tube. Much simpler than my description! The sealing area of the PSS is wider than the DSS and is more tolerant of engine movement on the mounts IMO. We fitted the DSS with a water injection point but as advised by PSS simply ran a tube from this to above the waterline as an air bleed, so no 'burping' is needed after re-launching and there is a small head of water to keep the seal full, ie less possibility of a venturi dinghy self-baler style sucking water from the seal and it running hot. Otherwise on fast running shafts/boats this water inlet is pumbed into the sea water cooling circuit. We have now had 4 seasons with not a single drop of water passing the PSS, no need to 'burp' it or do anything at all to it since installation and the bellows is as sound as when it was fitted.
There are previous long posts on Deepsea seals so a Forum search is worthwhile. A number of people had reported serious problems, this and the splitting of the soft bellows on our original was why ours was replaced with the PSS.
PSS web page here
No connection with PSS, just a satisfied customer with a dusty bilge.
Our boat had a Deepsea seal when we bought it but the soft bellows was starting to split so we replaced it. We had also had an idea of what could happen if it failed because the adjustment on this original 'slipped' after Berthon checked it as part of the re-commission service I paid hugely for, and we had water over the floorboards on the delivery trip. Fitting the replacement it was apparent that not only was the adjustment very critical (a guage was supplied) but getting the face at 90 degs to the shaft was also essential and very difficult to do in the usual location stood on your head bent through 3 x 90 degs. We had our excellent club engineer do the job and also add 2 jubilee clips as backups behind the bellows to stop any slip.
The following year I decided to replace the Deepsea with the PSS seal which is a much more robust piece of kit, with a substantial convoluted bellows and IMO a much more easily and consistently aligned seal face. This is a substantial S/S collar that slides onto the shaft, seals to it with O-rings and is held in place by 3 grub screws, it is easy to get it at 90 degs and the collar is easily backed up with a couple of jubilee clips behind it as a safety stop. The collar doesn't rotate on the shaft so the O-rings are merely stationary not rotating seals, the seal itself is between the collar and a carbon flange on the stationary bellows on the stern tube. Much simpler than my description! The sealing area of the PSS is wider than the DSS and is more tolerant of engine movement on the mounts IMO. We fitted the DSS with a water injection point but as advised by PSS simply ran a tube from this to above the waterline as an air bleed, so no 'burping' is needed after re-launching and there is a small head of water to keep the seal full, ie less possibility of a venturi dinghy self-baler style sucking water from the seal and it running hot. Otherwise on fast running shafts/boats this water inlet is pumbed into the sea water cooling circuit. We have now had 4 seasons with not a single drop of water passing the PSS, no need to 'burp' it or do anything at all to it since installation and the bellows is as sound as when it was fitted.
There are previous long posts on Deepsea seals so a Forum search is worthwhile. A number of people had reported serious problems, this and the splitting of the soft bellows on our original was why ours was replaced with the PSS.
PSS web page here
No connection with PSS, just a satisfied customer with a dusty bilge.
