Tides Marine Sure Seal Deep Sea Seal Squeaking at low RPM

[baz1033]

Good Afternoon.

I have had Tides marine sure seals fitted to replace my old Manecraft Seals on my Fairline Turbo 36.
All seems good with no drips and the cases staying cool. But at low rpm up to about 1200rpm they both squeak. after that they run silent.
I wonder if the water feed is not enough at low speed?. Shafts run straight and true.
We have done around 150 miles since fitting with no issues so far.
Its not a nice job to do and would rather not pay twice. so any advice would be great.

Many thanks

Barry

 

[DrSpock]

If they both do it it's usually a lack of water rather than wear / alignment / cutlass bearings.

 

[Hurricane]

I believe that Tides Marine specify the amount of water.
IIRC, they suggest a testing process.
Something like:-
Remove the hoses and catch the cooling water in a bucket - measure over a period of time.
I think they suggest removing the hose at the actual gland so you may need a stopper (or something) over the hose fitting whilst you are running the test.
If sea water does come in, it won't be much - well not as much as changing the seal whilst the boat is in the water - don't ask how I know!!
I guess there may be different flows depending on the size of the seal.

Maybe give Tides Marine a call - they are very helpful.

 

[DAW]

I think the correct flow rate for the SureSeal system is minimum of 4-5 litres per minute, measured at the connection to the seal unit when the engines are idling. The correct specifications for your particular unit should be in the installation instructions or available from the Tides Marine website,

The cooling water connection needs to be made to a pressurised supply of cool water to ensure adequate flow is maintained through the seal regardless of boat or engine speed. It is usually made between the sea water pump and heat exchanger (i.e. on the inlet rather than outlet side of the cooling circuit). It might be worth checking where they have installed the take-off on your boat if it is not an original fitment.

Whenever I've had seals changed, the installers have always done a flow test before commissioning the seals. It's not a complex task ... you disconnect the cooling water hose from the seal unit, put it in a bucket, run the engines for 1 or 2 minutes at idle and then measure the quantity of water in the bucket. Whenever I've had problems with potential wear or leaking/dripping seals, the first thing they always check is the cooling water flow rate, so this must be a key failure risk.