I just helped Roger on Teamwork have his Tides Marine Seal changed on the port shaft. It was keaking badly at speed.... unfortunately, it still is...
As a result I was looking at the Tides Marine web site to read the installation procedure and saw the following disclaimer:
SPECIAL NOTE FOR PDQ MV34: Tides Marine Shaft Seal Assemblies may be installed at the owners discretion, but will be supplied WITHOUT Warranty.
It seems that they have had too many warranty claims on our boats... Wonder why that is???? What makes our boats different?
Tides Marine Seals
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Tanah-Keeta
- admiral
- Posts: 270
- Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 1:30 pm
- Location: Washington, NC (34108)
Tides Marine Seals
Ron McDaniel
TK III 34108
TK III 34108
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Ross Bowling
- admiral
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:49 pm
Re: Tides Marine Seals
It turned out that neither of my shafts were aligned out of the factory and this contributed to the tides marine seals going. In fact my starboard seal was damaged when it was installed at the factory, they used plumbers tape to stop a leak, and James & Jackie changed it out a week after leaving Whitby, I have switched to the PSS seals and have now problems, yet. 
Ross Bowling
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DickTuschick
- skipper
- Posts: 98
- Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2008 3:38 pm
Re: Tides Marine Seals
Hi Ron,
We have dealt with this issue (many times) and have come to some conclusions.
First, in many instances the engines/shafts were never aligned properly at the factory. This fact was hidden by the flexible coupling installed between the transmission coupling and the shaft coupling. When there was an out of alignment condition, the dripless shaft seal suffered because of the excessive vibration that resulted. This led to many of the Tides seals wearing out prematurely and thus their warranty statement. Where the alignment is in order we have seen these seals in use for over 1000 hrs and still not leaking. We have found the Tides product to be excellent and the people at Tides Marine to be very helpful. The real problem appears to be alignment and and the fact that an out-of-alignment situation is masked by the flexible coupling. This is definitely the case on many PDQ 34's. I have yet to find any dripless shaft seal that can tolerate the vibration that comes from an out-of-alignment issue.
I did a posting earlier that also addressed this issue and in that posing I recommended that the alignment should be checked on a regular basis (annual). I intend to do some testing on our boat (Heron) with removal of the flexible shaft coupling and see what affect that may have. This is a relatively simple (low-tech) issue but definitely a "nagging" one as it is not easy or quick to properly check and align the engine.
With regards to a replacement seal immediately leaking, It is possible that the shaft has been scored and that moving the seal forward or aft 1/2" might solve the problem.
More info to come.......
We have dealt with this issue (many times) and have come to some conclusions.
First, in many instances the engines/shafts were never aligned properly at the factory. This fact was hidden by the flexible coupling installed between the transmission coupling and the shaft coupling. When there was an out of alignment condition, the dripless shaft seal suffered because of the excessive vibration that resulted. This led to many of the Tides seals wearing out prematurely and thus their warranty statement. Where the alignment is in order we have seen these seals in use for over 1000 hrs and still not leaking. We have found the Tides product to be excellent and the people at Tides Marine to be very helpful. The real problem appears to be alignment and and the fact that an out-of-alignment situation is masked by the flexible coupling. This is definitely the case on many PDQ 34's. I have yet to find any dripless shaft seal that can tolerate the vibration that comes from an out-of-alignment issue.
I did a posting earlier that also addressed this issue and in that posing I recommended that the alignment should be checked on a regular basis (annual). I intend to do some testing on our boat (Heron) with removal of the flexible shaft coupling and see what affect that may have. This is a relatively simple (low-tech) issue but definitely a "nagging" one as it is not easy or quick to properly check and align the engine.
With regards to a replacement seal immediately leaking, It is possible that the shaft has been scored and that moving the seal forward or aft 1/2" might solve the problem.
More info to come.......