SpeedSeals

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

I check them from time to time and they're fine.

How weird is THAT !?!?!?!!?

Its not weird.

The Yanmar handbook says to change them only every 1,000 hours. Thats a long time for many boat owners.

A front facing impeller cap is easy to open and pop the impeller out for inspection.

We have an aft facing impeller cap and its a pain to get open, and a screw driver needed to rip the impellor out. It always gets damaged taking it out... so one that may be fine for much longer needs replacement!

[Lancerbye]

I guess a lot depends on the orientation of the engine. My main engines are most easily accessed from the back so a rear facing pump is a piece of cake. Were they forward facing I would have problems. Too close to a bulkhead.

[tsmwebb]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Its not weird.

The Yanmar handbook says to change them only every 1,000 hours. Thats a long time for many boat owners.

Not sure about "The Yanmar handbook". My Yanmar book says to inspect the impeller every 600 hours or once a year whichever comes first. I check mine more often than that but still don't grok the benefits of the Speed Seal. Honestly checking them is a pretty trivial task. I had my pump on and off several times at sea on my last passage 'cause the bearings went bad on me. The on/off and checking of the impeller were no big deal.

I replace the impellers in my sea water pump annually and they almost always look perfect -- I have a collection of used ones. But, there have been a few instances where the impellers were really in need of replacing. I imagine that like many rubber things they deteriorate over time whether you use them or not.

Tom

[eyschulman]

totally agree rabend-we should all invest in good tools to remove standard screws and spread the word about speadseals lack of customer support

[YOGAO]

I'll tell ya, you anti-speedsealers have me confused.

First, the picture from GordMay shows a Yanmar pump with a SpeedSeal impeller cover in place of the silly standard one that Yanmar supplies.

Second, I know about the whole, YMMV, so here's mine. Installed my first SS on a 20+ yo Yanmar 2_M20 and inspecting the impeller was a snap. Loosen two screws, remove two others using my thumb and forefinger, slide the cover off and inspect - EASY! Installing them on our catamaran's 2, 30GM30s was a no brainer, the same ease of install and inspection ability.

WRT slotted screws, I just went to the SpeedSeal site and it still looks the same, so what did they change?

IMO, SpeedSeal is one of the best products out there. Simple, does exactly what it says it will do. Yanmar would be well-served to just make them an option on their pumps.

Fair Winds,
Mike

[Northeaster]

Note - On my 1982 Yanmar 2GM, there is no o-ring. it uses a paper gasket, and I, and likely some others, use a thin layer of RTV silicon to form a new gasket instead of the paper. A speedseals O-ring would be nice instead of the paper or RTV silcon, but not enough to make me pay for that alone.

I second the though of replacing the stock phillips impeller cover screws with allen-key SS scews of the same size / thread pattern. Make it much easier to get out without stripping, if it's been a while since they have been taken out.

My Yanmar pump has the rear facing impeller, so I take the pump off anyway. A few easy-to-turn allen key screws is no big deal. I do think the O-ring would be nice, but I only check every couple of years anyway.
I think a good strainer, and hanging the engine key on the raw water seacock (to make sure you open it) goes a long way to having the impeller last for years.

[colemj]

I'm with Mike. The speedseals were one of the better upgrades I put on our boat. Volvo engines with easily accessed cover plate, but with 6 teeny tiny brass screws. Brass, not bronze. And tiny - a very small screwdriver head is needed. And dealing with the paper gasket is a pain - you never want to check the impeller because you need extra gaskets. After breaking several of the screws off in the housing over the years, I changed to speedseal. Now I never hesitate to check the impeller. I also don't see any need for a slotted head - finger tight is all that is needed with the O-ring.

Mark

[nitpik]

Anyone out there have any experience using speedseal with a piggy-back double water pump? I have such a system on my Volvo 17D, and the outer pump blocks easy access to the tiny machine screws on the inner pump. It is a big deal checking the impeller on that one, so it sometimes gets neglected. I am planning to install a speedseal on the outer pump, and was wondering if I can simply add a set of speedseal knurled thumbscrews to the inner pump, keeping the same old faceplate?

[CFR]

I installed speed seal on my johnson belt driven pump which i only could access from the backside, it is a joy with the new system and i think it is an important issue of proper seamanship to have easy access to the watercooling system and the fuel supply ( double filter system) at any oceangoing boat. I had to change the impeller once at a windy night and it was a nightmare to get the little screws out and even more to get them back into. even if i never need to do it again to know how easy it is is case necessary.

i like such small engineering companies and i think this will be a one man setup, i order spares screws etc and it is fair to ask for payment for add. srews. dont srew them up i would say for 5 or 10 dollar. we all benefit from such improvements which should normally be done by the big pump makers right from the beginning

[YOGAO]

Originally Posted by nitpik

Anyone out there have any experience using speedseal with a piggy-back double water pump? I have such a system on my Volvo 17D, and the outer pump blocks easy access to the tiny machine screws on the inner pump. It is a big deal checking the impeller on that one, so it sometimes gets neglected. I am planning to install a speedseal on the outer pump, and was wondering if I can simply add a set of speedseal knurled thumbscrews to the inner pump, keeping the same old faceplate?

Yes, if they make a SpeedSeal for your pump, then you can just buy the thumbscrews. I think they are about $10 (plus shipping).

Fair Winds,
Mike

[heron237]

The diameter of the knurled head is much larger compared to the shank that it eliminates the need for a screwdriver, no tool needed-- that's the whole idea! The reason the 'o' ring is so small is so that the cover doesn't have to be cranked down to provide a good seal. Good engineering, Fine product. If you insist to have em slotted do it yourself, some boaters can be so a**l.

[SeaYara]

On our Dehler 36 the VolvoPenta engine is installed backwards behind the saildrive, making the waterpump all but inaccessible. It used to take an hour and a half to change the impeller, mainly due to the fact that I couldn't get a screwdriver in between the small space between the engine and the bulkhead.

We installed the SpeedSeal and it now takes less than half an hour to do the same job. Volvo advises inspection every 200 hrs, but mecanics have told us that the impeller will not last more than 130 hrs on this engine. They have been correct, every time we inspected after 150 hrs, the impeller had either broken vanes or partly broken vanes. Bottom line: we are very happy with the SpeadSeal and we only handtighten the screws, no leaks in 700 engine hrs.

[phantomracer]

have the speedseal on our Yanmar 3gm30f motor. Can change it by feel (since all the screws are behind the pump) in about 10 minutes tops.

I took a Mack Boring class and learned how to do it by taking the pump off. While not hard by any means, the speedseal does make it a lot easier/faster.

[Chief Engineer]

Originally Posted by heron237

The diameter of the knurled head is much larger compared to the shank that it eliminates the need for a screwdriver, no tool needed-- that's the whole idea! The reason the 'o' ring is so small is so that the cover doesn't have to be cranked down to provide a good seal. Good engineering, Fine product. If you insist to have em slotted do it yourself, some boaters can be so a**l.

Analus Retentus, a curious breed of maritime animal......who exhibits a peculiar ability to focus on innocuous aspects of his surroundings to the detriment of the overall environment in which he lives. Their inability to change their focus to the bigger picture causes anxiety, elevated blood pressure and general malaise among his brood.

Other observations on this Marine Fauna would be appreciated.

[Charlie]

Chief a common ailment of the Analus Retentus is Visual Rectimitus: It is a condition where your optical nerve gets wrapped around your rectum and you have a Shi&$y outlook on life.