SureSeal Cooling Water Pick-Up Hose Tee Kits

Tides Marine SureSeal Dripless Shaft Seals are cooled and lubricated by pressurized water supplied via a hose running from a point in the engine's raw water cooling system to an injection fitting on the seal housing.

Tides Marine offers Water Pick-Up Kits for this purpose which include everything needed to connect a SureSeal Dripless Shaft Seal to a point in the engine's raw water cooling system. This water is required for proper lubrication of the lip seal and PTFE bearing in the SureSeal housing.
There are two styles of kits available –

Hose Tee Kits are used to tap into flexible rubber cooling hoses by cutting the hose and inserting the included Tee fitting.
Hose Barb Kits are used to tap into available threaded drain ports in the engine's raw water cooling system.*
Refer to the diagram in the Overview & Ordering Information document link, below.

The water supply source selected should produce a minimum of 1 gallon per minute at idle speed and approximately 2 psi. It should increase as you throttle up.

When using a hose tee, measure the inside diameter of the hose you will be tapping into and match it to the corresponding size tee fitting in the Specification Chart. (Be sure to note the overall length of the hose tee in this chart to make sure you have enough room available to insert it into the hose.)

Then, select the hose tee model with the branch fitting outside diameter that matches that of the water injection fitting on your SureSeal:
SureSeals for prop shafts with an outside diameter up to and including 2-3/4" will have an injection fitting for 3/8" hose.
For prop shafts 3" and larger, the injection fitting is sized for 1/2" hose.



* Most installers who decide to supply cooling water to the shaft seal via a cooling system drain port, will probably just purchase an appropriate sized brass hose barb and some marine grade silicone fuel hose and hose clamps rather than purchasing a Tides kit. If this applies to you, be aware that –
• Some drain plug pick-up points may be dry locations. Check for adequate water flow (1 gallon per minute) before using the selected drain port.
• Some pick-up points may require the use of 90° elbow fittings rather than a straight hose barb. This type of 90° fitting should be avoided if at all possible. Sediment, engine scale, rust and other debris are prone to collect in such 90° turns.
• Manifold pick-up points must be inspected several times a year for the debris mentioned above. Manifold areas are commonly used as drain points. They can collect enough debris to impede water flow in a short period of time.
• Pick-up points at the bottoms of elbows (again, commonly used to drain the system) may fill with sand and other materials if the vessel operates in shallow water (or runs aground). Inspect these pick-up points regularly.