Speedseal

[MVCalypso]

A raw water pump on one of my Lehman 135s has developed a leak.
The price of a new pump is within a few $ of the labor + parts to rebuild the old pump. So, I've decided to go for the new pump.
I'll rebuild the old one at my leisure and have a spare pump.

The old pump(s) both have Speedseals on them. I really like the Speedeals, but alas, the company has gone away.
I'm considering reusing the Speedseal cover on the new pump (and keeping the stock cover in the spares kit).

It's been many years since the Speedseals were installed (2002) and here's what I remember / think I know:
Speedseals came in two revisions. The original was just the bronze cover and the impellers rub against the cover inside surface.

Later they made them with a teflon disk insert that was supposed to rotate with the impeller and hence reduce cover plate wear (or just move the wear to the non-impeller side of the rotating disk). I don't have the teflon insert version.
Frankly, the insert seems to me to be gilding the lilly, and not worth the extra complexity: 23+ years of service life for the solid cover feels pretty good.

I'm interested in figuring out what the orig inside surface of the 1st generation Speedseal was.
On the slim chance that anyone has a nice new, 1st gen Speedseal that's sitting in their spares, I'd love to see a picture of it!

There is some wear on my Speedseal cover where the impeller has worn against it. I'm trying to figure out if that really matters...
The Speeedseal is not leaking, and I've not had any problems with water pumping volume, so the wear amount doesn't appear to be causing any problem I can detect.

I figure "it depends on the amount of wear" - but how much wear, would be acceptable?
So I went to measure the wear... 1st step seemed to be to figure out "how much wear has occurred?".

What I don't remember and would like to know:
Was the Speedseal inside cover surface originally flat?
If so, I can measure the depth of the wear area and estimate how much the wear is for engine hours since 2002.

Or was the original inside surface recessed? Perhaps by the thickness of the stock cover paper gasket?
In which case, I can subtract the gasket thickness from the wear depth.

Perhaps, some clearance is needed between the cover and the impeller? How much?

You may wonder, why do I care?
Well, I may decide to machine a couple of Speedseal replacement covers...
This would only make sense as a "fun personal project" (where my labor is free and I already have the required machinery).
While thinking about this, I made the mistake of looking up the current small quantity price of bronze... OMG.
I can only imagine what a Speedseal would have to sell for today.

 

[Nick F]

I made my Speedseal type covers from SS - they seem to work just fine. No recess!

 

[MVCalypso]

I made my Speedseal type covers from SS - they seem to work just fine. No recess!

Thanks! No recess makes things much simpler.
What alloy SS did you use?

I had an issue a couple of years ago where a SS thumb screw thread broke off in the pump body, seemed to be a corrosion issue.
Any corrosion issue between the SS plate and the bronze pump body?

I was surprised to find a piece of 12x12x0.25 SS is around $80 while Bronze (alloy dependent) is $400-$660 - so using SS is attractive.

 

[Nick F]

Thanks! No recess makes things much simpler.
What alloy SS did you use?

I had an issue a couple of years ago where a SS thumb screw thread broke off in the pump body, seemed to be a corrosion issue.
Any corrosion issue between the SS plate and the bronze pump body?

I was surprised to find a piece of 12x12x0.25 SS is around $80 while Bronze (alloy dependent) is $400-$660 - so using SS is attractive.

I agree - bronze is extremely expensive and difficult to source in certain shapes. I used 316SS which is obviously preferable to 304. I have not seen any issue with corrosion at the SS/bronze interface.

 

[jgwinks]

There should be no real clearance between the impeller, front cover, and rear surface of the housing. If there's a gap, it won't pump. If the inside surface of the cover is flat, you can sand and polish it smooth. Too bad you can't do that with the rear of the pump.

 

[cfr]

Just talked to speedseal , they will be back on the market beg 2026

 

[KnotYet]

I'm usually a sucker for techy gadgets like SpeedSeal:

Speedseal

Please contact us at support@speedseal.com or Call us at +44(0)1142728626

speedseal.com

Having said that, I never got the logic for getting and using one on my previous boats' engines.
I don't see enough advantage in function or convenience to justify the added expense.
The standard cover (at $30 for a Lehman one) has 6 screws vs the Speedseal's 4 screws.
For me, most of the time gets spent getting the old impeller out and the new one in correctly.

What am I missing?

 

[Nick F]

I'm usually a sucker for techy gadgets like SpeedSeal:

Speedseal

Please contact us at support@speedseal.com or Call us at +44(0)1142728626

speedseal.com

Having said that, I never got the logic for getting and using one on my previous boats' engines.
I don't see enough advantage in function or convenience to justify the added expense.
The standard cover (at $30 for a Lehman one) has 6 screws vs the Speedseal's 4 screws.
For me, most of the time gets spent getting the old impeller out and the new one in correctly.

What am I missing?

For me, the following are pros:
It does not weep.
It does not require a new gasket every time it is opened.

 

[Comodave]

Don’t have to clean off the paper residue from the old gasket. Particularly when you can’t even see the water pump to begin with. The mechanics at the marina where I bought our last boat said they would draw straws to see who had to change the impeller on the starboard engine because it was so bad. I put Speedseal on the engines and bought a tool from impellertool.com to insert the new impeller and I could change the impeller in 15 minutes.

 

[MVCalypso]

I suspect some of the appeal may depend on one's engine room layout. As I get older and my contortion skills decrease, I appreciate the convenience the speedseals provide.

Like many twin engine boats, the impeller on the stb engine is outboard - and the access is not really suitable for for a regular size human. Once I do get in there, I'm on my right side, angled head downward, with stuff poking into me. Makes me want to minimize the time I have to spend that way.

For me, the Speedseal
1) lowers the probability that Mr. Murphy will grab one or more of the little screws and hide it in a bilge crevice,
2) eliminates gaskets to mess with (neither cleaning it off, or putting a new one on),
3) two of the 4 screw positions in the cover are slotted - which means only 2 thumb wheels have to come off (and they are larger, easier to hold, and easier to find if I do drop one). The cover can slide on/off the two in-place screws. When replacing the cover, putting the remaining two back in is pretty easy. It makes cover off & back on a no tool, one handed operation.

I will admit that I just got the boat back from the yard and while it was there I had the stb (leaking internally) water pump replaced. Byproduct: Stb impeller change checked off the task list. So I also went hog wild and had the yard change the port engine impeller too. Such extravigance!

 

[KnotYet]

I guess the above advantages don't apply to me. My Jabsco's are easy to access and dry.
I would also hesitate to depend on availability of replacement parts now from a new start-up.

 

[MVCalypso]

I would also hesitate to depend on availability of replacement parts now from a new start-up.

I hear ya. I'm not sure if they should be considered a start up or not. The product was around for some years, then the firm folded up. If "they" are coming back, "they" may not really be new - but I don't know enough about who "they" are to know what to think.

Interesting tibit - I sent a msg to the contact on the old web site; didn't really expect a response.
I asked if a drawing was avail that I could buy or just get (patent is expired). Seems to me the residual value is in the "these are the dimensions for that pump" knowledge.
I thought it might be worth it to make fabricating one easier.

I got an email recently saying which speedseals? - as they might have them in stock.
Hum, "in stock" from a company that is out of business? Interesting.
To reply I had to go to a link they sent - that web site is in French.
I've id'd the pump and asked for a price quote.
It'll be interesting to see what they want for a new one.

 

[Nick F]

I guess the above advantages don't apply to me. My Jabsco's are easy to access and dry.
I would also hesitate to depend on availability of replacement parts now from a new start-up.

You can always put the standard cover back on (I kept mine!).

 

[Nick F]

A photo of one of my home made "Speedseal" covers. The tricky part is due to the very small clearance bewteen the O-ring grove and the screw holes. This one was for the Johnsen pump on a Ford Lehman.

 

[cfr]

in my case on the sailboat it was difficult to get to the pump and only from the back so the speedseal really was nice because no srews falling down the bilge. if there is space etc they are not soo important but i believe the used rotating teflon bronze part is good for the impeller, my is now 1000 hrs and looks fine....