Face Seals vs Tides SureSeal:

Each half of the face seal is mounted independently.  Side loads of even a fraction of a pound can cause misalignment and leaking

The Tides shaft seal housing and bearing are one piece.  The bearing holds the seal true on the shaft.  Impact or pressure on the Tides shaft seal cannot cause misalignment..

Face seals are sensitive to variations in shaft rpm. High rpm may cause the faces to bounce, compromising the integrity of the seal.

On a Tides SureSeal the precision-machined bearing operates through a broad range of rpm. Rather than two hard surfaces, the tides shaft seal has a nitrile lip seal surrounding the shaft and held in place by a water-lubricated bearing which extends life of the Tides seal.

On a Face Seal if the bellows, spring-loaded hose or rubber "boot" are misaligned at the time of installation, leaking will occur at the time of launch.

Once the SureSeal bearing is on the shaft, the unit is automatically aligned.

Replacing either side of the Face Seal requires the removal of the shaft from the transmission coupling.

Using the Tides Spare Seal Carrier allows the vessel owner to replace the lip seal without removing the shaft from the coupling and change the lip seal in the water.

Face seals have spinning parts attached to the shaft with hose clamps or set screws spinning at 100's to 1,000's of rpm.

Tides shaft seals have no moving parts and are motionless on the shaft.

Feet-per-minute of seal contact is exaggerated because the face seal's diameter is always larger than that of the shaft.

Lip seal function occurs on the surface of the shaft. Feet-per-minute of seal contact is minimized as the lip seal sees shaft diameter only.

The spinning shaft (centrifugal force) throws trash and other foreign matter found in the water toward the face seal which can inhibit proper function.

Centrifugal force throws such material away from the lip seal positioned on the shaft and the water being injected also cleans the seal head.