Archive | Hydraulics

Re-fitting Transom Door Hydraulic Cylinders

By Chris Brown on March 16, 2016 in Hydraulic transom door, Hydraulics

Transom Door Hydraulic Cylinders

Our Hydraulics team from High Seas Hydraulics was recently hired by the captain of a 150 foot Palmer Johnson that was at Lauderdale Marine Center for maintenance to work on its hydraulic transom door. The hydraulic cylinders were leaking and the placement of some of the hydraulic lines were causing them pinch during routine operation.

We removed and reconditioned the cylinders, replacing the seals. We specialize in re-building and stress testing custom hydraulic cylinders with the help of our machine shop, Straight Line Marine. We also fabricated new hydraulic hoses for this project and transom door 1 upon installation re-routed many of them to alleviate the pinching problems. We have the ability to make hydraulic hoses in-house, on-site at Lauderdale Marine center up to 1-1/4 inches in diameter and stock common hoses and fittings.

This particular vessel is a repeat customer for us, having worked on many other hydraulic systems for the boat. When you deliver quality work and focus on providing good customer service, the clients keep coming back.

Team Work Makes Short Order of this Job

By Chris Brown on March 14, 2016 in Boarding Ladder, Hydraulics

Hydraulic boarding ladder

A 156′ Custom Motor Yacht was hauled at Lauderdale Marine Center for a new paint job and other routine maintenance. As part of the painting process, the hydraulic side boarding ladder was removed by our Hydraulics team at High Seas Hydraulics for disassembly in order to paint the parts. The mechanical project was fairly straight forward. We made new pins and bushings in our machine shop, Straight Line Marine to replace some that were corroded in place and to provide for smoother operations of the ladder.

Forklift to carefully position ladder for installation

The tricky part of the job was getting the ladder on and off of a boat of this size with the vessel blocked in the yard and surrounded by scaffolding. Careful use of a forklift and skilled technicians not only on the part of our hydraulics team but also from our High Seas Yacht Service running gear team made the job a success.

Our on-site services ranging from hydraulics work, machine shop capabilities and skilled technicians from all three of our companies define team work in getting the “big” jobs done right.

High Seas’ Straight Line Marine Featured in Professional BoatBuilder Magazine

By Chris Brown on February 1, 2016 in Hydraulics

High Seas Hydraulics sister company, Straight Line Marine, was featured in a cover story in the January/February issue of Professional BoatBuilder Magazine. The article titled “The Necessity of Straight” provides an in-depth look at the art of shaft alignments. The author visited our facilities at Lauderdale Marine Center for a refresher course in the practice and precisions required to get running gear alignments right. The article also touches on our Hydraulics business and our capabilities. <Read More>

Don’t Overlook your Hydraulic Steering System – Routine Maintenance is Imperative even if there is no sign of problems

By Chris Brown on January 11, 2016 in Heesen Yachts, Hydraulics, Steering Systems

We were recently contracted to perform routine maintenance or general service on the hydraulic steering system on a 121 foot Heesen yacht. It is recommended that this type of service be performed every 5 to 7 years to ensure the yacht continues to run at peak performance. A steering failure can be extremely inconvenient.

Hydraulic steering system tank

As part of the process, we drained and flushed the hydraulic tanks containing the steering fluid, removed and rebuilt the steering cylinders and replaced the old hoses with newly fabricated ones that were made on site in our shop.

Part of the general refit on this yacht included installing new hard hydraulic lines. To ensure that the lines were clean prior to filling the tanks with fresh hydraulic steering fluid, air is blown through the lines starting at the tank and ending where the hoses meet the cylinders.

While the yacht was in for service, it also required work on the rudder system and for that we turned to our sister company High Seas Yacht Service. The technicians at Yacht Service removed the rudders and replaced the bearings and seals before re-installing the units.

Having a Hydraulic shop and experts in running gear under one roof, can often time save the owners, captains or engineers’ time and money.

High Seas Hydraulics Adds Factory Trained and Certified on ABT•TRAC Systems to its List of Credentials

By Chris Brown on October 3, 2014 in Bow Thrusters, Hydraulics, Stabilizers

At High Seas Hydraulics and High Seas Yacht Service, we take pride in the high level of service we provide our customers. One way to continue that tradition is to make sure our technicians receive the latest training on new and emerging marine systems.

We recently sent two of our hydraulics technicians to ABT•TRAC training in Rohnert Park, CA. ABT•TRAC is a leading manufacturer of world class yachting products. The Company specializes in stabilizers, bow and stern thrusters, and hydraulic systems.

During the training, our technicians honed their skills on re-building bow and stern thrusters, stabilizers and other hydraulic systems. Part of the training focused on installation and service for ABT•TRAC’s STAR and ReTrac systems. STAR is an option on all of ABT•TRAC’s stabilizers and provides vessels roll stabilization while at anchor or laying to. Introduced in 2013, ReTrac is the Company’s first retractable thruster.

After completion of the training and passing a comprehensive exam, our technicians are now Factory Trained and Certified to work on all types of ABT•TRAC systems. An added bonus of the training session, our technicians arrived back at our shop with comprehensive schematics for a number of hydraulic systems.

We firmly believe that to remain a trusted partner to our customers, we must remain on the cutting edge of technology.

High Seas Hydraulics Now Factory Trained and Certified on WESMAR Hydraulic Systems

By Chris Brown on October 1, 2014 in Bow Thrusters, Hydraulics, Stabilizers

On August 25 and 26, we sent two of our Hydraulics technicians to Woodinville, WA, to attend WESMAR’s annual Sales and Technical Service Training Seminar. The seminar consisted of two days of intense classroom work along with time spent on the manufacturing floor assembling, testing and operating WESMAR’s stabilizer systems, bow and stern thrusters and hydraulic systems.

WESMAR is the inventor of the dual prop counter-rotating bow thruster and the electronic gyro powered roll fin stabilizers.

At the end of the course, our technicians were awarded with a Certificateof Achievement for Successful Completion of the Mechanical Seminar on Installation, Maintenance and Operation of Bow Thrusters, Stabilizers, and Hydraulics. They are now Factory Certified to work on WESMAR Hydraulic Systems.

“This was one of the more comprehensive training classes I have attended,” commented Jeremy Short, High Seas Hydraulics Foreman. “Not only did we have the opportunity to learn in a classroom setting, but being able to actually breakdown and rebuild the stabilizers and thrusters gave me real world experience that I can bring back to my customers.

At High Seas Hydraulics, we believe that the investments we make in our people are investments we make for our customers. We will continue seek out new courses and certifications to help guarantee we can offer our clients the best service in the industry.

High Seas Hydraulics Technicians Complete Swagelok Training

By Chris Brown on October 1, 2014 in Hydraulics

Back in July, we sent two of our technicians to a Swagelok training course. The focus of the training was on hydraulic tube fitting theory and installation and level 1 hand tube bending for hard stainless steel tubing commonly found in many hydraulic installations. Having a thorough understanding of how to bend the hard tubing and the proper installation of the fittings is critical to the success of any hydraulic installation. Without this knowledge and experience, the systems would be subject to leaking of the hydraulic fluid.

The training re-enforced for our technicians the proper method to use when bending the tubing and assembling the fittings. It also covered topics including the proper method of tightening fittings on the tube and crimping.

Swagelok also provided our team with its Gap Inspection Gauge, a Dual-Tip Marker and a comprehensive Tube Fitter’s Manual. While bending hard tubing and assembling the proper fittings in the right way may seem like a simple process, when done wrong can lead to dire consequences at the end of the project.

No process is overlooked or disregarded at High Seas Hydraulics, that is why we subject ourselves to rigorous training from simple processes to complex re-building of hydraulic systems.

Replacing shafts on a Quantum Stabilizer system

By Chris Brown on July 29, 2014 in Hydraulics, Pitting, Quantum Stabilizer System, Stabilizers

While working on a Quantum Stabilizing system on a ABS Class 154 foot Richmond, we found that the stabilizer shafts had significant crevice corrosion where the lower lip seal rides. The lip seals on a hydraulic shaft or rod need a smooth surface or the sea water will leak in causing a failure of the bearings. The model of Quantum Stabilizer system used on this vessel was a Zero Speed ™ known for its ability to stabilize a vessel underway or at anchor.

Shafts from a Quantum Stabilizer System

We were able to repair one of the shafts by cladding over the area where the corrosion occurred. Cladding or shaft weld-over, is the process of repairing a worn or damaged area on a shaft. This type of work is done by our on-site machine shop, Straight Line Marine, which is the only shop in Florida that is ABS approved to perform this work on this class of boat.

However, the other shaft had corrosion that ran too deep so it was condemned and a replacement shaft was ordered.

Once the cladding process was complete and the replacement shaft received, we were able to re-install the stabilizer back in the vessel helping to ensure a smooth and comfortable journey for all aboard.

Maxwell Windlass Repair using Belzona

By Chris Brown on July 2, 2014 in Hydraulics, Pitting, Windlass

Pitting and corrosion before repair

Belzona applied over repair

While performing routine maintenance on a 110 foot Broward yacht’s Maxwell anchor windlass, we did a full tear-down and inspection. When we disassembled the Maxwell windlass, we found excess/severe pitting and corrosion in the cover body. Most marine aluminum equipment suffers from this type of corrosion over time. Unfortunately the part was so old that Maxwell did not have replacement parts readily available. The part was cast and very complicated so machining a replacement part was not feasible or economical.

In order to remedy the situation, we used a product call Belzona. It is a 2-part repair composite for metal repair and resurfacing based on solvent free epoxy resin reinforced with silicon steel alloy. This repair material will not corrode and resists a wide range of chemicals. It is easy to mix and apply without the need of specialist tools and can be machined using conventional tools.

The part was first sandblasted clean and prepped. We apply the Belzona to the repair area on the Maxwell windlass similar to applying frosting to a cake. Once it cures the material machines like aluminum. We then put the unit in the lathe where the cutting tool cuts the ID (inside diameter) of the windlass part. What we are showing in the accompanying pictures is the process half completed so what you are seeing is a smooth round surface under and to the left of the cutter and the frosting mix that is about to be cut to the right of the cutter.

Unit in the lathe where the cutting tool cuts the ID (inside diameter)

The final step in the process is powder coating before re-installation back onto the vessel. With this type of repair, the owner should expect many more years of use of this Maxwell windlass.

Pressure Testing NAIAD Stabilizer System Heat Exchangers

By Chris Brown on June 9, 2014 in Hydraulics, Naiad

Pressure testing NAIAD Stabilizer heat exchanger

In a previous post, we detailed the steps of flushing a NAIAD Stabilizer hydraulic tank off of a 100 foot Azimut yacht as part of rebuilding the entire system. The Naiad hydraulic fluid tank has a heat exchanger built inside that uses circulated sea-water to keep the hydraulic fluid cool. In this project the hydraulic fluid was turning a burnt orange color as seen in the sight glass which is an indication that the fluid was running hot. We removed the tank and removed the heat exchanger for descaling. A final critical step in the process is pressure testing the unit before it is re-installed in the tank and back in the vessel. If the unit fails it will mix sea-water with the hydraulic fluid with disastrous results.

We use a pressure testing system that starts with city water pressure and is boosted by a pump to 70 to 100 lbs. of pressure. The boosted pressure is held in place by a valve. We then monitor the pressure gauge to see if the pressure holds. If the pressure drops over an hour time then we know we have a leak.

If we detect a leak then the entire core needs to be replaced.

If no leak is detected, we proceed with the re-assembling and re-installation of the tank and add new hydraulic fluid to finish off the job.

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