Shaft seal question

[brico]

On my two sailboats i've owned i had PSS dripless shaft seal. Those things are great. Entirely made of Stainless Steel and good quality rubber bellow, so no water dripping at all and absolutely zero oxidation/corrosion since there was no copper/brass parts involved. Practically maintenance free except rubber bellow replacement once in 7-8 years, new ones can last even longer. Momentarily pulling the rubber bellow backwards to "burp" any trapped air after hauling out the boat for maintenance, ut otherwise worry and hassle free arrangement.

How many of you have opted for PSS or similar arrangement instead of the original packed shaft seal? The packed shaft seal that I have (I believe it to be original arrangement) does not resemble usual gland packed seal that has two side bolts for pushing/tightening the seal but somewhat different arrangement. I'll have to take photos of it to explain. Trust these are re-packed when the boat is hauled out. Is there anywhere an instruction on how to do it? I believe overtightening s not good and undertightening introduces sea water ingress when the engine is running and even when stopped.

Right now I do not have any water ingress at all. Not even a drop. There is a water cooling hose that branches off the raw water cooling pipe just after the raw water pump. The seals are not heating up when running but both are heavily oxidized with that green stuff slowly building on them.....

[q240z]

I wouldn't worry too much about the green stuff, but when I replaced my packing I went with the old standard waxed flax because I had it in my spare parts box. After a year or so it started leaking, so I tightened it up a bit. Then, a year later, it started leaking again. So I bought a package of teflon packing, took the gland off, and put in one additional turn of the new packing. She hasn't leaked a drop since and the stuffing box stays nice and cool.

[jim rosenthal]

I have the PSS seals, for several years now, and they work fine. However, when I bought them, Teflon/GoreTex packing was not available. It is far better than the flax and grease packing that we had for decades.

If you can get the packing glands/stuffing boxes etc cleaned up (a miserable job because of where they are and what the job is) you can spray them with Corrosion-X and they will stay clean and not get green again. The only part of the packing gland system that ages and needs replacement, besides the stuffing itself is the hose. Hatteras used very high quality hose in that application- I think it was steam hose, someone said- and I don't even know if it's available anymore.

[brico]

I have the PSS seals, for several years now, and they work fine. However, when I bought them, Teflon/GoreTex packing was not available. It is far better than the flax and grease packing that we had for decades.

If you can get the packing glands/stuffing boxes etc cleaned up (a miserable job because of where they are and what the job is) you can spray them with Corrosion-X and they will stay clean and not get green again. The only part of the packing gland system that ages and needs replacement, besides the stuffing itself is the hose. Hatteras used very high quality hose in that application- I think it was steam hose, someone said- and I don't even know if it's available anymore.

Hi Jim,

Thank you. By hose, do you mean the 1/4 " cooling hose that runs from the elbow of the raw water discharge pipe after the pump? I have to admit I have not looked at the condition of that hose and I should have.

regards/petar

[jim rosenthal]

No, I meant the rubber hose that is clamped in there between the shaft log itself, which is bronze, and the stern tube, which is a filament wound fiberglass piece that is part of the hull; it is glassed into the hull, if memory serves correctly. There are two clamps on each end of it.

The PSS system replaces all that with the bellows and the sealing ring etc. The bellows clamps onto the stern tube similar to the way the rubber hose that was in between the shaft log and the stern tube did.

Other folks here may know this better than I do. I installed the PSS seals a long time ago and I don't remember the exact arrangement of the original system.

[steve flury]

there are instructions in the manual for the boat which I think you can still get from hatteras for a fee. according to the manual the shaft uses three rings of 3/8 inch flax and the rudder 1/2 inch. had mine repacked about a year ago and it only drips with the shaft turning , about a one drop a minute . my manual has an illustration but it is faded . I will try to get a picture .

flury
1980 37c

[brico]

Since i had PSS shaft seals on my previous sailboats I did not do any maintenance on them. My Starboard shaft seal is now dripping water when stopped and more water when running. I guess i have to tighten up the packing glands a bit and see if it would stop the leak at least while the shaft is not running. If this tightening does not stop the leak, i guess i'll have to either add packing or replace the one or two layers of the old packing (i have been given to understand there are three rings). Can this be done while the boat is floating or i'll have to await until next haul-out to do this renewal of propeller shaft gland packing renewal?

[MikeP]

I don't know anything about the PSS seals but I can verify that the Gore packing is excellent. I switched to that in 2005 on our 53MY and there is no water intrusion at the shaft under any conditions. It takes a bit of initial adjustment to achieve that but once done, there will be no water intrusion. You have to follow the instructions carefully re adjustment but if you do, the bilges will remain dry...at least as far as the propshafts re concerned.

[Finalee]

I have the PSS and like them. After owning many boats this is the first with them. Changed the clamps recently , otherwise a visual each time in the engine room is it. This provides me with extra time to chase down other issues.

[brico]

Thanks guys,

Can repacking be done with the boat in the water? I know I can tighten the glands but not sure about repacking, removing couple of rings of packing and replacing with new ones. Any advise is much appreciated.