tenders
Innocent Bystander
How would that work? You buy quoits of flax that slide over the end of the shaft, without having to be cut and without having to so carefully offset the joints? Interesting.
32-3 “Dripless” PSS v traditional stuffing box. Opinions, please?
- Thread starter windblown
- Start date
Dave G.
1984 E30+ (SOLD)
My last 2 boats had PSS seals when I purchased them. Both were older units and while doing other work requiring the shafts to removed I purchased rebuild kits from PYI as "while I'm in there might as well get it done" work. The newer bellows that came with both rebuild kits were considerably more robust in thickness and compression in comparison to the originals. Mine did not have the vent and I just burped it when launching and it was good to go. Maybe the older original units had some issues ? I don't know but I would be confident in using their current products on any of my boats FWIW.
Pete the Cat
Sustaining Member
They have a slit in them. The point is that when companies that actually make seals for other stuff (my guys had a contract with the military) they make perfect rings of the perfect length (very hard to cut GTX cleanly on your own), and press them in a die to make prefab rings. Much more precise than you can do yourself. This makes them easy to install (they are compressed and will not roll when you seat them in the box). and fit very tight when you clamp down but will allow water to cool them without leaking. With grease and a bit of the special green clay you can make them dripless. I have had them installed on my Tartan for 1200 hours in 5 years. No drips. It takes a break in period and it requires careful monitoring in the first 10 hours--so I think the new PSS probably work fine for most folks who do not want to fool with it.
Dave G.
1984 E30+ (SOLD)
I looked at your post and WOW that bellows looked totally rotted. I have to say the 2 I replaced were thin and way too soft to provide a lot of compression seal. That said they never leaked and showed no signs of the degradation yours did. Curious if you sent those photos or even better the old bellows to PYI and if so what their answer was ? None of mine had an aluminum locking collar, both were SS.
Never sent it to PSS just replaced with a new PSS unit. The bellows on the new unit are MUCH thicker rubber. The old one was ridiculously thin material for the application, as you can see. The poor access to the aft end of the engine made inspection nearly impossible (even the surveyor reported the unit in good shape), and replacement even worse so it just sat there soaking in diesel and bilge gunk for years.
Reporting back in. I expect to finish up this project over the next two weeks. We had a pretty cold winter, so I let this project take its time. Uncoupling the transmission and shaft proved to be a bear. Getting the set screws loose from the coupler required a couple of applications of PB Blaster, spread out over three visits to the boat on the hard before the first screw would turn the slightest bit. Silly me, I thought I had made great progress, but still had to get the coupling off the shaft after the set screws were removed. Hah! I used a puller, which was an absolute necessity, and I found several ways to get my left hand and arm over the fuel pump, past the manifold and the heat exchanger and related hoses and back to the shaft while the right arm wrapped between the water heater hoses and down. I had to explain the resulting bruises to my physician, lest my spouse be implicated unfairly. The biggest challenge was that there was so little clearance between the two halves of the coupler (one still on the transmission, and the other on the shaft), that I couldn't get the puller in between them. Eventually, I cut off the bellows on the old PSS that was still on the shaft so that I could gain more room. Then I worked through a series of spacers between the puller and the shaft over many days, starting with a 3/4" nut, moving to a #13 socket, and then a longer socket. Changing spacer lengths meant loosening the four bolts all over again, and then tightening. Finally, I succeeded in getting the coupler off the shaft and removing the rest of the old PSS. The shaft had some scoring where it went through the cutlass bearing, so I sent it off to a shop to have them evaluate and to make sure it was true. I just got it back this week, and I it passed inspection. Pulling the old cutlass bearing proved challenging. Like others, I ended up having to hacksaw through from the inside, which Nigel Calder suggests as a reasonable last resort. The new bearing is in the freezer, to be installed this weekend.
Final report: after the expected break-in period for the new dripless shaft seal, all is dry there. I still don’t have a completely dry bilge, but if I head out with 3/4“ of water in the bilge, I come back with 3/4” of water in the bilge. Sealing the lower rudder bearing and replacing the shaft seal made a significant improvement! However, there was still water accumulating under the galley sink, so that led to the replacement of two galley foot pumps. That led to the discovery of a cracked valve on the fresh water hose feeding into the foot pump, which led to the removal of most of the sound-deadening foam under the galley sink that was disintegrating, which revealed that the manifold was not secured to anything. Still tracing the rest of the fresh water system for leaks, but mostly, just going sailing . . .