e30+ Shaft Seal

[bigd14]

Once I removed the quarterberth bulkhead I was able to get to the old nasty shaft seal.

Pictures are worth a thousand words... But to add a few more, the crack in the second photo was so fragile, I could poke my finger right through it. This boat was very close to sinking.

What are other E30+ owners using for a shaft seal?

 

[Loren Beach]

Looks like a really ancient PSS shaft seal. New bellows is not too expensive, and we replaced ours at about 12 years.
How is the rest of the system looking?

Loren

 

[bigd14]

Hey Loren- If by the rest of the system you mean shaft seal, the rest of it is marginal, so I am going to replace the entire thing. The lock ring appears to be aluminum and is corroded to the shaft. When I get the shaft out I will assess it to see if it needs replacing, not sure yet. As for the remainder of the engine system, all hoses need to be replaced and the entire thing rewired. But the mechanical inspection indicated a sound system otherwise. Oh, and the entire fuel system including tank needs replacing. And all the thru hulls. And the portlights rebedded. And, and, and...

 

[Loren Beach]

Link:
http://www.shaftseal.com/en/categories/300000001/preview

Note that the current model they sell has a tube for burping out air (in our displacement hull boats) or injecting water in planing power boats.
Our '95 model has no such tube - they used to specify our "simpler" version for boats that did not exceed 12 kts under power.

Then (reportedly) their lawyers told them to: 1) sell only the vented version just in case someone used it later in a faster boat and later complained, and, 2) shorten up the recommended period of years quite a bit for bellows replacement.

I recall talking to a company rep @ the Seattle winter show a few years ago about the bellows and he said that it should last 12 or 15 years or more but due to potential liability they felt it prudent to specify a shorter period for it. In the real world he advised that it should be replaced around 9 or 10 years, at a convenient haul out, unless it was flunking a visual inspection.

From your photo, this one looks to be way older than that (or was soaked in oils/solvents at some point and degraded).

Anyhow this is a a helpful narrative for anyone contemplating a replacement interval for their seal.

Regards,
Loren

ps: there are several past threads on this side. Here is one: http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?8570-Dripless-shaft-seals
And: http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?4189-Packless-Shaft-Seal/page2

 

[bigd14]

Well there was a diesel leak, so that could be part of the issue. The other issue is that it is just a flimsy unit. Not the robust bellows like the modern ones. The compression of the bellows was so weak that it could barely hold a seal. Thanks for the links.

 

[tenders]

I have had a "Lasdrop" shaft seal since 1995 and, while it does work, have come to the conclusion that the elegant simplicity of the stuffing box and modern Teflon flax packing is a better tradeoff than these shaft seals.

 

[Shelman]

I took another look at the pictures of the toasted shaft seal today and I noticed that it appears to be the old style with out the vent, On this old style you have to manually "burp" the air out of the bellows so that the seawater can lubricate and cool the carbon and stainless mating surfaces. If the shaft seal had an air bubble inside it could have possibly over heated and caused the bellows to degrade prematurely. Either that or the fuel contamination issue mentioned earlier, both plausible conclusions perhaps.
Just another random thought...

 

[Christian Williams]

I burp mine periodically, whenever I'm looking at the zinc or the wiring.

Sometimes, just for the fun of it.

This is another reason why I have made the "engine room" as much like a bowling alley as possible, removing storage bulkheads, vent hoses and motors and banning storage except in bags suspended from the lazarettes.

As the sample shows, we really need to arrange the best possible access to engine, trans, zincs, steering, stuffing box, through-hulls. It's never gonna be good access, but it can't be so bad we don't go in there.

 

[bigd14]

Drop Rudder or Pull Motor

I have determined that I will either have to remove the rudder or the engine to remove the shaft (in one piece) or install a new one. The rudder is the obvious choice, but...




Double Click for video.


The motor mounts are very robust looking units but they seem to be very loose in their mounts. I can move the engine pretty easily. I understand that the motor really should not move very much when its tugged or rocked. But as the video shows, it moves a lot. This is probably the source of the vibration I was worried about at low idle. So I believe I need to replace the mounts, which would mean pulling the engine would be the logical choice. Anyone replaced their mounts lately? What mounts seem best for these little motors?

Thanks.

 

[Loren Beach]

Video never opened, but it would surprise me that you would have to actually remove the engine to replace mounts. Of course I have been surprised before....


Someone with a sister ship should have the shaft removal information. We have replaced our shaft without disturbing the engine and also replaced all four mounts with the engine in place (aside from being lifted up several inches). Different boat.
Where is the boat at present?
Regards,
Loren

 

[Christian Williams]

What engine do you have?

And yes, wow, the video suggests immediate action required.

 

[bigd14]

I have the M18 2 cylinder engine. I realize they move around alot at idle. I could probably replace the 3 mounts in place, but if I have to remove the shaft, I may as well pull the engine if it means not dropping the rudder. I have already stripped everything off the engine in preparation for replacing the alternator bracket, and all the hoses, so its ready to come out.

Not sure why the video does not work, I'll try to fix.

Thanks