B331 Propellor shaft packing

CABixler · May 2, 2011

James are you out of the water to see the back?? I have a 331 and there is no packing gland. There is a hard all rubber sleeve that acts as the cutlass bearing. It is a thick wall and held in place with two nylon screws. They keep it from spinning. I was told by Beneteau it Can be really bad if those screws were not in place as the stainless steel sleeve is over a fiberglass tube which goes through the skeg into the boat and is what guides the prop shaft. If the bearing spins, it can overheat and bond.to the fiberglass tube. Not good according to them.

I have attached a photo from my boat. Turns out that stainless tube needs to be re-chaulked every few years. Surveyor never noticed it an I spent the first two seasons freaked out about the water until I notced the dried cracked sealant when i hauled out for winter. I poured some pink antifreeze around the prop tube in the boat where the dripless packing is. Few minutes later came dripping out underneath the boat!! Thank God for healthy batteries and bilge pump. Cleaned and chauked and not a drop in three seasons!!

Anyway good luck! Sorry for the long reply......

Also good diagrams at Beneteau parts and awesome guys there....but busy.

I cant upload photo for some reason. Email if you want to see i can send.

Doing the Campbell prop addition this weekend.

Regards,
craig

Gunni · May 3, 2011

Craig, it is called a cutlass bearing and if you are pulling the prop, it would be worth your time and money to replace it. If the flange on the outside is intact, it should pull right out after removing the plastic screws. If not, a piece of coathanger with a small hook bent on the end should extract it. Beneteau USA can send you the part. mic your shaft for sizing.

CABixler · May 3, 2011

Gunni said:
Craig, it is called a cutlass bearing and if you are pulling the prop, it would be worth your time and money to replace it. If the flange on the outside is intact, it should pull right out after removing the plastic screws. If not, a piece of coathanger with a small hook bent on the end should extract it. Beneteau USA can send you the part. mic your shaft for sizing.

Gunni the thread is for James. I actually changed my cutlass bearings last season. Caught a line but that is another story.

Bought a nice little tool from WW Grainger, a packing extractor, that is a little sharp corkscrew on a flex shaft. $8. Good to pull it out. Or a coathanger as you said.

CABixler · May 3, 2011

James Simmonds said:
Craig

Thanks for the long reply, it is what i needed to know. The white screws are still. It looks like from your picture that there should be nothing there except the black gasket. It is possible that what is there is not packing but rather part of a line that may have been tangled around the shaft. I am installing a new prop this weekend, so I think I will back off the screws and see if i can dislodge the gasket and get out whatever it is that is caught in there. If you can get a better picture of the gasket it would be much appreciated and thanks again for the help.

JS

That's not a gasket but the flange end of the one piece cutlass bearing. Picture a big fender washer attached to a toilet paper tube, or Abe Lincoln's stove pipe hat with a hole in it.

New prop?? What kind? I did the Campbell route thanks to this site. Coming any day!

CABixler · May 3, 2011

James Simmonds said:
Bought a Varifold feathering prop from Germany. Expensive but comes highly recommended. Can't wait to get in the water and give it a try.

What did you use to Caulk the shaft. I called out local Beneteau dealer today and he has a new Cutlass bearing for me. Would not have received one from Marion in time to get this done before launch. Beneteau advised that these should be replaced every two years. I doubt the former owner EVER considered this and so it has been nine years now. I notice online that they recommended realigning the shaft after changing the cutlass bearing. Was this necessary?

Really appreciate the guidance.

JS

I used 3M 5200. But there are many others made for underwater. I think they all would work fine. As long as its tight.

I did not re-align as there was no dimensional change with the new bearing but I supose would never hurt.

All the diagrams were just online. Sorry no copies.

Nice prop you chose. Made my Campbell seem cheap!

We dont race so Il deal with the drag. My hope is less vibration..

gord331victoria · May 10, 2011

Craig, what Campbell Prop did you buy?

what is your max RPM now?

I am very happy with the sailing performace, I don't even know it's down there. It's the dirty bottom that slows me down!

gord.

CABixler · May 10, 2011

I bought the 15 dia by 8 pitch as recomended by Norm. Not on yet as i am still on the hard and working this weekend onher. Maine Sail wax job and Maine sail prop recomendation. I'm very anxious to try the new prop. I have some god photos comparing my old prop to the Campbell.

Philip_Oceanis 361 · May 11, 2011

CABixler said:
I bought the 15 dia by 8 pitch as recomended by Norm. Not on yet as i am still on the hard and working this weekend onher. Maine Sail wax job and Maine sail prop recomendation. I'm very anxious to try the new prop. I have some god photos comparing my old prop to the Campbell.

I really hope I don't ruin this post by changing this discussion but could you you tell me the size of your original 2-blader fixed propeller?
Also I would really really like to hear your views once you test the campbell. I hope you can make a comparison of speed vs rpm in relation to your old propeller and the current maximum rpm (what was the old one?). Also how much better will be in pushing along head seas and ESPECIALLY how smoother the boat will be if any. I get some vibrations with my 2-blade fixed propeller (size 16X11) despite the engine been aligned and I believe is due to the combination of the two blades and the Beneteau skeg. I was thinking of replacing the prop with a 3-blader but haven't because besides vibrations it's performance is very good.
Thanks

PS: What engine do you have and what's the gear ratio?

gord331victoria · May 12, 2011

Hi Craig, I would really take the prop to a local shop to have the verified it before you install it. My prop guys says the old guy that builds the CS props is all over the place on his pitch measurements. Mine was something like 14 inches!, now it's 9 and my max rpm is 3600, just about 50 RPM higher than I need. When I first installed it I was 3075.

What I recomend for the 331:
yanmar 3gm30f, Kansi 2.62 tranny, Campbell Sailor 15" X 9.5"

if you are in fact installing a 8" that means your max rpm will be about 3650. 1 inch of pitch equals 50rpm.

my OEM was a michigan wheel 3 blade 16x11, it ran smoothe but had huge drag when sailing.

joker460 · May 12, 2011

I'm curious as to why you used 3M 5200 instead of 3M 4200.

4200 allows disassembly in the future and 5200 will be a bugger to remove.

Did a marine store suggest 5200. I'm asking because I've received various

recommendations.

CABixler · May 13, 2011

joker460 said:
I'm curious as to why you used 3M 5200 instead of 3M 4200.

4200 allows disassembly in the future and 5200 will be a bugger to remove.

Did a marine store suggest 5200. I'm asking because I've received various

recommendations.

I assume you meant me on my other response.

I think you have to make sure you do differentiate the application of 5200. If its to bed a device on deck that is held together and all you need is a gap filling gasket but the primary strength are stainless steel fasteners then i actually us marine silicone chauk. No real strength but makes for a nice sealant. I do however like to apply, thick, and only partially snug up, wait 1/2 day or full, then come back and snug down the fasteners. This allws a thin layer to set up. BTW I use a little blue tape to on the deck but also catch some squeeze out. I always like to see a little sqeeze out so I know there is enough.
Main purpose is it reminds me to finish torquing the fasteners down. I take off the tape as the last step.

For the chauking of the skeg-prop tube, is is only a simple fillet of sealant around the tube as it exits the skeg. I want a nice chaulk and I used a big fat plastic soup spoon as my tool to smooth it out. Look great but did slowly droop slightly and next day wasn't as pretty but still nicer then the dried out chauk that wasn't even attached. Had zebra mussles growing under the gap.

I inspect close each year and on the hard pour a little water in the prop area inside and watch none drips out.

Been three years and not a drop yet. I also said ther are many other solutions and chaulk would also work just fine as all your doing is sealling a potenial small leak point.

Good luck...
Craig

CABixler · May 13, 2011

Beneteau 331 Campbell Sailor Prop

gord331victoria said:
Hi Craig, I would really take the prop to a local shop to have the verified it before you install it. My prop guys says the old guy that builds the CS props is all over the place on his pitch measurements. Mine was something like 14 inches!, now it's 9 and my max rpm is 3600, just about 50 RPM higher than I need. When I first installed it I was 3075.

What I recomend for the 331:
yanmar 3gm30f, Kansi 2.62 tranny, Campbell Sailor 15" X 9.5"

if you are in fact installing a 8" that means your max rpm will be about 3650. 1 inch of pitch equals 50rpm.

my OEM was a michigan wheel 3 blade 16x11, it ran smoothe but had huge drag when sailing.

I have the Westerbeke 30B Three (27 Hp) with a JS 2.47:1 transmission.
The propellor I am replacing was a 16" Radice and I think, but a not sure, about 11 pitch. I a installing Campbell tomorrow morning. I am SOOO far behind and this is my only weekend to finish getting her ready Plus supposed to be bad weather (of course).

I really was impressed talking to Norm where I bought the CS and we considered the 9" but he felt the 8" pitch was more appropriate.

I will give it a try it but but if I was going to error I would rather be slightly under- pitch then over-pitched. I am on a mooring and really don't motor that much and usually run her at about 2500-2800 RPM.

I also am impressed with the construction and the cross-section is much more complex with the airfoil and cupping.

I have mentioned in previous post my main objective is to hopefully reduce vibration. Also I dive in the harbor so if worse comes to worse I would be comfortable pulling off the new Campbell and putting my old back on and have it re-pitched.

We shall see....
When I'm done with results I'll post my results and I have already taken some good photos I will also post.

B331 Propellor shaft packing

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