Dripless Shaft Seal sold by sailboat owners

[thelilnauti]

Hello fellow seamen and ladies. Im in the midst of what turned out to be a major refit of my 1984 Hunter 31. Shes on the hard and as such Im replacing many things. I have pulled the old packing gland etc am going to replace it with a Dripless shaft seal. Looking around online the one listed on Sailboat Owners is actually the cheapest I can find at approx $255 with shipping. West marine is $300 as is amazon and PYI direct is more. My question is the sailboat owners website simply shows a photo and lists it as a Dripless shaft seal but does not mention a brand such as PSS. Has anyone else bought one? Is it a PSS brand or some other type? Thanks

 

[justsomeguy]

Call them.

 

[HMT2]

I put one on my ‘83; H31 about three years ago and I’ve been pleased with it. I replaced the one that came with the boat and the quality of the SBO part appears equal or better.

 

[JamesG161]

As noted in a few other posts...

The rubber has a self life. Each Bellows [rubber part] has a date of manufacture stamp on it.

Recommend by PYI, 10 years life.
Find a vendor who will tell you that date before buying it.

Or take the discount of fewer years and really should not be a problem.
Jim...

 

[Justin_NSA]

The picture under the H31 parts search is identical to a generic SBO 'dripless' seal search. They identify it as the PSS unit.

 

[senang]

Before you splash the dollars on PYI or others look at Volvo shaft seals. Super simple and reliable. Volvo recommends a replacement every 5 years, but my neighbor had his installed for 18 years without an issue. You only need to "burp" the seal after a haul out and insert a drop of grease every year.

 

[Justin_NSA]

If you are shopping, look at the LasDrop Gen II. NO maintenance. Mine has been problem free. No aging , cracking bellows to worry about. Practical Sailor liked the PSS and LasDrop best.

 

[karellen]

I will second the LasDrop Gen II. Had a PYI on my last boat and had no issues with it, but went LasDrop on my current boat as it has a 10 year change interval versus 6 on the PYI.

If you are shopping, look at the LasDrop Gen II. NO maintenance. Mine has been problem free. No aging , cracking bellows to worry about. Practical Sailor liked the PSS and LasDrop best.

 

[Justin_NSA]

I will second the LasDrop Gen II. Had a PYI on my last boat and had no issues with it, but went LasDrop on my current boat as it has a 10 year change interval versus 6 on the PYI.

I think LasDrop is not as well known in the sailboat world as PYI because they used to just build for larger shafts. Just my opinion.