Hi All, I know the Catalina 310 forums are not available to everyone, and do not come up under 24 hour activity for SBO, but I thought this was important enough to share. A new Catalina 310 owner named Paul just had a PSS Shaft Seal installed by someone he trusted as a professional and basically got taken to the cleaners. I have no idea what he paid to have this job done but what ever it was was way to much! Read on.. You see Paul ordered a PSS Shaft Seal of which all of the new models are now vented (for a better understanding about the PSS read this here: http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/pss_shaft_seal Like many trusting boat owners Paul had his PSS installed by his boat yard, who botched the job, in such a way, that it's dangerous enough to sink his boat! You see the installer decided NOT to read the installation instructions or to follow the guidelines set forth by PSS for installing this device. After all, this trained monkey, with what is most likely an 8th grade education, is a professional marine "expert" so why should he actually read instructions! This installer actually went so far as to totally remove the hose barb for the vent and then replace it with a plug. Doing this totally negates any venting of the PSS something PYI has decided is important for safety and performance and above all something Paul paid for. It's entirely likely this installer spent more time by-passing the vent than it would have taken him to install it with a vent. I don't get it! No wait, I do, many of these guys are $9.00 per hour hacks! Why is this vent/plug so important you ask? It's important because what he installed into the hole where the hose barb was is a HUGE NO NO on a PSS Seal and it says so, in black and white, right there in the instructions! The installer not only removed the venting capabilities but he then inserted a BRASS plug into the carbon rotor something PSS boldly claims will "destroy" the seal! The problem with metallic fittings and carbon is that carbon by nature expands and contracts very, very little while metals expand quite a bit more. A PSS is water lubricated and the vent is designed to prevent any air from becoming trapped inside the seal and allowing it to run dry and get HOT. Running dry can be fixed by "burping the seal" and letting the air out or and here's a shocker VENTING IT. Here's the rub, if Paul's carbon rotor gets hot, the brass plug will expand but the carbon rotor will not and ..... POP! Good by carbon rotor and hello water! If anything the installer should have used a plastic plug but beyond that he should have VENTED it and not altered the manufacturers intended system! Hell it would have taken about the same amount of time as the corner he cut. This statement is straight from the PSS installation instructions: "Do not tighten or replace the installed nylon hose barb fitting with a metallic fitting. Metallic hose barbs will damage the carbon and destroy the PSS." I can't stress enough how important it is to know every aspect of your boat when it comes to safety and mechanical systems. I do not let boatyards touch my boat unless it's for a form of art like AwlGrip. Even in Maine where we have some of the finest boat builders and workers, (Hinckley, Morris, Sabre, Lyman Morse, Wilbur, Hogdon Brothers etc. etc.) I still insist on doing my own work for a reason and this is one fine example of why it is NOT safe to trust ANY boat yard blindly! Paul posted the picture bellow on the 310 forum a couple of days ago and thank god he did because without a vent it could have become catastrophic!! Please, please, please I implore you guys to know your manuals and read the installation instructions to keep the yards honest. Lets face it we are all, most likely, smarter and better educated than the local boat yard mechanic and unless it's for time issues, as in "I don't physically have the time", we should all be doing our own work or at least know the system as well or better than the installer to prevent issues like this from happening. For Paul this most likely means he will now need to get his boat hauled and have the shaft removed, again, to replace the rotor as a reasonable safety measure.. I really feel bad for Paul as a new boat owner. Paul's situation should serve as a wake up call to anyone relying on the "yard" and hopefully we can all learn from this!! Oh and check out the coupling bolts! Wrong type and NO seizing wire!! All this on top of the PSS install...!!!
