Prop shaft seal upgrade

[Peter Reynolds]

Hi,

I am tired of dealing with my continuous drip from the packing gland on my Seidelmann S299 and considering an upgrade to the PSS dripless mechanical seal at the link below.

I am looking for any feedback from others that have converted to the PSS dripless shaft seal. It would not be such a problem, but Sieldelmann's have a very shallow bilge, leaving me with a large area covered by water before my bilge pump starts.

Thanks,
Peter

http://www.shaftseal.com/the-pss-shaft-seal-explained.html

 

[Ross]

I put one in when I rebuilt 10 years ago. it has served as advertized ever since. My bilge is almost always dusty.

 

[Roger Long]

Try repacking with this stuff first. I was going to put in a shaft seal but decided this made living with a stuffing box practical. You can tighten it enough not to have drips because it conducts heat through to the stuffing box to cool the packing and is unlikely to damage the shaft if over tightened.

http://www.emarineinc.com/products/g...g/packing.html

You may have to tighten the gland a bit every 30 - 40 hours but I decided it was worth it even on my boat where it is a royal, head down, pain. I know that shaft seals are fine and safe but I just can't get over the psychological disquiet of the thin rubber diaphram and the ease with which something falling on the seal can dislodge it enough to leak. I just feel better with that big chunk of bronze and heavy rubber hose down there.

See my reply in the other stuffing box thread for more.

 

[Maine Sail]

I've now had

I've now had a PSS installed on five different boats. Not one single problem with any of them. The one on our current boat had 2700+ hours on her when I replaced the bellows and it was still in perfect shape. After I replaced the bellows I sent them to PSS and got a call from them saying I had lost none of the elasticity and the one with 2700 hours was as good as new.

On our current boat I really have little choice as we have a v-drive and the stuffing box is directly beneath the engine. If anyone has ever owned a v-drive you'd understand why a dripless seal makes a LOT of sense in this application. Not only is it nearly impossible to re-pack a traditional box under an engine it can sling salt water up onto the underside of the engine. If you're ever looking to buy a boat with a v-drive bring an inspection mirror!! You might find a fully rotted out oil pan from stuffing box sling!!

Gore GFO is very good stuff but it should not be entirely drip free when spinning. It will drip considerably less than any other packing but should still drip even ever so slightly. One problem most over look with sealing off a shaft log, and making it completely drip free, is that over time air can become trapped up in there and then you lose all cooling effect and can severely over heat the box, packing and possibly do damage to the shaft.

If you don't go PSS do go GFO. In fact I would advise trying it first because removing a coupling can open up another whole can of worms and associated cost!

 

[frank balcer]

Starfish..........

ditto to what Maine Sail said. My current boat came with a PSS seal and the only thing under my engine is dust.