Based on all the recent scenerios, about catastophic failure modes, whar is recommended preventative maintence on this. If you said anything in the instructions, I didn't save them and don't remember it. There is nothing I could find on the website. Thanks for a great product.
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Burp it
Hello Peter, The recommendation is to check each hose clamp, as you would the rest of the boat, to make sure they are secure and in proper order. Burp the seal each and every time the vessel is pulled and placed back in the water. To confirm that the set screws in the rotor are tight to the shaft helping to maintain the position of the rotor to the shaft. We would also suggest that you visually inspect the seal to confirm that unit is in sound order. Hope this helps. Kevin.
Hello Peter, The recommendation is to check each hose clamp, as you would the rest of the boat, to make sure they are secure and in proper order. Burp the seal each and every time the vessel is pulled and placed back in the water. To confirm that the set screws in the rotor are tight to the shaft helping to maintain the position of the rotor to the shaft. We would also suggest that you visually inspect the seal to confirm that unit is in sound order. Hope this helps. Kevin.
Peter - What's This?
Where did you get this idea about catastrophic failure? What do you mean by catastrophic? Assuming you have the clamps tight on the pleated hose, double clamped, and the collar set screws (two for redundancy) are properly set, the worst that can go wrong is a small drip. Keeping the hose clamps tight and checked for corrosion is no different than any other hose clamps throughout your boat that are below the waterline. I've had my shaft seal for 13 years now and it's worked great! Nothing better than a dry bildge. To calm your fears, there's really nothing to be afraid of.
Where did you get this idea about catastrophic failure? What do you mean by catastrophic? Assuming you have the clamps tight on the pleated hose, double clamped, and the collar set screws (two for redundancy) are properly set, the worst that can go wrong is a small drip. Keeping the hose clamps tight and checked for corrosion is no different than any other hose clamps throughout your boat that are below the waterline. I've had my shaft seal for 13 years now and it's worked great! Nothing better than a dry bildge. To calm your fears, there's really nothing to be afraid of.
John- Read the recent thread in Ask All Sailors
Forum article Ask All Sailors "A thought on dripless packing gland" I have no concerns myself. My best guess on the bellows life, is to stress test it, before a haul out.
Forum article Ask All Sailors "A thought on dripless packing gland" I have no concerns myself. My best guess on the bellows life, is to stress test it, before a haul out.
See What You Mean; However...
I see what you mean, there was a lot of discussion on the question about the possibility of a failure. However, in looking at my installation on a 1-inch propeller shaft with about a 2-inch shaft log, it wouldn't be that big of a big problem if the entire unit failed somehow while under way. It would take some really creative thinking combined with some remote possibilities to come up with a situation that would cause a serious problem. What is a standard and known situation, is that after several years, as the hose looses it's elasticity, the setup begins to leak. Only a drop once in a while, at first, then more frequent drips. At this point just move the donut aft a quarter inch or so and you're good to go for the next ten years. After 13 years of serious use this is all I've had to do (one time) on my PSS seal. The pleated hose is built better than any 1.5-inch hose used for a sink drain. I'd be far more concerned about the sink drain hoses. By the way, this afternoon I checked the boat (which is in Puget Sound, a.k.a. rains a lot here) and the bilge was DRY, however, one of the ports had a port leak. When my boat was new the cooling water hose on the engine popped off and it was a while before we noticed it. My wife asked what that water was comming out of the side of the boat!!! (bilge pump) And in this case, if I didn't have the PSS seal, a running bilge pump is considered normal, so why check, right? Anytime I see water in the bilge I start checking where it came from so from this standpoint the PSS seal is a good safety item. With a dry bilge there should be a lot less corrosion on the ground wires and around the grounding bolt on the keel, another safety item. Recommend all skippers with new boats do a safety check on all their hose clamps for tightness. With a proper installation and reasonable inspection the PSS seal is about as safe as it gets.
I see what you mean, there was a lot of discussion on the question about the possibility of a failure. However, in looking at my installation on a 1-inch propeller shaft with about a 2-inch shaft log, it wouldn't be that big of a big problem if the entire unit failed somehow while under way. It would take some really creative thinking combined with some remote possibilities to come up with a situation that would cause a serious problem. What is a standard and known situation, is that after several years, as the hose looses it's elasticity, the setup begins to leak. Only a drop once in a while, at first, then more frequent drips. At this point just move the donut aft a quarter inch or so and you're good to go for the next ten years. After 13 years of serious use this is all I've had to do (one time) on my PSS seal. The pleated hose is built better than any 1.5-inch hose used for a sink drain. I'd be far more concerned about the sink drain hoses. By the way, this afternoon I checked the boat (which is in Puget Sound, a.k.a. rains a lot here) and the bilge was DRY, however, one of the ports had a port leak. When my boat was new the cooling water hose on the engine popped off and it was a while before we noticed it. My wife asked what that water was comming out of the side of the boat!!! (bilge pump) And in this case, if I didn't have the PSS seal, a running bilge pump is considered normal, so why check, right? Anytime I see water in the bilge I start checking where it came from so from this standpoint the PSS seal is a good safety item. With a dry bilge there should be a lot less corrosion on the ground wires and around the grounding bolt on the keel, another safety item. Recommend all skippers with new boats do a safety check on all their hose clamps for tightness. With a proper installation and reasonable inspection the PSS seal is about as safe as it gets.
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