Leaking Shaft Seal...

L

Live2Dive

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So, my starboard dripless shaft seal seems to be leaking. It doesn't leak when the shaft is not turning, only when under way. It doesn't look like much, but over the course of a day, it adds up to 30-50 gallons.
I don't have much experience with these. There are two large hose clamps on the end that is leaking. Is it possible to just tighten them a little? Any first recommendations?
 
Lets start with what kind of dripless shaft seal you are talking about. Is it a PSS/PYI seal, a face seal? Or maybe a lip seal? Is it the hose that is leaking or the sealing surfaces?
 
indeed it depends on what you have... the most commons are PSS or Strong/Sure-seal

the clamps are unlikely to be the cause of the leak as they just hold the hose and box on the shaft tube.

if you have PSS, there may be some debris between the faces, sometimes pulling the seal back is enough for water to flush what's causing the leak.

with the Sure-Seal, you can try opening the box, pulling the seal and cleaning the shaft. If the seal is worn, you have to replace it. usually you have a couple of spares in carriers placed on the shaft inside the boat. changing the seal should fix the leak...

in either case if the leak persists then you'll have to do a short haul and replace the PSS seals, or maybe clean the shaft with the SS

this is why i much prefer a conventional stuffing box!
 
My dripless shaft seals manufactured by Tides were leaking when running. Replacing the seal in the unit stopped the leak. Had no spares on the shaft, shaft had to be pulled from the coupling, was done when the boat was on the hard for winter storage. No more leak.
 
Well, I had to replace a stuffing box in my stbd side last season. With V drives in my Sea Ray, I'm glad I was just the observer, and not the worker doing it. Went with the original Sea Ray conventional box and packing.

Slightly different question ( rather than start a new thread....)-

This season, my port side decided to act up. Fortunately, it was resolved by tightening the coupler.

Does anyone remember what the # of drips/minute they should be when not running? After we tightened it, counted about 6-10/minute. And when working the shaft back and forth between forward & reverse, it did not appear to apply any rotational torque on the stuffing box.
 
no question that with a Vee drive, using dripless boxes makes sense but if you want to stick with conventional box, then you should really use Goretex packing material which is virtually dripless.

viking76, next time you pull the shaft, install a couple of carriers and spare seal on the shaft
 
Sorry for the delay... Nice to have my faith restored in American engineering every once in while.. We have PSS shaft seals. It is leaking, but there is a carrier on each shaft with two extra seals in place. What a great idea that is...Turns a major problem into a minor problem. I love it when designers think around the bend.
 
i didn't know the PSS had that set up...

I replaced one of the Strong Seals on Charmer's 3" shafts yesterday, it had been leaking a little, easy job, took 10 minutes.

the downside to the Sure/Strong Seals seems to be that if you get some corrosion/pitting on the shaft, you may not get a perfect seal. PSS use a face seal which isnt' affected by the shaft condition
 
Live2Dive - can you help me understand your comment? Our new-to-us boat has PSS seals and I'm learning a lot about them because mine are spraying occasionally. However, I don't understand how you can have a new carrier in place. Are you referring to the SS collar that provides the face seal against the carbon, and has the actual "o-ring" type seals in it? If so, mine is solid, so how would you replace with a new one without pulling the shaft? Also, how would you prevent water from entering when the face seal is broken (separated). I'm sure I'm mis-interpreting your comment, but if you can clarify I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Live2Dive

Sorry for the delay... Nice to have my faith restored in American engineering every once in while.. We have PSS shaft seals. It is leaking, but there is a carrier on each shaft with two extra seals in place. What a great idea that is...Turns a major problem into a minor problem. I love it when designers think around the bend.

Click to expand...


I don't believe you have a PSS seal. They don't have extra seals.

http://www.shaftseal.com/en/about/installation_videos

Sounds like you have a Tides seal.

http://www.tidesmarine.com/
 
I stand corrected. Thanks Capt. Bill. The guy helping me with this thought it was a PSS, but it is a Tide Seal. Jeff, It has a little black "clam-shell" device that is clamped to the shaft about a foot in front of the seal itself. When you remove the screws holding it together, you see there are two seals on the shaft. When you need to change the seal, you remove the retaining clip on the front of the old seal, and remove the old seal. Prep the shaft, then slide one of the spares down into position. (at least that is how it was explained to me)
 
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