Dripless Packing Maintenance ?

[Leebob]

What up keep or maintenance does my Dripless packing require?

[TOPGALLANT32]

Actually very little. check set screws every so often. you may occasionally have to readjust the rubber boot after a bit of ware. Mostly depends on how much you motor.

[delmarrey]

There are a few things I came across with mine over the years.

They need to be run fairly often to keep them from pitting the SS seal ring. They are not a 316L material. 316L is too soft the do the job. If the boat goes on the hard then the ring can be backed away from the carbon until ready for launch again.

The o-rings inside the seal ring need to be replaced every 2-3 years depending on the set up and climate, maybe longer. And the bellows behind the carbon has a replacement period of 6 years as well. PYI would have the parts for that. >>
PSS Shaft Seal
But I know of some that are 10 YO and still soft.

PYI now sells a split ring that clamps on the prop shaft forward of the seal ring to keep it from moving. Under a lot of vibration the set screws can work lose. >> PYI Inc. Max-Prop PSS Shaft Seal Seaview Radar Mounts R&D
I just use a few wraps of electrical tape. If it tries to move it'll distort the tape.

And do use the newer version with the hose barb atop the carbon. One can either pump exhaust water threw or as an air bleed vent.

If on the hard, don't run them dry, back them off the carbon. They need water/lubrication.

[jonarck]

I've had my dripless unit since I bought my Catalina 34 15 years ago (well, 15 years on December 7). I was told to replace the bellows every 7 years, but so far, it's fine.

[sdowney717]

My dripless packing is almost maintenance free.
http://www.gfopacking.com/

and it is affordable compared to what I think your talking about.
I dont need to burp mine ever or run any cooling hoses.

this stuff is so good I think it could be used for engine water pump">raw water pump shaft seals, if you could.

[nigel1]

I have a Vetus dripless seal system, which consists of a an O ring and a lipseal.
Maintenance is a squirt of silicone grease into the lipseal housing every 100 hrs of use, plus a check on the bellows, replace when showing signs of hardening

[chuckr]

we just replaced our volvo penta one on our jeanneau - it was 8 years old - it was suggested we lube it every 100 hours on the outside - we did nothing to it for 8 years and then it started leaking - the mechanic said it was full of dirt that caused the problem and said we need to run it every once a while

just our thoughts
chuck patty and svsoulmates
cartagena colombia

[AnchorageGuy]

LeeBob, it depends on which dripless you choose. The most popular, PYI really needs no maintenance other than to keep it clean. No lubricants or solvents should be used on the bellows. If the boat sits for a long time without turning over the shaft, the bellows should be pushed back enough to allow a little water to flow as lubricant before engaging the transmission. If it gets dirt between the seal, running a rag between the SS donut and the carbon seal is all that is needed. Chuck

[stevensc]

If the seal assembly uses cooling water from the engines raw water system you should periodically remove the supply hose at the seal assembly and run the engine to make sure you are getting the proper amount of water flow. I recently checked mine ( first time in 3 years I've owned this boat) a Tides Marine Shureseal, and saw there was no water flow at all! I found that the outlet hosebarb fitting on the raw water side at the engine was completely plugged with crud. Tides Marine recommend it be checked every 6 months, you can be sure I'll be doing that in the future. I don't know how long it was like that I think running at low "trawler speeds" RPMs helped avert a major problem.
Steve W.

[Tim Schaaf]

Are you talking about "dripless packing" in a regular packing gland, or one of the proprietary seals that others have commented on. If you are asking about the packing, it is a teflon soaked packing that you install much like regular packing, except that it also includes a ring of teflon lumps which get compressed into a single piece. That stuff needs no maintenance, just renewal every few haulouts.Good stuff.

[captain58sailin]

If you are referring to the dripless glands like PSS, I have used the PSS for 8 years in my commercial salmon gill net boat. We run hard for 6 weeks out of the year and the rest of the time the boat sits on the hard. We have a high silt content in the water. The only maintenance that I have done is before launching the vessel, I pull the bellows back with my hand and pour a mixture of soapy water down between the SS doughnut and the graphite. I have two on my shaft, one that keeps the water out of the fish hold and one that keeps the water out of the engine compartment. Both have worked with no problems and they are almost constantly submersed in a salt water / gurry mixture when I am fishing. At the end of the day after every thing is cleaned and pumped out, I have never had the seal ship water into the boat. I have no financial interest in the company.

[insalt72]

I agree Tim, nice and simple gland packing and the stuffing box.Good quality packing and ajust your gland nut to tension and lock her up.
Unless your boat is fast and requires forced feed line to gland for sealing.
The major drama with "dripless seals" is if they leak!! you can't just "nip" them up and give them a quick shot of grease..
They are very hard to work on when your afloat.. One way is to dive over the side, use Glad wrap (cling wrap) to cover your cutless or stern tube and allow it to be sucked up alittle... and get to work

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by insalt72

The major drama with "dripless seals" is if they leak!! you can't just "nip" them up and give them a quick shot of grease..
There are only a couple reasons they would leak. If the carbon seal get damaged or they're out of alignment.
The only way to damage the carbon is if the shaft broke or got bent. Then rags and tape will get you to port. And as for the alignment, that's an installation failure.


They are very hard to work on when your afloat.. One way is to dive over the side, use Glad wrap (cling wrap) to cover your cutless or stern tube and allow it to be sucked up alittle... and get to work

I have pulled the bellows and reinstalled it while in the water. One just has to be quick and have rags handy to slow the ingress of water, which has very little pressure. We're not talk about a garden hose pressures.

What I hate about packing is the little groves it leaves in the shaft, which makes it difficult to work/move the shaft in/out while in the water. A PSS, no matter what it's age, one can slide the shaft aft EASILY while working on the trany/coupling/motor.
Plus, the packing boxes always seem to sling a little salt water, which is hell on a steel motor and its parts. I run a dry boat and want to keep it that way!

[sdowney717]

What I hate about packing is the little groves it leaves in the shaft

Shafts will also pit due to crevice corrosion.

I like the GFO packing, it is grey black, soft, silky feeling, does not leak. And they say wont wear the shaft. It also does not run hot. self lubricating.
It lets you keep the old stuffing box and makes it work dripless. NO drips required at all for GFO packing.

[Chief Engineer]

If you want to buy some.....go to my post in vendors forum