Mahe 36: Sail Drives and Props

[lstyles]

My two mechanics dont think the problem is with the zincs because the damage is only in the gears and no where else. The local Volvo guy is also stumped and they are investigating further. It is a VERY expensive fix so if there is a problem with the build of the folding props I want to know.
Lori

[Cotemar]

Lori

Can you take some picture of the Folding Prop gear damage ?

Did your mechanics say that not enough Lithum Gease was used on the gear mesh surfaces?

Mark

[lstyles]

They didnt mention grease. The props have been sent to Volvo to take a look because local volvo guy hasnt seen anything like this in the folding props before. I will try to get a picture when the props come back.
Lori

[Cotemar]

Mahe's

I asked Volvo Penta what I thought was an easy question.
Boy was I wrong.
I just wanted to know what the prop dia. and pitch was for my Volvo Penta D1-30F engine with the sail drive. Hate to tell you what I went through, but I will post the info in case anyone wants to know or needs spares.

The attached Bullitin conversion chart will work for the D1-20 engines also.

Volvo Penta D1-30F engine use 3 blade folding prop:
17" Dia. X 12" Pitch Left Hand (Counter Clockwise)

Volvo Penta # cast into Blades 3583376
Order Volvo Penta Propeller Blade Kit 3583388

Volvo Penta # cast into Hub 3584247
Order Volvo Penta Hub Saildrive Kit 3858955

Note:The Prop Hub is the same for D1-20 & D1-30 D2-40 and D2-55 engines

[colemj]

Mark,

Where did you see that price for the folding 3-blade kit? I just bought one and it was north of $1,000.

Mark

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by colemj

Mark,

Where did you see that price for the folding 3-blade kit? I just bought one and it was north of $1,000.
Mark

This first link shows 372.03 and I did not hit the check out button, maybe it’s in euro. The second link shows a little more than you paid, so I am sure you are correct on the price.

www.marinepartseurope.com/en/volvo-penta-explodedview-7746500-44-4206.aspx
www.marinepartsexpress.com:8080/mpeCart/details.faces?productId=3583388&Go.x=15&Go.y=11

How old were your props blades before they needed replacing ?

Since I have Catatude on the hard for the winter I removed the props and brought them into my basement to coat them with PropSpeed. I must have 7,500 mile on them and they look great.

[Cotemar]

Mahe's

I put together a Volvo Penta D1-30F Engine & Sail Drive Parts List.
Now you can have all your maintenance items in one list.

See attached Word Document. Use this and add you own items.

Some of these items are also used on the D1-20 engine.
I am hoping that one of our members will edit this for the D1-20 engine and repost it for everyone.

Mark

[RoadRacer]

Thanks for putting this list together Mark!

[lstyles]

I posted here about a month or so ago about how my folding props had both gone bad recently. Well when we looked at them they both looked very worn (and not from corrosion) and my dealer (who has seen a lot of props) says the design looks bad and they are VERY heavy. This is important because now it looks like my transmission on the right side is shot and will have to be replaced. It seems as if the props themselves may be responsible for increased wear on the transmission. The transmission is still under warranty but I have to pay to have the boat hauled. This whole thing is gonna cost me big bucks in the end and it appears that it is a design issue. I have only 800 hours on these engines/props so all of this shouldn't be happening! Has anyone else out there who has the folding props had any problems with them or needed to replace them or had transmission problems?
thanks,
Lori

[colemj]

Just to be clear, we are talking about Volvo folding props and Volvo saildrives? My response below is based on this.

We just replaced a folding prop because of teeth wear. The old prop was 11 years old and had 1700 hrs on it. I think a contributing factor was my having the yard sandblast it to remove the old primer and paint. I didn't notice the worn teeth when I gave it to them (and the prop worked fine) but there was significant loss of metal and pitting on the teeth after and the prop blades would slip when opening/closing and not work properly. I know of two other boats with worn prop teeth after ~8 years and many hours, but one was directly contributed to stray current in a marina (lots of damage besides the props).

The saildrives and folding prop combination have been in use together for many years across the globe without incident, and the props have also been used on Yanmar saildrives, so I don't think the props are responsible for the transmission damage. More likely is that the blades did not open evenly because of the worn teeth and the resulting unbalance did the damage. If this was the case, I would expect water in the oil due to worn lip seals and possible bearing damage. Or gear damage caused by these. What type of damage did you find?

I agree it shouldn't be happening with the age of your props and number of hours. How did you rule out corrosion? Can you post a picture of the gear teeth?

Mark

[Cotemar]

Lori,

I agree with Colemj about stray current in a marina making your props wear prematurely.

Here are other possible causes:
1. Stray current in a marina
2. Prop Zincs worn prematurely
Even though your sail drive may have good Zincs, your props have a Nylon Isolation ring that keeps it electrically isolated from the Sail drive, so this makes having good prop zincs very important

3. Gears not greased (Yearly)

4. Each blade is numbered 1, 2, 3 and must go into hub space 1,2,3 if not they will ware unevenly when placed in the wrong hub location

5. To much barnacle growth grinding in the teeth
This is not likely, this bronze is very hard. I used a file on it and had a hard time removing any metal

Attached are pictures of Blade gear teeth after 7000 miles they still look great.

Note: the best way to extend zinc life is to paint your props (Not with bottom paint with copper). By painting your props you give less electrical contact with the water which will make the zincs last longer

Mark

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Lori, Mark, and the other Mark,
Galvanic corrosion by stray currents may not be the cause in my idea, since the sail drives and the propellors are isolated from shore power ground and boat 12V ground. There is a plastic ring between engines and sail drives.
Our folding propellors are very good after 7200 miles. The zinc anodes of April 2009 were almost totally gone 3 weeks ago, I replaced them and are worrying about the cause of the fast wear. Bad zinc quality? Coppercoat?
Because of this fast wear I have been considering galvanic isolators, however seeing the sail drive isolation this might only protect the aluminium rudder shafts.
Any comment?
Kind rgds, Jef

[Cotemar]

Mahe's

I put together a Volvo Penta D1-20 Engine & Sail Drive Parts List.
Now you can have all your maintenance items in one list.

See attached Word Document. Use this and add you own items.

Mark

[Scott730]

Mark
Thanks for the list. Here is another supplier to use as well Volvo Penta Marine Diesel Engine Parts | Power Products Systems, LLC

Scott

[Cotemar]

Mahe's

Volvo Penta D1-20 engines use 3 blade folding prop:
16" Dia. X 11" Pitch Left Hand (Counter Clockwise)

Volvo Penta # cast into Blades 3583374
Order Volvo Penta Propeller Blade Kit 3583386

Volvo Penta # cast into Hub 3584247
Order Volvo Penta Hub Saildrive Kit 3858955

Note: The Prop Hub is the same for D1-20 & D1-30 engines

The attached Bulletin conversion chart works for the D1-20 & D1-30 engines.

Mark