This is leaking I don't kbow name of it

[19thol]

My dripless bellows ripped in half, caused a few sleepless nights before I could get her out of the water. Went with a conventional stuffing box to replace it.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by 19thol

My dripless bellows ripped in half, caused a few sleepless nights before I could get her out of the water. Went with a conventional stuffing box to replace it.

1. What ripped the bellows?

2. How old were the bellows?

3. The stuffing box still has a rubber hose!

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

1. What ripped the bellows?

2. How old were the bellows?

3. The stuffing box still has a rubber hose!

And while we are querying you, what brand of seal was it? There is a wide variety of designs for t hese items, and some seem way too complicated to me, especially the PSC.

Jim

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by AfterHoursNLCT

It probably doesn't need to be replaced, just adjusted...

This is bad advice. If he doesn’t even know what it is then he doesn’t know when the bellows was last replaced. If could be a ticking bomb. It should be replaced, period, if he can’t confirm how old it is.

If it’s only leaking when underway then it needs adjustment (more compression) or there is contamination between the disks. He should burp it to clean it and if that does not fix it he should learn how to adjust it properly using new set screws.

If it were my boat I’d replace that bellows as soon as I reasonably could and keep a very close eye on it until I did.

[2big2small]

So, about the burping. On my current boat it seems I don’t have the strength to compress mine. Any techniques?
Also I presume you don’t need to burp them when they have a pressurized cooling water input?

[2big2small]

I have a rubber stuffing box btw with a hose directly behind it, but not part of it. I suppose this hose is meant to allow the air to escape? And would I then still need to burp it? (Going back in the water soon and wanting to burp it either way.)

[JimsCAL]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

3. The stuffing box still has a rubber hose!

True, but the heavy duty reinforced hose used on the traditional stuffing box is significantly more rugged than the rubber bellows on the dripless seals.

While I am a fan of the traditional stuffing box, I understand those that love the dripless seals. But you must understand them and be rigorous in doing the maintenance.

[19thol]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

1. What ripped the bellows?

2. How old were the bellows?

3. The stuffing box still has a rubber hose!

Had only had the boat for about a year, had replaced the clamps thought all was good, have no idea how old it was. I feel the hose on the conventional is stronger than the bellows on the dripless, and I can verify it is working correctly by checking for the drip when running. I think the dripless stuck to the shaft and spun, ripping the bellows in half. Don't want to go through that again.

[Fuss]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

1. What ripped the bellows?

2. How old were the bellows?

3. The stuffing box still has a rubber hose!

If you have not used the boat for a while the seal will glue itself to the stainless flange and i guess this could rip upon starting. So part of the startup procedure if the boat has not been used for a while is to make sure this has not occurred. Normally the burping process achieves this but just give it a twist and push to ensure the flange is separated from the carbon seal. best to have some spares when running this type of seal. The PSS is what I have and I'm quite content.

[captstu]

Spare bellows isn’t of much use. The shaft has to come out to change the bellows. Common part whoever shafts are changed.

[er9]

at the risk of hijacking this post...is there a way to do any type of emergency seal around the bellow, shaft if there was a sudden major leak? a crap load of that silicone emergency tape?

[19thol]

I put some heavy plastic wrapped around it several times and put a bunch of clamps around it. Bilge pump was coming on about three times an hour, thought that was acceptable, really had no choice though.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by 2big2small

I have a rubber stuffing box btw with a hose directly behind it, but not part of it. I suppose this hose is meant to allow the air to escape? And would I then still need to burp it? (Going back in the water soon and wanting to burp it either way.)

Do you have a traditional stuffing box IE one with two nuts next to each other that you occasionally adjust to allow a slow drip when under power? That kind is attached to the boat at the shaft log. The shaft log is a large hose barb that could be a separate, usually bronze fitting attached to the hull where the prop shaft passes through or it could just be a fiberglass hose barb that is part of the hull.

Either way, there is a heavy hose that is just a straight hose, not bellows like the photo from the OP of his dripless shaft seal.

If this is what you have then those generally don't need to be burped as they will fill with water on their own.

[MalteseFalcon]

This looks very much like a PSS shaft seal. From the photo it looks like it is not assembled properly; 1 Hose clamps on the shaft log are not aligned; 2 bellows pressed against hose clamp; 3 looks like it is misaligned. My advice to you is to haulout immediately and replace the bellows and hose clamps, if you find scoring on the SS donut or the Carbon face then you need to have these machined to a smooth surface. This could be catastrophic.

[Going Gaugain]

Suijin is exactly correct!! Get it taken care of immediately!