original solimar upper deck bearing

[Silver_Surfer]

hello,
this upper bearing is on a baltic 43 that had a seized lower bearing that was discovered during survey when i was purchasing the boat. marina shipyard in long beach did the work, had a jeffa lower bearing installed per agreement with seller and we left the upper bearing alone, just greased it. the boat went to ensenada mx, for a new deck and interior. been nearly two years and i just brought her back up towards home sf bay. in long beach i gave her a wash and then found my victron mulitiplus not working. looking into the quadrant area and found it like a rain forest. discovering the upper bearing somehow is allowing water to go through the bearing.
i'm not sure, but i found the large slotted bolts were free spinning, i tightened them down and actually added sealent around the flange edge. still water passes through if fill cavity with water.
is the rudder stock not mated correctly? or is there a gasket or something that could be missing?
for other reasons and work performed at marina shipyard in long beach, i wouldn't have them work on a old dinghy of mine.

[nuku34]

With respect, whoever designed that rudder top bearing setup did not have a clue about the marine environment. The whole thing is sitting down at the bottom of a perfect water trap (the flange is lower than the deck and looks like its situated in a sort of "cup" (the white thing surrounding the flange). The flange should have been sitting on a block ABOVE the deck so water would drain off it.

My guess is that the bolts were loose because the deck around the flange is rotten. This will not be an easy fix because the end of the rudder post is too low, you can't just raise the bearing.

Time for a new longer rudder post, a new above-deck bearing, and maybe check if the deck around that flange is rotten.
Sorry for the bad news. Others might see it differently...

[Searles]

First things first ,check with Baltic the builders or there registered agents ,seams to be a double lip seal missing or a type of stuff box,Baltic are good builders I would not think this is there work .⛵️⚓️

[Silver_Surfer]

Originally Posted by nuku34

With respect, whoever designed that rudder top bearing setup did not have a clue about the marine environment. The whole thing is sitting down at the bottom of a perfect water trap (the flange is lower than the deck and looks like its situated in a sort of "cup" (the white thing surrounding the flange). The flange should have been sitting on a block ABOVE the deck so water would drain off it.

My guess is that the bolts were loose because the deck around the flange is rotten. This will not be an easy fix because the end of the rudder post is too low, you can't just raise the bearing.

Time for a new longer rudder post, a new above-deck bearing, and maybe check if the deck around that flange is rotten.
Sorry for the bad news. Others might see it differently...

i understand your point, except two things. one, there is a weep hole, albeit small, on aft of bearing. two, before the new jeffa lower bearing was put it, no issues with water intrusion. i believe the install is either incorrect or some gasket or other means to make this water tight was left out. since its a 1987 i haven't found a exploded view of this bearing from solimar. thanks for the reply

[Silver_Surfer]

Originally Posted by Searles

First things first ,check with Baltic the builders or there registered agents ,seams to be a double lip seal missing or a type of stuff box,Baltic are good builders I would not think this is there work .⛵️⚓️

yes i plan too, especially solimar, italy. my binnacle, quadrant and bearings are solimar. and your right, baltic would not engineer a bearing to leak water into the quadrant, especially where if you were pooped, sea water on your aluminum quadrant. i believe the yard, marina shipyards in long beach screwed it up somehow. thanks for your reply.

[Silver_Surfer]

here is a mechanical drawing of rudder on a baltic 43, if this helps.

[nuku34]

I know Baltic has a good reputation, but I still maintain that this was a bad design choice. I suspect they probably recessed it for appearance sake. Maybe that's a place where you sit when steering?
I've seen some real shockers from supposedly "good" designers, builders, and yards.

[ozolli]

I suspect there was originally a cap sealing this top bearing housing.
There is no need to access it except to install an emergency tiller.
This is a classical arrangement on many Baltics and Swans.

[Silver_Surfer]

ok, so i've never seen one but basically a cup like cover the goes over the whole bearing assembly? the hump of the helm seat covers the bearing, so i'm wondering when i washed the boat i did have that part of the seat in place. i'm hoping its not coming from the new lower jeffa bearing.

[Silver_Surfer]

ok so i found a pdf drawing that i had in my files, that seems to indicate that indeed oil and other fluids like water can pass through bearing. my mistake to wash boat and somehow flood this area. i'm going to thoroughly check this out with seat in place and determine if water somehow gets around seat lip into bearing cavity. I'm going to ventura this thursday and will check lower bearing performance in regards to water intrusion. somehow water soaked the quadrant area and i have to figure out how.

[donradcliffe]

I can't see the drawing well enough to see the seals.

The bottom bearing is below the water line when the boat is moving and needs a seal between the rudder shaft and the bearing to prevent seawater ingress. Jeffa makes a lip seal to go on top of the bottom bearing, and your boat should have one installed.

The top bearing should be pretty water tight, especially if you have greased it (don't grease the Jeffa bearing). In many boats there is a removable plate or port above the bearing to keep water from coming down from the deck if you aren't using the emergency tiller. You could install a port, or a cap, but its not the end of the world if a little water come in..

[Silver_Surfer]

your right, there is actually 2 seal above the bearings on the lower jeffa, as i called pyi who coordinated the bearing sizing and sale with the yard that installed it.
the waterline on the baltic 43 actually tapers off from the leading edge of the rudder and where the lower bearing resides is probably 3" above the waterline as it meets the stern.
but the upper is like 24" up from the cockpit floor, and is covered by a removable helm seat section. i'm going to investigate further how the initial water ingress occurred. not convinced it was the upper bearing yet but the offers the best scenario as water went through it like a sieve. i do have two scuppers that are in the destroyer wheel cockpit floor slot, as they could be leaking, along with two drains for the cng tanks which sit on either side of the bearing location. going to do a through search to find how this occurred.
thanks for your reply.