Shaft coupler sweating ?

[zemurray]

The mounts are slotted, but only side to side, not fore/aft. The other concern is that the fiberglass molded companion way steps fit right over the motor. I have no idea if the clearance is there to move it forward without fabricating a whole new set of steps. It seems that Tartan crammed this in there for a reason. It’s a “big” SMALL 28 foot boat..LOL.

It’s very likely it’s been this way for 32 years, and hopefully just needs cleaning up. Perhaps the sliver of a gab between the stuffing box and coupler once cleaned out will be ok. Anything beyond that, and it very much sounds like an out of the water big job to me? Wouldn’t there only be an inch or so of shaft inserted into the coupler? That’s not a lot to back out away from.

[HopCar]

Cheechako, if he slides the motor forward, the shaft might be too short to reach it. I guess it would depend how much shaft is exposed outside the hull.

Zemurray, the problem is not adjusting the nut but the fact that at some point you’ll need to replace the packing inside the nut. To do that you need to back the nut off the threads completely and slide it up the shaft about two inches. You can probably get some of that by cutting the hose shorter but I don’t think you can get enough shaft exposed that way.

[captlloyd]

I agree with A 64 pilot in the sense that you need to get a coating on that bare rusty metal. As far as your system goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. You just have a corrosion problem. Metal sweats when you have a temperature differential. I have a small metal manufacturing company, there are occasional days when I come in my shop and everything metal has a coating of moisture on it. I would try a product called POR, an excellent coating and sealer.

[zemurray]

I’m familiar with POR, I’ve used it on cars. Good stuff. Perhaps once it’s cleaned up I’ll give her a coat. Good idea.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but cutting that hose back or doing anything with it at all would require the boat to be out of the water right? Wouldn’t you have to remove the prop shaft to get a new hose on? Sounds like the prop shaft would have to be removed to repack that stuffing box too, which sounds like a not very serviceable way to do it.

To previous comments, I dont think the water is condensation. I guess it could be, but were talking about gulf waters here, even bay waters. It’s 90 outside and the water temp is like 89,, LOL (ok slight exaggeration). It’s warm though. Certainly in the low 80’s.

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by zemurray

I’m familiar with POR, I’ve used it on cars. Good stuff. Perhaps once it’s cleaned up I’ll give her a coat. Good idea.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but cutting that hose back or doing anything with it at all would require the boat to be out of the water right? Wouldn’t you have to remove the prop shaft to get a new hose on? Sounds like the prop shaft would have to be removed to repack that stuffing box too, which sounds like a not very serviceable way to do it.

To previous comments, I dont think the water is condensation. I guess it could be, but were talking about gulf waters here, even bay waters. It’s 90 outside and the water temp is like 89,, LOL (ok slight exaggeration). It’s warm though. Certainly in the low 80’s.

You can repack a stuffing box while the boat is in the water but probably not a hose Assembly. I would recommend trying to change the set up a bit if you were going to make a hose change and get some more distance between the coupling and the stuffing box. Just a suggestion though, not absolutely necessary.

[wsmurdoch]

It does look quite tight in the cross section. https://s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpress...XwwDJdLIx84%3D

...and others have the same problem. https://www.sailnet.com/forums/tarta...intenance.html

Bill

[zemurray]

Good find on the tartan thread. I couldn’t access the amazon link however, some sort of permissions error. Maybe its just me.

[wsmurdoch]

I don't know about permissions, but try this link, then look at the line 28, and finally click on T28 Owners Manual. That is how I got there.
Models - Tartan Owners Northeast

Bill

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by zemurray

The mounts are slotted, but only side to side, not fore/aft. The other concern is that the fiberglass molded companion way steps fit right over the motor. I have no idea if the clearance is there to move it forward without fabricating a whole new set of steps. It seems that Tartan crammed this in there for a reason. It’s a “big” SMALL 28 foot boat..LOL.

It’s very likely it’s been this way for 32 years, and hopefully just needs cleaning up. Perhaps the sliver of a gab between the stuffing box and coupler once cleaned out will be ok. Anything beyond that, and it very much sounds like an out of the water big job to me? Wouldn’t there only be an inch or so of shaft inserted into the coupler? That’s not a lot to back out away from.

Yes, a few things you would have to consider for sure.
-Is there exposed shaft outside between the prop and the strut? or prop and the hull? To allow sliding forward.
-Even a half of an inch would separate the coupler from the stuffing box reducing some corrosion.
-Heck, if you could get 1/8" between the coupler and stuffing box it would be nice. You could put a plastic/nylon disc on there to deflect/shield the salt water. It would weigh nothing. That thick black nylon like stuff like from a heavy report cover.

[ColinIOM]

Hi again,
I think what your mechanic is saying is that he can adjust the stern gland O.K. To get it to drip for you. What he did was just to loosen it out a very small amount. Unless it was badly overtightened in the first place, I would suspect he would have only screwed it out less than one turn (which brings it closer to the coupling) (To reduce the drips, it will need screwed in.)

The water on the coupling is only condensation, it will cool down overnight then as the boat warms up during the day, the salt on the coupling and the fact the coupling is cooler will attract the moisture through condensation.
Obviously, when its turning, it will be wet with salt water and will spray as can be seen in your picture.
This job is one of these jobs that has not been done well on installation but really presents no urgent concerns, as long as the coupling doesn’t actually rub on the gland.
You will not be able to repack it when required (Which could be years) unless the boat is out of the water.
So its not urgent, and you may never have it fixed properly and sail quite happily for years. You should at the very least, wire brush the coupling and paint it.
Personally, since you are Mechanically capable, then I would do it yourself at some point over the winter as I described earlier, then at least you would know exactly what is going on. As I said earlier, there are no parts required except maybe a new hose ( Its always prudent to fit new when you have this apart.) just your time.
Good luck
Colin

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by zemurray

I’m familiar with POR, I’ve used it on cars. Good stuff. Perhaps once it’s cleaned up I’ll give her a coat. Good idea.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but cutting that hose back or doing anything with it at all would require the boat to be out of the water right? Wouldn’t you have to remove the prop shaft to get a new hose on? Sounds like the prop shaft would have to be removed to repack that stuffing box too, which sounds like a not very serviceable way to do it.

To previous comments, I dont think the water is condensation. I guess it could be, but were talking about gulf waters here, even bay waters. It’s 90 outside and the water temp is like 89,, LOL (ok slight exaggeration). It’s warm though. Certainly in the low 80’s.

I’d clean and treat the rust, and wait until a bottom job was imminent.
Then as your boat is a factory built boat, there are others out there, maybe even an owners group or a Tartan forum or something.
Try to find out what they have done, maybe they are all like that and to repack means a haul out to pull the shaft rearward so that the nut can be removed or something.
But it’s likely that others have had the same issue and there is a fix, just need to find out what it is.

[zemurray]

Yep. All great ideas. Appreciate the help. I think the cleanup and treating short term, and adding it to the list of jobs on the next haul out sounds reasonable. I do feel a bit better about the situation now. I was having visions of an exploding coupler and prop shaft falling out of the boat while motor sailing on a 2 day passage in the gulf.. LOL

The mechanic was on the boat today I know. I’ll get a read out from him soon and I’ll take some POR down with me in a couple of weeks. I’ll report back.

[sailormed]

You could gain a lot of length on the shaft by replacing the existing with the Volvo dripless seal. The only problem I see is that the lips of the seal have to run on a non pitted shaft. So that will depend on the surface state of the shaft a couple of inches further back where it is now in the water.

[gonesail]

the coupler is probably fused to the shaft .. along with the bolts being fused to the coupler. how did they even put it together with the engine in place? you would not be able to change the packing unless you remove shaft or engine IMHO

[Rod B]

My thought exactly, would it also be possible to shorten the stern tube a little, can't tell from the picture. My only concern would be that the Volvo seals come in a limited number of stern tube/shaft diameter combinations. I had to machine the o.d. of my stern tube down with a modified hole saw to be able to use one.

Originally Posted by sailormed

You could gain a lot of length on the shaft by replacing the existing with the Volvo dripless seal. The only problem I see is that the lips of the seal have to run on a non pitted shaft. So that will depend on the surface state of the shaft a couple of inches further back where it is now in the water.