Deep sea seal??

[dignity]

On my Marex cruiser I have what I presume to be a deep sea seal on my prop shaft as there is no stuffing box, there is however a small grease nipple. Can anybody tell me if these kind of seals do require greasing, as someone has warned me that pumping grease into them could blow the seals??

I have covered apprx 20 hours since relaunch with no grease and no drips! But I obviously need to know before I damage anything.

I'm so used to the good old fashioned type of stuffing box I'm not sure what to do!!

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[jeanette]

I have a similar seal on my yacht but it doesn't use grease for lubrication, it uses water. Do you have a breather tube of some description for water, oil or air?


<hr width=100% size=1>Jeanette

 

[ROCKETSHIP_11]

Be warned ! some of these seals have a bleed nipple not a grease nipple fitted this is used to vent all the air out of the sterntube after launching as these seals are water lubricated, check with the manufacturer before fiddling with this, I have witnessed a chap sprinting up the pontoon for the travellift driver after poking at a drip and turning it into a torrent, 8 inches of water in the boat 15 mins later !!!!

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[dignity]

No nothing at all, all I can make out is there's a rubber sleeve, and then what I presume to be a grease nipple towards the end of the bearing, cannot find a makers identity mark either!

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[jeanette]

try search for "shaft seal" with google and have a look for something that appears similar. Here is one example.
http://www.leviathanmarine.com/Halyard/halyard_propellor_shaft_seal.htm

There is a nipple on my shaft seal to which a tube is fitted in order to vent air. I am aware that for the shaft seals on motor cruisers that this tube is sometimes oil filled rather than water filled.

I don't think I can do more than say look for more information, which you are clearly already doing. Sorry I can't be more helpful.



<hr width=100% size=1>Jeanette

 

[tome]

If it's a PSS dripless seal they make 2 versions for slow and high speed craft. Slow speed are water lubricated by immersion but the high speed needs a pressurised water feed. Don't remember what the crossover speed is, but could yours be a high speed version which is operating as low speed? If so the 'nipple' could be a redundant feed connection.

The seal has a black rubber bellows onto the shaft log with a thick carbon front bearing face which runs in contact with a stainless ring on the shaft and is sealed onto the shaft with 2 'O' rings. The ring is secured onto the shaft with a couple of doubled grub screws.

To bleed it after launch, the rubber bellows are forced back until water flows and then released back onto the stainless ring. This expels any air in the bellows.

I tried looking at their site <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.shaftseal.com>http://www.shaftseal.com</A> but it appears to be down.

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[qsiv]

I note your boat is Dutch - I know my Trintella uses a Dutch badged version of a French seal - I cant for the life of me think of the name - but I know I have the invoice for the replacement ceramic seals at work, and can give you the name if it turns out that none of the other posts identifies the seal accurately.

If the bearing faces are ceramic, then all that is needed is to 'burp' the seal to vent any air - water then lubricates the bearing surfaces (just like in moderna ceramic taps and pressure washers).

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[qsiv]

Ok - the brain has eventually functioned. The brand name I was after is Hollex.

The French suppliers page is here <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.alphaver.com/hollex.html>http://www.alphaver.com/hollex.html</A>

Most modern seals wouldnt want to use oil or grease as the risk of accidental discharge (or contamination of the cutless bearing) is too high, so I would be surprised if the nipple is really for grease.

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[dignity]

Yes I would agree, the only thing confusing me is that I had a Channel Islands cruiser before with what looked like the same set-up, but that had a remote greaser attached. I've been searching web-sites, the only one what looks similar is the vetus one but theirs has a water input nozzle.

Starting to worry now due to go on a long trip at Easter, so I don't want any problems.

Thanks for all your help and I'll keep trying!

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