Not wishing to hyjack the other shaft thread: PSS tolerance to grease or a Rad' RMTA

[stav]

Thankfully I managed to get my solid half coupling undone and pulled off the shaft without cutting it: What a job though, lots of heat and the end of the spacer that I used to hold the two parts of the coupling apart ended up with an imprint of the turned centre of the gearbox output shaft on it! So then I could take off the stuffing gland and split apart with two pairs of 24" stilsons. It clearly had not been done for many years and obviously the grease was keeping more water out than the packing but thankfully the shaft was not worn at all.

I have repacked and put it all back together but am now considering a dripless option and either the PSS seal or Radice RMTA seal. I am quite keen on the PSS seal even though it is 2 1/2 times the price but am more concerned, after reading the installation instructions, which say keep all grease and oil away from the mating surfaces. The problem is the shaft is encased in grease down the tube from the excess use of grease to keep the water out (though water did flow in freely when I removed the old stern gland and rubber tube). I would change over the seal between tides so cannot get the shaft out nor get anything down to get out the grease from between shaft log and shaft. Will the PSS shaft seal still work with grease in the surrounding area or should I go for the RMTA seal?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this.

 

[Norman_E]

I fitted an RMTA seal to replace a very old Volvo seal. So far so good. I like the simplicity of the RMTA and Volvo seals. The two are very similar, but the RMTA is cheaper and has the advantage of a greasing point and a water feed tube so that it does not need to be burped. For use in a sailing yacht with a fairly slow shaft speed there is no need for forced water feed. All you need to do is fit an open ended tube to the water feed point and fix the open end well above heeled water level

 

[vyv_cox]

The seal faces of the PSS will not accept any grease at all and will burn up if they become contaminated. I think you would need to remove grease from the stern tube if fitting one. I installed my PSS ashore, replacing a heavily greased packed gland. I didn't take super precautions to remove the grease but I did withdraw the shaft and pull a rag through the tube.

 

[stav]

Thanks for the replies, have order an RMTA seal.

 

[Alpha22]

Does anyone know off hand if the Volvo seals go up to 1.75 inches..... is there a chart / price list anywhere? (I have tried endlessly to Google it)
The RMTA doesn't!

 

[Tranona]

Does anyone know off hand if the Volvo seals go up to 1.75 inches..... is there a chart / price list anywhere? (I have tried endlessly to Google it)
The RMTA doesn't!

Don't think so. If you want lip seals in that size look at Tides Marine or Vetus.