Which Shaft Seal??

S

sailingjupiter

Active Member
Joined
1 Aug 2006
Messages
45
Location
Lancashire
Visit site
Hi

I am fed up of the boats current stuffing box arrangement and associated water in the bilge and am looking into getting something dripless.

Searching the forum there appear to be a few differnt solutions. I am after a cheap reliable seal - obviously. Also easy fitting as I will be doing it myself.

The Volvo Shaft Seal looks good value and seams to get a good write up. Any others to consider?

Engine is only a Yanmar 1GM10 so small stern tube, not sure of the diameter as I haven't measured.

Thanks for the help!
 
If it'll fit, the Volvo seal is your best choice. You need to measure your shaft and tube accurately - then check the Volvo seal dimensions here to see if there's one to fit.
 
I use a Volvo seal with a 1GM. Excellent and much cheaper (and IMO better) than face to face seals. Assume you have a 1 inch shaft (although Volvo make metric sizes as well) in which case the diameter of the bit that clamps to the stern tube is 1 3/4 inch. Details are on the Volvo website
 
Have you seen my thread on this subject
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showflat.php?C...&PHPSESSID=

Today I bit the bullet and fitted the Tides Marine shaft seal - including a T-off for the water feed. My biggest winter job done /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif and it looks like this
shaftseal.jpg
 
I can't answer for the others, but the Volvo seal is excellent. My present boat has saildrive, but on our last, a Sadler 29, I fitted a seal for a 2.5cm shaft onto the 1" shaft as advised by Keyparts and had no problems at all.
 
I have just had a tides marine unit fitted and the installer declined to provide the water take off but left it to vent higher than the shaft. Do you think that was satisfactory?
 
The Volvo seal seems to get good reports, including in this thread. I fitted a PSS seal three years ago (bought from ASAP), and am delighted with it. Zero maintenance, just a periodic check that it's OK.

Whichever fits your installation/budget, I'm sure you'll be glad of it.
 
The installer never read the instructions then! The water feed is to put water under pressure INTO the seal not to take water out of it. If all you have is open hose on the nozzle then it will fill with sea water and if the end is below water level your boat will sink!

These are the installation instructions
http://www.tidesmarine.com/shaft-seals.html

An urgent phone call is required. Good luck. Don't pay him until it is done and don't launch the boat.
 
[ QUOTE ]
The Volvo seal seems to get good reports, including in this thread. I fitted a PSS seal three years ago (bought from ASAP), and am delighted with it. Zero maintenance, just a periodic check that it's OK.

Whichever fits your installation/budget, I'm sure you'll be glad of it.

[/ QUOTE ]Lots of people swear by the Volvo shaft seal and I am sure that they are very good. I can only comment on what we have fitted and used. In the last two boats we have fitted a PSS seal and we too are very happy with it. Does exactly what it says on the box. Sometimes I spray it with WD to stop it squeaking, but I think I've got the adjustment a touch too tight...
 
Don't know about the Tides unit, but suspect it may be similar to the PSS. In the instructions for that it states that a forced water feed is only needed for high power, high speed mobos and suchlike. For an auxiliary engine the arrangement you have with the open end above any conceivable water level, is perfectly good.
 
Your installer may have confused it with a PSS seal (looks a bit like it if you have faulty colour vision). The PSS has an open vent pipe well above the waterline, for the purpose of venting air on launching.
 
As someone has pointed out - your installer has confused the Tides seal with a PSS. It depends on a pressurised water feed. As I said in my PM (and repeat here for everyone's benefit) your installer has not read the instructions - he is incompetent and belongs in the hall of shame. Fix it or wreck it or possibly sink.
 
Beware....make sure your water feed comes from the right place(I am sure you have, but just in case)..... I have a friend who's fitter took the water off from the water hose between the heat exchanger and the siphon, rather than from after the siphon. You can guess what happened next......water in the cylinders...bent rods.....lawyers letters.....much unhappiness
 
Thanks. The only hose on the VP2003 fresh water cooled is on the pipe from the water pump to the heat exchanger. So I have followed other and taken a loop there to what then becomes the anti-syphon and T'ed off from there. Doesn't look pretty but should work.
 
If you go for the Volvo (which we have and I would recommend) ensure you grease it BEFORE you launch. It's a complete bugger to get the grease in afterwards with water pouring out! (in).
 
Had a slight issue with my seal, looks similar to the picture but with black bellows. The seal plumbing was taking too big a share of the water flow, not enough going into exhaust. Soon cured by reducing bore of part of seal plumbing.
By the way, as I understand it, the hose from the seal is to ensure the seal is wet, by either squirting water in or letting air out. Fast boats can have enough suction here to dry the seal (think elvestrom bailer?) so require a water feed. A good bit of kit!
 
The Volvo seal has been reengineered by Radice in Italy. It has a feed for water and a grease nipple. In addition the diameter of the stern tube can be 29mm for a 25 mm shaft, Volvo is 32 mm. This is rather important since the French Boats use most of the time a stern tube of 29 mm.. This seal is available for 22,25,30,35 and 40 mm shafts.
In order to grease the grease tube (like a toothbrush tube) is screwed into the nipple pressed onto tube and the nipple is closed by a plug. Very, very simple. With Volvo it’s a little bit more difficult. Otherwise the Radice seal looks like the Volvo seal the Volvo.

I installed it last year after bad experience with one of the modern seals (British product). The rubber bellow lost pressure and the disc had rills caused by sand corns. It was leaking…..
Sure it was ok for some years but it was described as maintenance free…
The biggest rubbish which I ever installed…….I wish, I would have never installed it. It was also for a 29 mm stern tube.
I have heard of boat which almost sunk with this seal.
I have never heard anything bad about the Volvo seal. I consider the Italian seal even as a better seal, because fits a 29mm tube,easy to grease and cant run dry (part of cooling water is directed to the seal)
Sorry about some grammar or spelling mistakes I am German.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top