Dripless shaft bearing question ??????-gctid341671

[seaclusion]

I Am thinking and wanting to replace my stuffing boxes on my 4387 to a dripless type 1-3/4 '' sized unit i had broken a 1/4 inch bolt off last season on one side stbd but i had a clamp made to accomadate for the season and the bolt on the port side is close to twisting off ....any sugestions anybody ? HAS ANY DONE THE JOB ON A 4387 ? the port side looks easy .... lot of room to work but the starboard looks to big job .....no room to work at all ........ any sugestions on how to accesss this side would be a great help ...... p .s .and yes the boat is out off the water for the winter ......thanks

[boatworkfl]

I removed 1 dripless because of failure, this summer I will replace the other.

The standard stuffing box is very reliable, especially when used with the newer teflon or teflon/flax packing, all stuffing boxes need to be maintained, you cannot just keep tightening the bolts or packing nuts, you only need to replace the packing when there is not much adj left or they keep leaking.

[seaclusion]

what type did u have ........Dripless Shaft Seals - Packless Sealing Systems

[Papa_Charlie]

We have the Norscott dripless. One is perfect the other is leaking but they both have 1800 hours on them. They were installed when the boat was new in 1992. The seals are only $26.00 for a set per shaft.

I have done some reading on them, they are simple, no springs, no bellows, just three oil type shaft seals like are installed in a million pieces of equipment.

[NeilW]

The PSS dripless seals from PYI are fine. We have installed hundreds of them with not one failure. The only thing I have experienced is the S.S. collar was not tightened properly (it has two allen screws, one on top of the other) and it backed off causing some splashing of water. A simple hose clamp installed on the shaft forward of the collar will prevent this from happening. Good system and will last for years

[Guest]

I have had packing the pss mechanical seals and the norscott? Type of lip seals. Our pss seals would work perfectly then leak, then I would screw with them increase spring pressure, or pull the rotating element back to flush them and they would behave for a while. I am a machinist and my engines were dialed in perfectly. I work on pumps daily and they have mechanical seals. Mechanical seals require a lack of side to side movement, and are best applied in places where their are roller or ball bearings on each side of the seal. In a boat they have loose bushings sometimes 3 feet away from the seal. When they leak they spray water all over the place and even a very leaky packing container, does not tend to fling water, just leak it.

Our lip seal equipped shaft seals on our present boat are working well. Even if over time the shaft becomes worn you can simply install a washer of gasket material first so that all 3 seals are indexed out by a 32nd

of an inch and therefore get a new piece of shaft to work with.

Lastly if a mechanical seal really let's go you can have a pretty big leak. Less Lilly with the lip seals and packing.

Cheers steve

[seaclusion]

thanks charlie , stev & neil for all your input on this question .......does anyone know any body that has done this job on 4387 the reason i ask is because there is not much room to work on the starboard side to work with out i think taking apaRT some cabinets .