Shaft Seals

[Enoch Powell]

Hi all,

The time has come to replace the shaft seal on my superseal.
It has a 1 inch shaft and is on a mooring that dries out.

I have three in mind:

https://www.elicheradice.com/product...mta-rtmo-type/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255727709...mis&media=COPY

https://www.asap-supplies.com/produc...ts-orb-91872-1


I have never replaced one before so any suggestions would be very much appriciated.

[tkeithlu]

I can make a general comment: The price of shaft seals has come WAY down. The only difference I see between these and the "originals" is less bellows, which should not be a problem. Here is the usual:

https://www.amazon.com/PSS-Shaft-Sea...086&th=1&psc=1

One note from my experience with them: My seal came with a cheap vinyl hose to feed cooling/lubricating water from the engine raw water feed to the seal. If that hose failed the raw water would sink the boat. I replaced it with reinforced fuel hose.

Best of luck wih your project.

[Enoch Powell]

Thanks tkeithlu, I appriciate your help.

[Bill O]

Having just done our dripless shaft seal recently, the biggest issue was getting the coupler off the shaft. This took longer than expected, but with some persistence it came off.

Have never seen the brands you linked here in the States, but would assess them by the length of time for the recommended replacement of the bellows/seals again. Also for things below the water line would go with one that had a double hose clamp vs. a single.

I believe tkeithlu gave you good advice already to use a better quality hose from the engine to the shaft seal injector barb. (We also use an injector type shaft seal even though they are typically for faster boats.)

You mentioned your boat dries out on the mooring and suspect this will be helpful to replace the seal when the tide is out. A quick question on it drying out, do you "burb" your shaft seal before you use your motor after it dries out?

When we our dropped boat back in the water (after changing our dripless), I started the motor to inject water into the seal. After running it for a few minutes I cracked the burping bolt and was surprised on how much air was still in the seal. This trapped air may cause excessive heat and prematurely wear the new seal, so now I will always burp it when it comes out of the water.