180 miles from my destination and my dripless seal isn't!

[Zanshin]

I'm currently sailing from Grenada to St. Maarten and am about halfway there, currently 30 miles west of the southern tip of Dominica. I checked my bilge earlier and found water. I've traced it back to the dripless shaft seal which is now trickling water while running at 1100 RPM. I had to turn on the engine because the winds for the remaining 180 miles are predicted to pretty much die down completely so I do need to motor (I've got a schedule to keep in SXM, as I'm a volunteer at the Heineken Regatta).

The seal is leaking a trickle as can be seen in the image, and the rubber seal itself isn't hot.
- Is there anything I can do? I check my bilge every 4 hours on passage, should I be worried about an explosive burst?
- I assume that if it leaks while not rotating with the engine off, I can use a hose clamp to tighten it.
- It looks like I am going to have to get hauled out just days after getting back into the water!

[MalcolmP]

Zanshin, that sounds frustrating to say the least! You may be able to get some grease into it which should help. I have had this in teh past, due to the OEM stainless shaft getting wear rings. Good luck Malcolm 

[Zanshin]

I think I might have some little tubes of grease that come with impellers. Otherwise I have standard grease and lanolin. I'll be in an area with more than 2 knots of wind in about 2-3 hours and can then resume sailing and I'll see if I can add some grease.

[Charlie-Bravo]

Ideally Silicone grease, ….. like the impeller grease, in dire situations a quantity of margarine could possibly help.

A good way to get it into the seal is with a drinking straw, ideally plastic ones which are becoming scarce due to the environment.
3/4 fill the straw with grease, flatten one straw end and pinch the seal with fingers or grips which gives a little slack to the seal lip, once straw is in, flatten the straw squeezing the grease in, repeat quite a few times, you can’t over grease it.

It is not likely to ‘let go’ , just get progressively worse.

Replacement can be done afloat, but it’s not for the faint of heart, and quite a wet experience I am told. I would imagine the operation has potential to allow the prop shaft to be lost !!! ……. let’s hope the margarine sorts it out.

CB

[Don Reaves]

My mechanic told me you can usually tell when a dripless seal is about to fail because it will have a twisting deformity. Your picture doesn't show anything like that, so it may not need to be replaced. As Malcolm says, it could be due to wear on the shaft. That will probably result in minor leakage, but not a total failure.

[Zanshin]

Thanks for the potentially good news. I used a syringe to inject some grease, but the nipple is very short and I don't think that the grease went in far enough. I've got no straws aboard, but might use a needle on the syringe to push some grease deeper tomorrow. The litte bit I did changed the leak from 4-5 drips per second to about 1 (while the prop isn't running).

[sitara]

Zanshin, a small plastic bag with the corner cut off is another way of getting grease into the seal. Messy and not as easy as a straw but it is possible. Good luck, Rob

[Charlie-Bravo]

Another way if your tube of lube looks like a toothpaste tube is to snip off one bottom corner, flatten the tube snipped end around the shaft and slide it in, squeeze away.

CB

[svejk]

Sometimes "burping" it will do the trick.  I fought leaks with mine for the past year and just had it replaced (21 yrs, not a bad run).  Good news is there shouldn't be an explosive burst, just an annoyingly wet bilge.

[Trevor]

Hello Zanshin,

I had a volvo seal replaced but the shaft needed some attention as outlined here.

jeanneau.proboards.com/thread/10169/prop-shaft-corrosion-speedi-sleeves

I hope this may be of some help.

Regards,

Trevor