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Old 12-01-2018, 03:49 PM
LordGothington LordGothington is offline
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So, I managed to get the coupler separated by around 0.028" and use the feeler gauge to check the gap. It seem pretty even all around. I rotated the coupler and the flange around and the spacing did not seem to change.

But.. I never did fully disconnect the bolts so maybe my measurements are meaningless. I don't really understand what would hold the shaft in place if I did. On this boat there is a couple inches of shaft sticking out the back of the stern tube and a couple feet of unsupported shaft inside the boat.

I wasn't sure what else to do, so I put everything back together and took a video. The sound is annoying (and distorted)-- but it helps to be able to hear the engine speed.

https://youtu.be/dPEUImP0_4E

The wobble is most evident in the video at idle speed and seems to mostly go away at higher speeds -- though perhaps that is just because due to aliasing the vibration does not show up on camera. When I am on a longer passage instead of motoring around the harbor, I'll check what I can see with my eyes and feel with my hand.

Does the amount of wobble at low speeds seem concerning?

Also, I just tightened the stuffing box so that it does not leak when at rest. You can see if the video that it is quite wet around the shaft and sometimes flinging water around when the shaft is spinning. Should I tighten it even more? Perhaps I have never gotten it tight enough and that is why it seems to need so many adjustments?

The marina here is overwhelmed with work already and has no interest in this project, so I am going to continue to head south and try to gather additional data. I will also take another video, but at a higher framerate.
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