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  #26   IP: 65.79.132.37
Old 12-05-2018, 07:31 PM
LordGothington LordGothington is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by romantic comedy View Post
The length is arbitrary and can be changed to move the stuffing contact surface to another point on the shaft.

The change can even be done with the boat in the water depending on the access and how confident you are.
Hmm. Interesting idea. I am going to have the boat out of the water in a month or so anyway. I assume it is necessary to remove the shaft from the coupler so you can get the old hose off and the new hose on?

I've read that every time you take the coupler off the shaft you have to replace it because of the way it is fit on there? Or switch the the split coupler?
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  #27   IP: 24.152.132.140
Old 12-05-2018, 08:45 PM
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Plan for the worst, hope for the best

The shaft needs to come out of the coupling for either hose replacement or a PSS seal. There's a better than even chance the shaft will be stuck in the coupling and stuck hard. There is a method found on this forum to press it out in situ but it risks destroying the engine output coupling in the process. Before going that far many prefer to cut the shaft between the coupling and the stuffing box and then extract the stump from the coupling with a shop press. Of course at that point you are in for a new shaft.
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  #28   IP: 65.79.132.37
Old 12-05-2018, 09:08 PM
LordGothington LordGothington is offline
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Originally Posted by ndutton View Post
Of course at that point you are in for a new shaft.
Truthfully, I'll probably put in a new shaft regardless. I am having a harder time deciding on the PSS.

On the one hand, the PSS sounded like a good idea when I feared the stuffing box. But now that I am less fearful of it, I am more worried about the PSS. I've heard rumors it works great until it suddenly doesn't work at all.

While not comfortable, I *can* get both hands on my stuffing box. And I have gotten quite good at making the adjustments. I can even repack it in the water now

I guess I have a month to decide.
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  #29   IP: 71.208.62.184
Old 12-05-2018, 09:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LordGothington View Post
Hmm. Interesting idea. I am going to have the boat out of the water in a month or so anyway. I assume it is necessary to remove the shaft from the coupler so you can get the old hose off and the new hose on?

I've read that every time you take the coupler off the shaft you have to replace it because of the way it is fit on there? Or switch the the split coupler?
I take the coupling off the shaft twice a year. That would make that over 40 times with the same shaft and coupling. The reason is that I have a diver do the bottom. I have him pull the shaft, give to me to clean the prop, then do the bottom. It usually takes me just as long to clean the prop as it takes for him to do the bottom. Then he puts the shaft back in and all is clean.

Also when the boat is in the yard I pull the shaft to make bottom work easier.

But if your shaft and coupling have become one you may have to steer a different course.
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  #30   IP: 65.79.132.37
Old 12-05-2018, 09:22 PM
LordGothington LordGothington is offline
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Originally Posted by romantic comedy View Post
I take the coupling off the shaft twice a year. That would make that over 40 times with the same shaft and coupling.
All I know is that *some people* claim that the 'press fit' shaft coupling can only be used once. And that if you use it multiple times, then you risk having the propeller shoot out the back of the boat when you put it in reverse. Hence the invention of the split coupler that is designed to be reused.

Maybe *some people* are wrong. I have no first hand experience

I have no idea when this shaft and coupler were mated. At least a decade ago I'd guess.
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  #31   IP: 24.152.132.140
Old 12-05-2018, 09:55 PM
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My preference is contrary to all the experts who say the shaft has to fit so tight in the coupler that it has to be beat into place by the likes of John Henry. When I did them I would dress the inboard end of the shaft until the coupler could be slid on by hand. What held it in place were two hardened set screws driven into generous dimples drilled into the shaft and safety wired after they were tightened. I never lost a shaft in reverse.

As for PSS seal or conventional stuffing box, opinions vary and they're worth what you pay for them ($0.00). I'll suggest the major factor in the decision making process is access to the stuffing box. If access is difficult, a PSS may be the best money you ever spent. With good access, either will work and as you've seen, repacking a stuffing box is pretty easy even in the water.

Not that it matters to anyone other than me but there will never be a PSS on a boat of mine. In the 1980's I was considering one for a boat I was building. I ran up against the normal chatter, ask 3 sailors and get 4 opinions. I gave the production manager at Islander Yachts a call, an old friend whose opinion I respected. I knew they were using a PSS type seal on their new Islander 34 because of access problems under a V drive engine so here was a guy with first hand experience with several installations. He said he wouldn't install one of those $%#@& things unless a gun was held to his head. The problems they experienced weren't longevity based (new boats of course) but rather sealing face issues. When they're polished like new they work fine but once scratched they turn into a pump slinging water all over the place. It's entirely possible, maybe even probable, his employees weren't taking the care they should have during installation but his opinion was good enough for me.
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  #32   IP: 32.211.28.40
Old 12-06-2018, 12:05 PM
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Al Schober Al Schober is offline
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A new coupling will just slide over the end of the shaft - it's not a force fit. An old coupling is hard to remove because of corrosion of the coupling. The corrosion products fill the interface. Clean up the old coupling and it will slide back into place and work fine.
The old shaft, even though scored, may be usable. First, consider the possibility of moving the stuffing box to a new location by using a shorter or longer hose to the stern tube. Then make sure the old shaft is straight. A gradual bend over the full length is removable. A short kink at the aft end taper is hard to correct and will have a adverse affect on the propeller (will make the propeller seem to have bent blades.
Plus one on having the coupling set screw seat into a good dimple in the shaft. This dimple is made with a drill bit the size of the screw, and drilled deep enough to cut it's full diameter. I've seen more that one shaft pull out of couplings because the shaft wasn't drilled.
Face seals are good things but are susceptible to scoring from grit in the water. The worst grit is the stuff you see in glacial runoff. This grit comes from the outside water trying to get into the boat. The trick to getting long life from a face seal is to feed it clean water. Water from the water pump discharge is run through a filter and then fed to the stern tube just aft of the seal. We're talking a very small flow - just more than the seal drips.
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