water lubricated stern gland

[frank lloyd wright]

I have a 57 foot narrow boat with a water lubricated propeller shaft gland. The water is supplied via a tube from the weed hatch to the gland. The pipe in the weed hatch is above the water line and relies totally on water sprayed up by the propeller. It has now started to squeal in reverse only. Has anyone else come across this problem?

[Guest]

I have a 57 foot narrow boat with a water lubricated propeller shaft gland. The water is supplied via a tube from the weed hatch to the gland. The pipe in the weed hatch is above the water line and relies totally on water sprayed up by the propeller. It has now started to squeal in reverse only. Has anyone else come across this problem?

I'll guess it needs some silicone grease in it. If it is a Vetus one, there is an allen screw on top. Using Silicone grease only,inject some in with a plastic syringe. I do mine whenever I change the engine oil, which is generally twice a year.

[Canalwatcher]

We have an Aqualine Manhattan which has this design. I assume you are talking about the Vetus Culass bearing? We have not had any squeals (or a single drop of water in the bilge)in 1500 hours of cruising. I have lubricated the gland with 1cc of silicone grease every 250 hours as recommended by Vetus

 

Mick

[Guest]

We have an Aqualine Manhattan which has this design. I assume you are talking about the Vetus Culass bearing? We have not had any squeals (or a single drop of water in the bilge)in 1500 hours of cruising. I have lubricated the gland with 1cc of silicone grease every 250 hours as recommended by Vetus

 

Mick

Really, every 250 hrs now? When I got ours 7 years ago it was once a year!

 

We get a drop of water if reversing any distance, but after a 6 week cruise last summer there was about half a cup of water in the container under the gland, and that is with over two thousand hours on the clock. I actually find this setup much quieter than the previous traditional job. I suspect we will have to renew the seal soon, but it looks failry straightforward.

[Harmony]

Hi There What make is your please Thanks

[Guest]

Hi There What make is your please Thanks

Mine is a Vetus unit.

[Biggles]

I have one of these too on my build. The instructions say it needs a positive feed of at least 45l p/h. Relying on splash from the weed hatch seems a bit hit and miss. I am told this positive force is best provided by a scoop if you have a sealed cooling system, of if like me you have a raw water setup then a feed from the pump.

 

Of course these seals are used all over and our shafts turn a lot slower than a power or fishing boat.

[by'eck]

I had a sailboat with water lubricated cutlass bearing. There was a union the wet side of the stuffing box with pipe attached to through hull fitting like this, facing forward to achieve positive pressure when boat underway.

 

[blackrose]

I have one of these too on my build. The instructions say it needs a positive feed of at least 45l p/h. Relying on splash from the weed hatch seems a bit hit and miss. I am told this positive force is best provided by a scoop if you have a sealed cooling system, of if like me you have a raw water setup then a feed from the pump.

 

Of course these seals are used all over and our shafts turn a lot slower than a power or fishing boat.

 

To test mine I once took the tube off the top of the gland and ran the engine in gear. Water came up from the gland not down from the weed hatch. However, I haven't tried this with the boat moving forward at any speed.

 

It's certainly not how Vetus intended the gland to be installed, but I think at the slow speeds canal boats travel the idea is that the gland stays immersed and that's adequate. I guess we will all find out in a few years when we check the wear on our prop shafts.

 

By the way, you can take off the front of the bronze housing and slide it up the prop shaft. Water will come in at a rate of about a litre a minute but you can smear a load of silicone grease into the gland. I did it as I didn't think the 1cc through the top screw hole was enough.

Edited July 28, 2011 by blackrose

[Harmony]

I am having problems at the moment with a "TIDEMARINE" type. I have ingress of water when in gear (forward and reverse). This is the second time I have had problems the first time was 3 years ago. I was told then that this type of gland does NOT like reverse I was very new to boating then and used reverse when grounded and stirred up allot of sand/muck. If anyone can throw any light on this type I would appreciate it Thanks. Ivor

[blackrose]

I am having problems at the moment with a "TIDEMARINE" type. I have ingress of water when in gear (forward and reverse). This is the second time I have had problems the first time was 3 years ago. I was told then that this type of gland does NOT like reverse I was very new to boating then and used reverse when grounded and stirred up allot of sand/muck. If anyone can throw any light on this type I would appreciate it Thanks. Ivor

 

Have you tried contacting the manufacturers technical dept? That's probably what I'd try first.

 

The Vetus gland isn't supposed to drip at all - I'm not sure about yours.

 

It could be that the seals are worn, but one workaround could be to loosen the propshaft coupling and move the shaft forwards or backwards by a few mm before re-tightening the coupling.

Edited July 28, 2011 by blackrose

[Mac of Cygnet]

I have a Volvo water-lubricated type. I've not done anything to it in 6 years, and don't see how I can, as there it is as far as I can see completely sealed with no means of injecting grease. I've always assumed it is lubricated by water from the prop end of the shaft, which is of course submerged. Someone on this forum once said that when these failed they did so 'catastrophically'. I didn't like that word.

[blackrose]

I have a Volvo water-lubricated type. I've not done anything to it in 6 years, and don't see how I can, as there it is as far as I can see completely sealed with no means of injecting grease. I've always assumed it is lubricated by water from the prop end of the shaft, which is of course submerged. Someone on this forum once said that when these failed they did so 'catastrophically'. I didn't like that word.

 

They can become contaminated with crap which wears the seals, but that wouldn't cause a catastrophic failure. The catastrophic failure scenario might occur if the thick rubber cutlass bearing cover split. I might be wrong, but I've never heard of this happening.

 

I am having problems at the moment with a "TIDEMARINE" type. I have ingress of water when in gear (forward and reverse). This is the second time I have had problems the first time was 3 years ago. I was told then that this type of gland does NOT like reverse I was very new to boating then and used reverse when grounded and stirred up allot of sand/muck. If anyone can throw any light on this type I would appreciate it Thanks. Ivor

 

http://www.tidesmarine.com/seriesone-shaft-seals.shtml

 

I have a Volvo water-lubricated type. I've not done anything to it in 6 years, and don't see how I can, as there it is as far as I can see completely sealed with no means of injecting grease. I've always assumed it is lubricated by water from the prop end of the shaft, which is of course submerged. Someone on this forum once said that when these failed they did so 'catastrophically'. I didn't like that word.

 

Here's someone replacing a Volvo water lubricated gland while in the water:

 

 

Unlike the Vetus units there seems to be no water intake or outflow with these glands?

Edited July 28, 2011 by blackrose

[Mac of Cygnet]

 

 

 

 

Here's someone replacing a Volvo water lubricated gland while in the water:

 

 

Unlike the Vetus units there seems to be no water intake or outflow with these glands?

 

Yes, that's what I've got. Very impressive if scary video.

[Guest]

To test mine I once took the tube off the top of the gland and ran the engine in gear. Water came up from the gland not down from the weed hatch. However, I haven't tried this with the boat moving forward at any speed.

 

It's certainly not how Vetus intended the gland to be installed, but I think at the slow speeds canal boats travel the idea is that the gland stays immersed and that's adequate. I guess we will all find out in a few years when we check the wear on our prop shafts.

 

By the way, you can take off the front of the bronze housing and slide it up the prop shaft. Water will come in at a rate of about a litre a minute but you can smear a load of silicone grease into the gland. I did it as I didn't think the 1cc through the top screw hole was enough.

Similar to what I have heard elsewhere, and the water simply doesn't gush in as has been suggested at times. I believe the seal can be changed afloat.

[WotEver]

I believe the seal can be changed afloat.

See the two posts above yours

[Ryeland]

I have a Volvo water-lubricated type. I've not done anything to it in 6 years, and don't see how I can, as there it is as far as I can see completely sealed with no means of injecting grease. I've always assumed it is lubricated by water from the prop end of the shaft, which is of course submerged. Someone on this forum once said that when these failed they did so 'catastrophically'. I didn't like that word.

Then instructions for my Volvo Penta seal say squirt about 1cc of their grease under the lip of the seal once a year, being careful not to lever the seal away from the shaft. I got a very small tube with the boat shell from the builder, which was probably supplied with the seal.

 

Richard

[pandajulienne]

The Vetus seals can be replaced whilst in the water, I had mine replaced about a year ago. The seals are fairly expensive. The fitter that replaced mine said grease it when you remember to. The cost inc labour was £150.00 (1 hour labour)

[Guest]

The Vetus seals can be replaced whilst in the water, I had mine replaced about a year ago. The seals are fairly expensive. The fitter that replaced mine said grease it when you remember to. The cost inc labour was £150.00 (1 hour labour)

May I ask what sort of age /hours the seal had done before it needed replacing?

 

Yes they were about 90 quid last time I looked, expensive IMHO.

 

The silicone grease is expensive from Vetus, but can be bought in tubs from plumbers merchants for about 4 quid (they use it for lubricating some sort of fitting apparently.) I inject it into the seal with a plastic syringe.

Edited July 28, 2011 by Guest

[Mac of Cygnet]

Then instructions for my Volvo Penta seal say squirt about 1cc of their grease under the lip of the seal once a year, being careful not to lever the seal away from the shaft. I got a very small tube with the boat shell from the builder, which was probably supplied with the seal.

 

Richard

 

So how do you insert 1cc (which is actually quite a lot) of grease under a lip without raising it? Any idea what sort of grease this is?

[Ryeland]

So how do you insert 1cc (which is actually quite a lot) of grease under a lip without raising it? Any idea what sort of grease this is?

It's not obvious from the instructions! I gently squeeze the rubber which just opens up enough to squirt the grease in. I guess they mean 'don't shove a screwdriver under the seal'. I can't find the tube at the moment (I'm sure it's somewhere safe!) so can't help with the grease type I'm afraid.

 

Richard

Edited July 29, 2011 by Ryeland

[Biggles]

May I ask what sort of age /hours the seal had done before it needed replacing?

 

Yes they were about 90 quid last time I looked, expensive IMHO.

 

The silicone grease is expensive from Vetus, but can be bought in tubs from plumbers merchants for about 4 quid (they use it for lubricating some sort of fitting apparently.) I inject it into the seal with a plastic syringe.

 

 

Hmm! Me thinks I will make a note of the seal numbers before I fit the seal assembly. These small seals a seldom more than £5-10.

[Theo]

I have one of these too on my build. The instructions say it needs a positive feed of at least 45l p/h. Relying on splash from the weed hatch seems a bit hit and miss. I am told this positive force is best provided by a scoop if you have a sealed cooling system, of if like me you have a raw water setup then a feed from the pump.

 

Of course these seals are used all over and our shafts turn a lot slower than a power or fishing boat.

 

The tube to the weed hatch is not intended to feed water to the sterngland. It bleeds air out of it. the water feeds in past the propeller and back up the sterntube. How efficiently the water feeds back along the sterntube depends on how fast you go. The instructions said that I should not go over 12 knots. So I make sure that I keep Theodora throttled back.

 

Nck

[Guest]

Hmm! Me thinks I will make a note of the seal numbers before I fit the seal assembly. These small seals a seldom more than £5-10.

Pretty much what I thought. I can't believe it is not a standard seal, and perhaps a decent bearing outlet would be able to provide something? According to the Vetus blurb,it is a "double lip seal."

 

The tube to the weed hatch is not intended to feed water to the sterngland. It bleeds air out of it. the water feeds in past the propeller and back up the sterntube. How efficiently the water feeds back along the sterntube depends on how fast you go. The instructions said that I should not go over 12 knots. So I make sure that I keep Theodora throttled back.

 

Nck

That is basically what I was told: The tube to the hatch is a vent.

 

Pleased to note you keep it under 12 knots. There is nothing more unsightly than a narrowboat on the plane

[pandajulienne]

May I ask what sort of age /hours the seal had done before it needed replacing?

 

Yes they were about 90 quid last time I looked, expensive IMHO.

 

The silicone grease is expensive from Vetus, but can be bought in tubs from plumbers merchants for about 4 quid (they use it for lubricating some sort of fitting apparently.) I inject it into the seal with a plastic syringe.

Sorry have been unable to reply sooner but no connection. The seal was 3 years old and done about 4000 hours.

Paul

 

 

Post edited by Panda julienne Missing l

Edited July 31, 2011 by pandajulienne