Cost to install a dripless prop shaft?

[bmelchionda]

Anyone know the estimated cost to install a dripless prop shaft with the PSS Shaft Seal? Where-abouts in cost am I looking at? Thanks!

[sailingdog]

It would help if you said what kind of boat you have, what size propshaft it has, and where you were located.

[Vasco]

The cost to haul and a couple of hours labour.

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by Vasco

The cost to haul and a couple of hours labour.

and the cost of the PSS hardware...

[svindigo]

We installed one last year and the labor cost more than the hardware. The big driver will be ease of installation. How is your current stuffing box/packing gland situated now? If it is easily accessible that will help. If it is in an awkward location as ours was then you will end up investing in labor. Glad we did it but it wasn't a cheap as we'd hoped. I hope you have a clean install.

Ike

[blt2ski]

I had a PSS shaft installed last summer, parts IIRC about 350-400, labor to a degree was negligible, as the shaft was out due to a worn cutlass bearing!

What WAS a problem, the installer put in a bleeder tube per instructions. BUT, the opening was below the water line, not 6-12" above per instructions........on July 4th on the way to Seattle to watch the fireworks, my daughter goes below, and makes a comment "There is water below here above the floorboards!!!!" Can we say "OH SHEET".........

Any way, figured out, if the bleeder tube is below the water line, you can start siphoning water back into the boat. I spent the next hr sponging out 20-30 gals of water from the engine area, to the middle of the boat. Missed a wonderfull downwind sail above decks anyway, with the chute up in 10-15knot winds, 70-80F temps...........

Something to watch out for if you have one of these installed.

marty

[sailingdog]

Thanks for the warning blt2ski.

[ughmo2000]

Holy smokes Marty!

What a rush that must have been! Thanks for the info.

[Pub911]

2 ways to avoid this potential problem: Put a syphon break in line and above the water line (not always convenient given a sailboat's heel); or plumb the water line into the output side of your raw water engine cooling pump. The 2nd approach is recommended for installation on all boats that can exceed 12 knts under power due to the potential to run the seal dry (due to a low pressure created in the shaft log at these speeds) but appropriate for all boats fitted with an engine driven water pump.

[SEMIJim]

Before going to the expense of a dripless shaft seal, you might want to give GFO Fiber Packing a try. People I've corresponded with on-line say their claims appear to be true: Set it and forget it. Near the end of the season, just before haul-out, my packing gland started leaking like a sieve. I'm going to give the Gore GFO stuff a try.

Here are very detailed instructions on how to easily and efficiently install it: Re-Packing A Traditional Stuffing Box. And here's the same guy doing a PSS Shaft Seal Installation.

Good luck!

Jim