Vicki & Tech Team – Weather: Air 13c/55f, Wind 30kn gusts E, Heavy Rain, Sea Ruddy Cold
Maynard has always liked a dry boat. Don't we all? When we were faced with the problem with the PSS shaft seals leaking gallons of water per hour back in May 2013 in the Dominican Republic, we had Vanish hauled out. Back then, there was a manufacturing fault with the stainless steel rotors and both seals, so PSS replaced both of our shaft seal sets in entirety. We've had no problems since then until last week when Mike found a small amount of water in the engine room bilge which he traced back to the port shaft seal located under his microwave oven in the crew cabin. He always tastes the water to see if it's fresh or salty to know what kind of problem we have and this was definitely salty.
The shaft seals that PSS makes are "dripless" seals and therefore there shouldn't be any water coming from them at any time. Maynard and Mike did a few elimination tests and some troubleshooting and discovered that the port side bellows and rotor unit measured just over 10 inches and the starboard bellows and rotor unit measured 9 5/8". This may not sound like a big difference but it was obvious that the port side rotor had slid forward considerably and was not providing enough pressure in order to form a good seal. We confirmed this with the PSS technician over the phone who said that over 10 inches is almost no seal at all. This means that if the rotor slid any further forward there would be a substantial amount of water leaking into the boat that would be difficult to stop. Somehow, the set screws that hold the rotor in place had loosened and allowed the rotor to slide forward on the shaft.
Maynard and Mike set to work to figure out a way to get the rotor pushed back aft along the shaft to get the proper compression. This is easier said than done as there is an immense amount of water pressure on the bellows. After about two hours of trying various different ideas involving a shaft collar, zinc, screw drivers, pry bars, and allen wrenches they decided that the only way to solve the issue was to rig up an hydraulic jack that would push the rotor back aft. We have a small Craftsman 2 ton hydraulic jack onboard and with a few modifications it proved to be quite handy.
The boys soon discovered that "canister" hydraulic jacks don't function when they are turned horizontally because this position doesn't allow the pressure to build in the canister as it is "jacked up". They rigged it at an angle so it would function and slowly but surely they were able to push the bellows far enough aft so that a positive seal would be formed between the carbon seal and the rotor. Once the rotor was back in place to 9 5/8" blue Loctite was added to the threads on the set screws and they were tightened to spec. It sounds so easy and straightforward but the shaft seal compartment is located in a small cubby hole with an even smaller access port on top. Only one person can fit in there and a lot of the time three or four hands were needed. The job took Mike and Maynard a total of 6 hours from start to finish, most of which was spent crammed into a small hole. Since the repair, we have gone 3 days at anchor with no water in the compartment and yesterday we turned on the engines and rotated the shaft three times forward and three times backward with no sign of a drip. We will continue to monitor the compartment and see how it responds with a nice long day or two at sea.
Today, the weather has turned cold, wet and windy with driving rain but excellent conditions if you are one of the many seals bobbing around the boat. It's also a good day to watch the latest release of the box office hit Mad Max Fury. The anchor alarm better stay quiet.