Getting stuffed

[Sunsetrider]

I have diligently researched the Procedure for re-stuffing the stuffing box, from a variety of online sources and from live courses as well. So armed, I approached the task with confidence today, armed with appropriate wrenches and a variety of bent pin things, ready to remove the packing to find out the correct size to buy.

I have ignored my stuffing box for 4 years now, other than squirting a shot of grease into it from time to time as the mood strikes. Disturbingly, I have never noticed any dripping, and am therefore imaging all sorts of shaft scoring having gone on. KOther than that I hadn’t really paid too much attention to the upcoming mechanics of opening it up. Imagine my dismay at finding no visible means of dealing with this (see pic below). This is unlike any of the examples I have been studying! Can anyone out there n vacuum land fill me in on what I am dealing with here? (Wringing hands, whatever that means)

599E886F-7D79-4F2D-AFA7-2927B56C7C9A.jpeg

[Sunsetrider]

I did pump most of that icy water out.

[dkirsop]

There is no stuffing in that stuffing box!!! It is a dripless oil seal. I have just recently replaced the seals in mine. This is a really good piece of equipment that a lot of people don't understand. There is a seal at the front and back of the bronze casing. Properly fitted the rear seal is situated about 2mm in front of the shaft log. This is important as the shaft logs acts as a keeper and prevents the rear seal from ever being pushed out.

The front seal is a friction fit and will be pushed out if too much oil or grease is introduced into the assembly. Properly lubricated the seals will last a very long time. New seals can be purchased from any bearing house. It is a simple matter to press them in and out but the boat has to be out of the water to do this and you have to disconnect and slide the shaft back to do this.

The seal is meant to be half full our less of what would normally be lower case lubricant for an outboard motor. This would be about 10-20cc of lubricant. In the case of a worn seal a SMALL amount of grease can be substituted. Too much lubricant and it will expand with heat during use and push the front seal out.

When launching your boat air will get trapped in the shaft log behind the seal. This must be removed to allow sea water to cool the seal. Simply loosen the forward two band clamps and flex the seal with your hands until water flows out of the hose at the seal. Tighten the clamps and you are good to go.

I really like this seal because even if it totally fails the amount of water that gets by will still be easily handled by the bilge pump. It is resistant to catastrophic failure. A lot of people who replace it do not appreciate this fact.

I'll see if I can find some pictures from my recent overhaul to show this.

[dkirsop]

I do not have any photos of my seal replacement but here is a copy of the original Albin seal drawing showing the arrangement of the various parts.

shaft seal.jpg

[Sunsetrider]

Thanks SO - sounds like good news! I can stop worrying about the absence of drip. I have read about the maintenance of these dripless seals.

[kerrye]

I haven't read about the need to burp that seal in any of the Albin 25 literature I have. I haven't seen the process mentioned on here or other Albin groups either. Do you do it every time you launch? Have you experimented with not doing it and then checked later to see if the air is still there? I can understand how it would happen that air got trapped in there though. I did look at an Albin in Thunder Bay belonging to the original owner (son now) and we looked closely at the grease seal and discussed it and he never mentioned burping it yet it still had the original shaft. I think he did say the seals had been replaced once. If you compare that seal to the seal on the front axle of a rear wheel drive car, it seems the car axle would be subject to more heat build up due to higher rpm's but they aren't cooled.

[dkirsop]

The reason I had to repair my seal is because I forgot to burp it after launching on a cruise last summer. After 3 hours of constant running I suddenly remembered I had forgotten to burp it. When I examined the seal (still under way) the forward seal had pushed out under pressure from the expanding grease and the bronze housing was too hot to touch. I cooled it down with a wet cloth and pushed the seal back in. I damaged the seal as I pushed it back in with a screw driver but not enough to cause any significant problem at the time.

They do get hot enough to burn your skin if you don't burp them!

[kerrye]

Odd I haven't ever burped mine and I did check the temperature of the housing after cruising for a few hours in the North Channel last summer and it was cool to the touch. I used an infrared thermometer on it and it was at ambient temperature. I'm cruising at about 1650 rpms. What is your cruise rpm?

[Sunsetrider]

I have to admit to not even having glanced at mine until yesterday, other than to apply grease now and then. I still don’t know how much to apply and the manuals that I have don,t venture aft of the engine itself. Hence my lack of knowledge.

[dkirsop]

I typically cruise at 1600rpm

[Sunsetrider]

DK: my confusion still reigns. I understand your burping instruction and will do that. But as for lubrication: lots of references to greasing under the lip of the seal - but I am guessing that procedure doesn’t apply to this type of seal; am I correct in guessing that the grease nipple takes the place of lip-greasing? And: what is the recommended frequency of applying grease to the nipple?

I’ve managed to address the frozen thermostat, the raw water strainer, the various fuel filters, the anodized complexities, and the gear lubing, but I need to get on top of maintaining this shaft seal while still out of the water.

[kerrye]

It looks like yours has a zerk. Mine doesnt. Just a screw to remove and then I can squirt in grease from a squeeze tube. The Albin 25 I looked at in Thunder Bay was that way also.

[Sunsetrider]

Kerrye, how often do you grease it?

[kerrye]

Haven't used it enough to develop my own schedule. I'm pretty sure the guy in Thunder Bay indicated a couple of times a season.

[dkirsop]

I grease mine once a year which is about 100hrs of engine time. It is a very small amount of grease I add as any more causes the front seal to push out while under way. I use a soft white lithium grease. I would estimate about a 1/2 inch long by 1/8 inch dia. bead. This seems to be enough as in the time I have had the boat there is no marking or wear on the shaft. It was the previous owner who warned me about burping the shaft on launching and avoiding over-lubrication. My experience has supported his advice.

Since replacing the seals I have decided to use lower gear case lubricant instead of grease. This makes it easy to measure. I am only adding enough lubricant to fill half of the chamber. I'll monitor this over the season but do not expect to have to add any lubricant until next year. I actually think this is what Albin was referring to when they used the term "outboard grease".