Seal wanted

[nem]

Hi. I'm in the process of renovating a wide beam and need a new propshaft seal. I've managed to locate the original maker, but they want a small fortune for aa bit of a rubber - albeit an important bit of rubber! It's a Maweby DSS seal assembly 15 THK 87 EK. Any help/ideas of possible places to contact would be much appreciated. Thanks

[Chalky]

I don't know the part you're referring to however when I want seals for mechanical items like gearboxes and engines etc I usually go to a local engineering stockist / bearing supplier.

[MtB]

Hi. I'm in the process of renovating a wide beam and need a new propshaft seal. I've managed to locate the original maker, but they want a small fortune for aa bit of a rubber - albeit an important bit of rubber! It's a Maweby DSS seal assembly 15 THK 87 EK. Any help/ideas of possible places to contact would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

 

They probably know you can't get it anywhere else, and their price probably reflects the tiny manufacturing quantities.

 

How much is 'a small fortune' anyway?!

 

 

MtB

[David Mack]

Sounds like one of those proprietary concoctions of neoprene, stainless steel and jubilee clips which comes with a 'marine' price tag and only one source of supply.

[nem]

Thanks for the responses. £1500 - and that's after a £200 reduction!

[MtB]

Thanks for the responses. £1500 - and that's after a £200 reduction!

 

 

Bloody hell I agree, a small fortune!

 

At that sort of money is it worth changing the gearbox to something sensible?

 

 

MtB

[Guest]

Hi. I'm in the process of renovating a wide beam and need a new propshaft seal. I've managed to locate the original maker, but they want a small fortune for aa bit of a rubber - albeit an important bit of rubber! It's a Maweby DSS seal assembly 15 THK 87 EK. Any help/ideas of possible places to contact would be much appreciated. Thanks

What size shaft is it?

Thee are vetus and PSS seal units that whilst I think they are expensive, are cheaper than the prices that you state. Any chance of a pic?

[nem]

Unfortunately, the £1500 is the least costly option. Have explored more substantial changes to a new system, but works out to be more costly - so, between a rock and a hard place unless I can find a seal sitting on a stock room shelf - unlikely I know, but worth a shot

[MtB]

A cheaper option would be to just keep on topping up with oil!

 

MtB

[nem]

Will try and post a picture. Unfortunately, because vessel has been laid up for a number of years, insurance was conditional upon shafts being pulled, serviced etc, so don't think i'll get away with putting the old seal back in with plenty of grease - have given it serious consideration though!

[Bee]

Are we talking about an oil seal in the gearbox or a 'keep the canal out' seal in what is the stern gear/gland/ stuffing box/? if a gearbox seal then Chalky is quite right, any good bearing supplier can supply or advise. If it is a 'Deep sea seal' type then I would swap it for a conventional 'stuffing box'. Edited to add, have just had a look at 'deep sea seals' on google, the one I am thinking about is made by Wartsila, there is aprice list on their website that at first glance looks as though you can replace the lot for a hell of a lot less than the price you have been quoted.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Bee

[MtB]

Ah, are we talking stern glands rather than gearbox oil seals?

 

MtB

[RLWP]

Ah, are we talking stern glands rather than gearbox oil seals?

 

MtB

 

That's what I understood as a propshaft seal

 

Richard

[ditchcrawler]

which end of the prop shaft?

[David Mack]

the one I am thinking about is made by Wartsila, there is aprice list on their website that at first glance looks as though you can replace the lot for a hell of a lot less than the price you have been quoted.

 

Prices here: http://www.deepseaseals.com/products/

 

Does your seal look something like this?

 

 

If so, would a spare seal from Wartsila fit your assembly?

[Pete & Helen]

Hi. I'm in the process of renovating a wide beam and need a new propshaft seal. I've managed to locate the original maker, but they want a small fortune for aa bit of a rubber - albeit an important bit of rubber! It's a Maweby DSS seal assembly 15 THK 87 EK. Any help/ideas of possible places to contact would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

This may be of no use but without knowing which seal you need I can but try.

 

These people have a wide range of seals and were able to supply me with a prop-shaft seal, you can but give them a try

http://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/index.php?cPath=19_4463

Good luck

[magnetman]

£1500 quid?

 

Hells teeth

 

Op said 'widebeam' so I am assuming a steel canalboat

 

Wouldn't it be better to get a normal stern tube welded in ??

[Guest]

Never used them, but this company appear to have a good range of stern gear.

http://www.tnorrismarine.co.uk/

[nem]

Thanks for the details - will certainly follow up. It's the outer stern seal. The inner seal is standard packing. The outer seal has a metal running face set within the rubber seal which sits up against a brass plate. Wartsila is the supplier which I went to - they bought out the original manufacturer. The wide beam is a 130ft by 18ft, so replacing other parts of the system is fairly costly.

[magnetman]

 

 

Thats a big project !

 

I usually think of wide beam as being a canal boat up to 72x14ft

 

Would tend to think of 130x18 as a Barge myself.

 

good luck with it

[Tony Brooks]

I am probably being stupid but why does it need an outer seal?

 

ALL the shaft driven boats I have seen apart from ships seem to have no outer seal and rely upon the shaft gland to prevent (much) water ingress. Indeed those with Cutless bearings deliberately allow water to enter the stern tube to lubricate the rubber bearing and if the shaft uses an inboard rubber bearing sometimes wtaer is actively pumped into the tube.

[MtB]

I am probably being stupid but why does it need an outer seal?

 

 

 

I was wondering this too. But then a boat 130ft x 18ft probably has engineering that's quite a bit different from steel canal boats.

 

 

MtB

[Tony Brooks]

I think the Salters steamers use a conventional shaft type set-up. It would be very interesting to know a lot more about this. I wonder if it was a bodge fitting to try and cover up a worn shaft and gland assembly?

[magnetman]

Sounds from the op like a surveyor has insisted on it as a condition of insurance which makes me think it is probably original equipment and is required to maintain seaworthiness. Or the surveyor is in cahoots with Wartsila and gets a commission out of it

[nem]

It's original equipment - not a bodge. The set up is based upon keeping water out of the stern tube - so seals at both ends and grease pumped in to the gap between the stern tube and the propshaft to prevent any possibility of water ingress - the logic being that there can't then be any corrosion of the propshaft.