J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Dripless seal yes/no?

I am in the process of replacing my propshaft and rebuilding my prop and I thought I would replace the stuffing box with a PYI dripless. What are peoples thoughts on them? Are they worth the money? I would love to keep the water out of the boat.

David
#397

I had it done in 2003 and have been absolutely satisfied.

I, too, had one installed as soon as I bought my boat. It's great. I've never had any problems with it. The newer units have a way of self-lubricating the silicon disk so there's no need to "burp" it when the boat is dropped in the water. I highly recommend installing one.

Thanks for the reply. They look easy to install so I might as well go for it.

David

Does anyone know the correct part for PYI dripless seal? I know I have a 3/4 prop shaft but does anyone know the stern tube size? I think it is time to replace the old stuffing box.

I replaced my dripless seal last year. 1 inch shaft diameter and 1.75 inch stern tube outside diameter. I suggest you measure to play it safe before ordering. I know some hulls have different shaft diameters, but do not know if they played with the stern tube diameters.

My hull # is 344. I would think anyone close to that number would be the same dimensions. The next time the boat gets a visit, I'll double check the shaft diameter. I'm trying to get all the parts on hand before hauling to keep yard time to a minimum.

Can anyone suggest suppliers for the dripless? Are their different manufacturers? If so who is best quality? thanks.

FYI most of the "newer" J30's I have looked at have 1" shafts while "older" hulls had 3/4". I know some of the older boats have upgraded to 1".

(Of course new and old take on different meanings when "new" is at least 21 years ago and "old" is 28 years ago.)

Seems like 1" is the way to go if you are inclined to replace the shaft. I suppose strength and less vibration are some reasons for this.

I think the switch was done mostly for vibration, rather than pure strength. The larger shaft will be much stiffer and less prone to vibrating. However, upgrading from the 3/4" shaft to the 1" is not a simple change. To do so, both the stern tube and the strut need to be replaced with larger versions.

At one point when I was onsidering going up to a 1" shaft my yard advised that replacing the strut was unnecessary. Cutlass bearing for a 1" shaft have the same O.D. as cutlass bearing for a .75" shaft.