J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment water buildup not draining to bilge

I have a 1980 hull#224. for years, I have been trying to figure out why water builds up under the engine drip pan and has to be pumped out manually. After replacing my shaft seal with a dripless one and watching for deck leakes, I discovered that the drain from the aft compartment that goes under the engine drip pan stops where the corrigated pipe connects the side berth lockers (wire pass through). Upon close examination of the bilge, there is a solid wall on the aft end where the cooler drain, ground wire and bilge pump pipe exist. It apears to be "cobalt" used for cementing things in place, but this is solid, side to side. How do I remove this stuff? I have drilled and chizeled as far as I can get to and it appears to be solid to the engine mounts, or at least to the wire pass through. Why did they do this at the factory and how do I fix it. All I want is for the water to drain into the bilge, and how do you replace the cooler drain pipe or bilge pump pipe anyway? Please send ideas, as this seems to be a factory installed problem and I'm tired of pumping every few days before the water runs out onto the sole. Has anybody ever has a cutlass bearing strut to leak? Steve Blazier sb3031@comcast.net

This is a topic that had lots of discussion in the past. Check out this thread for some ideas: https://j30.us/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/5934/Dewatering_Aft_Bilge_Need_Advi.html#Post5934

Although it hasn't happened to quicksilver, her sister ship in the harbor did have a bad leak caused by a loose prop strut. I think the probable cause was excessive vibration caused by an extremely out of balance prop. It was encrusted with an unbelievable amount of marine growth. He had a very persistent leak until he had it fixed. I have pictures of the strut removed and it looked pretty straight forward. I am looking at replacing the shaft seal with a dripless this spring and any thoughts on that process would be appreciated. The rubber log tube appears to be glassed in and I am wondering if others have this and how it affected the prop seal replacement with a PYI type dripless seal.

Replacing with a dripless seal is fairly easy. You'll need to have the boat out of the water. You'll also need to loosen the stuffing box gland enough so you can slide the shaft aft. Remove the shaft zincs, then loosen the set screws to be able to slide the shaft out of the coupling flange. I think it is best to pull the shaft all together so you can align everything easier. Once the shaft is out, remove the stuffing box from where it is fixed to the shaft log tube. It's probably got a clamp at the aft end that compresses a rubber seal on the shaft log tube. You say the rubber tube is "glassed in" - I'm not sure what you mean by that.

Once this is off, clean up the fiberglass tube and measure the diameter. You'll need to know this diameter, and the shaft diameter to order the PYI Dripless seal. The log diameter on Rhapsody accepts a 1.25" diameter seal, but I don't know if that is standard for all boats.

While everything is removed, take the time to check your cutlass bearing - it's cheap to replace it and no better time than while the shaft is already out. Also take the time to check your engine mounts for deterioration. If these are shot, you'll have problems with excessive shaft motion, causing a leaky shaft seal (I learned this lesson the hard way). Check this thread for replacing engine mounts. It also has the shaft alignment procedure that should be done with the shaft centered in the log tube before before you put on the new shaft seal. https://j30.us/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/2124/flexible_mount.html#Post2124

I've posted a picture below with Rhapsody's PYI dripless seal installation. This view shows the vent line double clamped at the top of the carbon seating face. I clamped the vent line to the wooden frame at the aft end of the engine compartment so the opening is above the waterline. The stuff in plastic bags is the stainless seal collar that slides on the shaft to seal against the carbon face, and the shaft coupling flange. I've also installed a PYI flexible shaft coupling shown in the picture, but that is not necessary. Good shaft alignment will keep vibrations to a minimum.



The 2nd picture shows dimples drilled in the shaft where the coupling flange set screws seat. If you look closely, you'll see lines for and aft of the dimple where the shaft slid before these were drilled. No matter how tight I made the set screws, I still had a problem with shaft movement, resulting in a leaking interface on the shaft seal. These dimples make sure there is a positive seating surface, the shaft doesn't move, and water stays out of the people tank!

I think I might. I have a short rubber tube just aft of the stuffing box held in place with 4 hose clamps, 2 at each end. The 2 aft clamps and the bottom part of the very end of the rubber hose really do look glassed in. The fill material even covers part of the clamps. It was rather disturbing and I checked another J/30 to see what their set up was - it was the same.

I know this is hard to visualize. I'll take a photo so you can see what I'm referring to.

Jason, that sounds the same as how mine is. That has been my biggest concern going to the dripless shaft seal. What will happen when I remove the hose . . . I'm not concerned about the work, I just don't want to have a bigger problem than I need to. I'd take a picture, but quicksilver is 125 miles away.