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Cabo dripless shaft seals

Discussion in 'Cabo Yacht' started by CSkipR, Mar 13, 2010.

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  1. The Right Kind

    The Right Kind New Member

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    No, there's a cap on top like you might use to cap off a hosebib. You can remove it by hand and you can see it's filled with grease. Mine had gone off, hard and crusty, so I had to clean and replace it with fresh.
    If you look at this photo you can see the cap right above the barbed fitting.

    http://www.chatfieldmarine.com/site/chatfield/images/shaft_seals/berings7.jpg
  2. Dhowdodger

    Dhowdodger New Member

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    Just came across a very complicated shaft seal assy with internal springs and all sorts of other moving parts, almost sank a small yacht. These chatfield bluewater numbers look a lot better.
    Here is a question id like to throw out there, why not stick with the proven gland packing box. Is it just because of the drip? I like packing as when it fails - its gradual, takes a while to totally fail, can repack in water and no searching for special size parts at daft prices.
  3. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    The fact that they don't drip is one consideration. Another one is that you're not constantly tightening down the stuffing box and re-packing it. Another advantage is there is supposed to be less friction with just an o-ring and grease riding on the shaft, versus several layers of packing material.
  4. Capt Bill11

    Capt Bill11 Senior Member

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    If you repack a standard gland with GFO packing you get a dripless gland without the added cost and hassle of changing to a completely new style of box.
  5. K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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  6. CSkipR

    CSkipR Member

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    Still didn't find the cap to replace grease.
  7. Bglad

    Bglad New Member

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    zerk fitting

    I just looked at a 2001 model Cabo 45 express and it did not have a cup it had a zerk fitting. There was a label installed just under the shaft seal with instructions to pump in so many grams of grease at 100 hour intervals.

    The mechanic who was looking over the engines felt the way its water supply was plumbed to the oil cooler there was a chance pieces of anodes that might fall off could foul the hose and interfere with the water supply to the seal. That would likely reduce the longevity of the rubber lip seal...
  8. The Right Kind

    The Right Kind New Member

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    See the small hole in the first diagram, not the one for water but the one dead center? That's where the grease fitting is. Mine has a cup for grease but it sounds like from bglad's post it could have a zerk fitting.
    I checked out a couple of 35 flybridge and it was behind a bulkhead. Kind of hard to see. Which Cabo do you have?
    http://www.chatfieldmarine.com/site/chatfield/images/shaft_seals/diagram.jpg

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  9. CSkipR

    CSkipR Member

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    I have a 43 Cabo FB.
  10. The Right Kind

    The Right Kind New Member

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    Nice!

    I had my eye on the 38 Express but now I see they have a new 44 Express.

    I hauled out last week to replace the seals. It went pretty smooth, I did it myself with help from my son.
    I also replaced my transducer with a new SS270W wide angle. I guess I'm kind of a guinea pig for this one. I haven't heard much feed back from people that have used it.
    It nice to have a dry bilge again!

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