[sluggo]

thought Tiara owners might want to know too)
 [b]story almost real scary night... moving my boat up the Ohio[/b]

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river to the Kanawha river, about an 80 mile trip with 2 locks to go through. Knock on wood, the boat ran fine, but every once in a while the rear bilge pump would turn on. When we hit the Kanawha river, it started to turn on more an more, but it always went off. I knew there was some kind of problem, but I didnt know what. All of my gauges looked fine, so I pressed on. Actually pressing on was the only option, as there are no places to pull in for help until we get to where we were going anyway. We finally arrive, get tied in, ready to leave for the night, but I decided to check out the engine room. As soon as I opened the hatch, I heard water running in, but from where. I got down and found, the dripless packing was leaking. I knew what I needed to do, move the little collar tighter, but when I tried, i made it worse, now the water was flooding in! I yelled for a friend, who was able to move the thing , and the water shut off. They had a pump and we cleared the engine room of water, it never did get too near the engine, so I think that is good. As this was Saturday night, there was no one around except some friends. To be sure, I called the marina and asked to have their tech check it out today.
As far as I know, if those 'bellows' were to burst or the collar comes lose, there is no way to shut the water off from coming in, correct? Anyone with more knowledge is free to jump in.

and if I want to replace the dripless packing, I think I have to take the boat out of the water, correct? and if so, currently I have no way of doing this. ( I dont have a trailer, I dont know of a trailer that would fit it, and the nearest travel lift is about 250 miles away).
FTR I have a 2006 Tiara Sovran 3600 with Crusader engines. and POS 7.4e Kohler genny, which is another story!
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[reeltimebrad]

Sounds like the set screws in the collar came loose and there is actually a pair in each threaded hole one on top of the other so remove the outer one loosen the inner one and push on the collar about as hard as you can with one hand then tighten the screw remember there are four set screws per collar two in each hole. They are very reliable but occasionally need a little maintenance. Probably made by pss seal you can watch a video online about how to do the work.

[sluggo]

Sounds like the set screws in the collar came loose and there is actually a pair in each threaded hole one on top of the other so remove the outer one loosen the inner one and push on the collar about as hard as you can with one hand then tighten the screw remember there are four set screws per collar two in each hole. They are very reliable but occasionally need a little maintenance. Probably made by pss seal you can watch a video online about how to do the work.

thanks so much,but I swear, there is no locking nut, just 1 screw in each, probably need to fix that!

[jclark003]

Suppose to replace the set screws every time you loosen and adjust the collar. They are cheap to get from PSS and definitely worth it to double up. Then the outer screws serve as both a lock and a replacement for next adjustment period. Some owners put hose clamp on the shaft as added insurance.

[sluggo]

Suppose to replace the set screws every time you loosen and adjust the collar. They are cheap to get from PSS and definitely worth it to double up. Then the outer screws serve as both a lock and a replacement for next adjustment period. Some owners put hose clamp on the shaft as added insurance.

thank you!!  I don't see just the set screws on line from PSS, I guess I could just call.  Hose clamp?  would that go forward of the stainless steel ring?  Just to back that up??  TIA.

[reeltimebrad]

yes forward of the collar and some use a zinc or magnesium shaft anode its alot more secure that way. Pss has dimensions that the bellows should be compressed on there website but there really only a starting point, if you find that they still spray underway you can continue to compress about !/4 inch each time until it stops. If you find you're off by more than a inch from spec I would reface or replace the carbon or replace everything.

[sluggo]

yes forward of the collar and some use a zinc or magnesium shaft anode its alot more secure that way. Pss has dimensions that the bellows should be compressed on there website but there really only a starting point, if you find that they still spray underway you can continue to compress about !/4 inch each time until it stops. If you find you're off by more than a inch from spec I would reface or replace the carbon or replace everything.

thank you , I'll look into this.

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yes forward of the collar and some use a zinc or magnesium shaft anode its alot more secure that way. Pss has dimensions that the bellows should be compressed on there website but there really only a starting point, if you find that they still spray underway you can continue to compress about !/4 inch each time until it stops. If you find you're off by more than a inch from spec I would reface or replace the carbon or replace everything.

thank you , I'll look into this.

one more question, what is the best way to compress these??  should I just be able to grab it by hand and move it? Is there a puller? can I tap it with my hammer? 
I have to do this while the boat is in the water, just for reference.  Thanks again so much.

[reeltimebrad]

You can tap with a hard plastic hammer while pushing on it with your other hand. If it takes more than that to get the compression needed then it's probably time to replace at least the bellows. They will harden with age and exposure to ozone from batteries being charged in the same area.

[ReelMagic]

When adjusting the collar I would be very careful to loosen the set screws prior to trying to move the collar. My PSS collars had 2 set screws in each hole, one to secure the collar to the shaft and the second as a backup/lock ensuring the first screw didn't loosen up.... Make sure you determine if you have 1 or 2 set screws in each hole as loosening up one and not the other will make moving the collar nearly impossible. I've made adjustments, after loosening/removing all 4 set screws (removed the backup/locking set screws completely and loosening the ones tightened to the propeller shaft). Once that was done it didn't take to much force to move SS collar. Upon completion I tightened the 2 set screws to the shaft and then reinstalled the 2 backup/locking set screws. Have never had a problem with the PSS system over the 11 years on my 38 Open or the 10 years I owned my 31 Open. M2cC

[sluggo]

When adjusting the collar I would be very careful to loosen the set screws prior to trying to move the collar. My PSS collars had 2 set screws in each hole, one to secure the collar to the shaft and the second as a backup/lock ensuring the first screw didn't loosen up.... Make sure you determine if you have 1 or 2 set screws in each hole as loosening up one and not the other will make moving the collar nearly impossible. I've made adjustments, after loosening/removing all 4 set screws (removed the backup/locking set screws completely and loosening the ones tightened to the propeller shaft). Once that was ddone it didn't take to much force to move SS collar. Upon completion I tightened the 2 set screws to the shaft and then reinstalled the 2 backup/locking set screws. Have never had a problem with the PSS system over the 11 years on my 38 Open or the 10 years I owned my 31 Open. M2cC

Thank you , good to know.