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WHY??
The lip of a grease/oil seal is supposed to face whatever it is designed to keep in, right?
So why the heck are you supposed to install the suction piece seal (item 22, below, aft of the thrust bearing) with the lip facing AWAY from the thrust bearing and toward a big empty space between the thrust bearing and the shaft packing gland??
(See Item 22):
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/...52BerkSeal.jpg
The instructions in the Seloc Manual and the AT manual are consistent with each other, but it just doesn't make sense to me.
Why shouldn't the lip face the bearing and keep in all of that precious grease that was so lacking when my last bearing failed?
Is it just to keep water that drips past the packings along the shaft from making it to the thrust bearing?? Or I have I just read the manuals wrong 50 times??
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My Seloc manual instructs that the lip of the rear shaft seal(behind thrust brg) should face forward(towards bearing) and front seal should have the lip facing to the rear(towards bearing).
"Insert the seal into the forward end of the suction piece with the lip facing FORWARD........" You then tap it backwards into place.
Same instructions for the Berkeley and the AT.
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I just talked to a technician at American Turbine who told me that they install BOTH grease seals with the lip/spring side AWAY from the thrust bearing. The reasoning is that it keeps water that makes it past the packings from squiriting into the bearing, and prevents excessive pressure that might blow out the front seal. Maybe there is more than one right way to do this. . . any other professionals that want to weigh in?
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Your trying to keep water OUT.If you ever got alot of water in your boat, you would be glad the seal was installed that way..
Are you implying that you had a bearing failure because all of the grease got by the suction seal and the bearing dried out? Im not buying it.
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I just talked to a technician at American Turbine who told me that they install BOTH grease seals with the lip/spring side AWAY from the thrust bearing. The reasoning is that it keeps water that makes it past the packings from squiriting into the bearing, and prevents excessive pressure that might blow out the front seal. Maybe there is more than one right way to do this. . . any other professionals that want to weigh in?
Thats the correct answer;)
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Your trying to keep water OUT.If you ever got alot of water in your boat, you would be glad the seal was installed that way..
Are you implying that you had a bearing failure because all of the grease got by the suction seal and the bearing dried out? Im not buying it.
cs19,
That makes sense to me now. The guys at AT seem knowledgable and trustworthy to me, I just wondered if there was a difference of opinion among experts.
My guess is that my bearing failure was due to a complete lack of maintenance. I don't think the previous owner EVER greased the thrust bearing in the three years he had it, and he certainly didn't 'splain it to me, and I didn't figure it out until after the problem. :cry:
On top of not being greased, I DID in fact get a lot of water in my boat by forgetting to put the plug in at Ming one day. :skull: This was very shortly before my TB failure, and may have been the straw that broke the camel's back.
BTW, how do you run yours? Both seals facing away from the thrust bearing, just the aft one, or what?
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I run a jetaway which is a different set up. Its an oil lubricated bearing and I run my suction seal backwards to keep the oil in, I also run a different style seal.I make damn sure the water doesnt get high enough to get near that seal so water does not enter.
Yes it sounds like your bearing got tortured pretty bad,you really cant expect anything from it when its not lubed and gets water in it.Grease your bearing every other trip and keep the water out and it should last a long time.
