Don't blame poor workmanship on the seal. Getting it so far out of line is incompetence. As I said in an earlier post, if the outer diameter of the tube is concentric with the internal diameter, then the Volvo seal automatically centres the shaft because it in turn is concentric with the shaft. If you read what I say carefully, I do not suggest it is a bearing in the same way that a cutless is, just that it provides support to keep the shaft centred in the tube, in the same way that a stuffing box does. If the engine and shaft are aligned properly then there is no need for it to bear any radial load - it just acts as a seal. From what I have seen the bellows on a face seal are too flexible to provide this support, and indeed have no radial support of the shaft at all. Your method of centring is OK if you have room to line it all up and then slide the seal down the shaft, but not all installations have this luxury.
Anyway the proof of the pudding for me is that my Volvo seal has neither worn nor leaked in over 10 years, part of which was before I put the additional bearing in because I wanted to fit a Bullflex to isolate the engine as far as possible from the shaft, which is now effectively rigid with a bearing at either end of a metre long shaft. A "proper job" in my view, but not possible/suitable in all installations.
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Re: 2 Bladed Folding Props & PSS Dripless Shaft Seal
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