New Prop Shaft

Well guess what... I believe we found the source of the motor vibrations.. In the process of re-packing the stuffing box, the prop shaft was removed. With the shaft out of the boat, it was easy to see that it was bent. A new shaft was installed, new stuffing box and zincs were added.

Now if the weather would cooperate, I can reconnect the motor and get her back in the water.

Un-Spash...

OK, after some fiddling around with the motor and prop shaft, the stuffing box began leaking again. This time I could not stop the flow.


As a total bass-ackwards fix, I got a couple thick plastic bags and covered the shaft to stop the water from streaming in. I used three heavy duty cable ties to secure the bags around the stuffing box. This seemed to hold - until we can get her back out of the water.





We hauled the boat today and will commence trying to rerpair or replace the stuffing box. Hopefully we can get this done soon and get back to testing the motor. We missed some REALLY nice fall sailing days...

Oh Well... How many days till spring???

One step forward, two steps back

OK - so the guy came out, looked the the stuffing box and said he was not comfortable doing the re-pack with the boat in the water.

ugh... Looks like we will have to try it ourselves.

I did get a flexible coupler that is supposed to help with shaft misalignment. In order to install the flex coupler, I had to disconnect the prop shaft from the motor. There are two mirrored flanges mated together to connect prop shaft and motor shaft. I installed the flex coupler and of course, there is not enough clearance now. I need about an inch more room to get the flex coupler in between the two flanges. I attempted to move the flange on the motor side back a little to give me the clearance I need to get the flex coupler installed. I have a 6" shaft extension that fits into the motor side flange. The shaft extension was stuck pretty tight into the flange. In the process of trying to get the extension moved further into the flange, I damaged the extension. I damaged it so much that it will no longer spin true. BUMMER.....

I ordered a new 6" extension and now have to get the damaged extension out of the flange and then try putting all this stuff back togther again.

It's October now people - does not look like we will be sailing this fall. I am soooo, close. but these few little things are keeping me from completing the electric motor install.

I am frustrated at my latest bit of stupidity, but we must press on. I am determined to get this conversion completed. Hopefully we will have a few more warm days before it gets to cold and we have to wrap it up for the winter.

Are we? We Are... Are we? We Are...The Waiting....

OK -

It has been over a month since I spoke with a local marine mechanic. At first they responded pretty quickly and were interested in doing the work (re-packing the stuffing box). I wanted someone who has done this before to come out do the re-pack so I could observe and learn how to do it myself if need be. I am hesitant to try it on my own since the boat is in the water now.

I have yet to hear back from them, so I am once again at a stopping point.

Once re-packed, I can work on getting the prop shaft aligned correctly.

Now that the days are getting a little cooler, I would love to be out on the water.

Ugh... Guess I have to wait some more.

Splash!

After 3 years of P/T work we are finally in the water..

We launched "Spirited Away" a couple of weekends ago. Beginning sea trials now. The motor works well and seems to have plenty of power to spare. We are experiencing prop shaft alignment issues and probably need to re-pack the stuffing box.

Battery monitor shows 86% charge and says 7.2 hours remaining.

We took her out and up the creek for a quick jaunt. Got her up to 5.4 Knots (according to the GPS) with only 2/3 power. When cranking up the power more than two-third's of the way, we get serious vibrations from the motor.

Next up is to get the stuffing box re-packed and continue working on shaft alignment.