Drip less stuffing box??

Re: 1987 Ericson 26 III-- I have a dripless stuffing box. I have owned the boat for 2 seasons. All appears to be in order. I note that there is a hose ( about 3/8" ID) attached to the fwd end barb. This hose runs aft, but is not connected to anything at the aft end. What is the purpose,of this hose?
What annual commissioning concerns should I be aware of related to the dripless stuffing box?
many thanks, and fair winds,
Pete

That hose is a vent for the dripless bellows. The bellows must be filled with water so the seal doesn't overheat. The hose needs to be long enough to stay above the water level when heeled so that water doesn't leak into the boat. So, secure it near the center of the boat, as high as possible. Is the barb end double clamped? If there is room on the barb, a second clamp is good.

If you look up the company online, you can get the official cautions.

I've got one and I like it.

Here is a link with some good pictures and info from Mainsail as well.
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/pss_shaft_seal&page=2
My PSS shaft seal bellows was not properly compressed or had become loose when I received the boat. The ribs of the bellows should just be touching.
If you follow the link you and scroll to page two you can see the first two pictures show the bellows compressed and not compressed, I would also recommend adding an additional clamping collar and replacing the cheap hose clamps with quality non perforated style.

Apparently some versions of older dripless shaft seals came without the vent. They make do with water from the shaft log, and need to be "burped" after a relaunch, or to confirm they are wet.

Surveyors have not identified this as an issue, for what that's worth.

Christian Williams said:

Apparently some versions of older dripless shaft seals came without the vent. They make do with water from the shaft log, and need to be "burped" after a relaunch, or to confirm they are wet.

Surveyors have not identified this as an issue, for what that's worth.

Click to expand...

That system formerly was sold in two versions, one for boats exceeding 12 kts under power, with the vent (which is also used for water injection in power boat configurations, and, the standard version without a vent for us displacement hull types.

Sometime around 2000 their attorneys decided that there was some potential liability if the low-speed version was re-sold into a faster hull. So they decided to make/market only one vented version.

Our '95 PSS seal has no vent. I have "burped" it after a launch and it has never shown any entrapment of air -- all water. Our shaft alley angle is very low, though.

It's nice to have a dry bilge around the engine/shaft area for over 20 years.

Loren