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35-2 Shaft strut

Brettcontreras

Junior Member
Hi,

I will need to replace the shaft strut and was wondering if anyone knows where I can procure one. Apparently mine is broken completely according to the diver. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Brett
 

chaco

Member III
E35II Bottom Survey

Here are some scuzzy pics of what your Prop Strut looks like.
You will need to pull er' out of the water and glass a new Strut in to the hull.
My suggestion is to cut it off and have a Marine Machine Shop fab a new one.
The chances of having one built correctly site unseen are slim to none:nerd:
There is no Shaft Bearing in this System. The Prop Flange is connected at
the Transmission and the shaft goes directly back to the Strut Bearing
through the Shaft Tube. Your shaft is laying in the Tube. Watch for leaks
at the Packing Gland flexible connection from misalignment stress.

Good Luck to You :egrin: :egrin:
 

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lindaloo

Member II
Why it broke

Dan raises some good points.
Is it worth thinking about why it broke?
Either corrosion or mechanical, or a combination of the two. Did some heavy floating object strike it? Is the shaft bent fom running unsupported ? Check the motor mounts carefully when alligning. They may have been stressed.
Rob
 

CWM

Chuck
This is what my E27 strut looked like.

A surveyor friend claimed the strut was too thin.
Note the lack of any zincs.

Marine Hardware at 1 800 526 5971 was the recommended source for struts by several boat repair people in the SF Bay area.

BTW, I removed the Atomic 4 and installed an outboard.
 

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Brettcontreras

Junior Member
Thanks for all of the help. I spoke to Marine Hardware and it seems they don't have a corresponding number to go with the E35-2. Does anyone here know if it is the same as the E29, 30 or 34?

Thanks,

Brett
 

skipper007

Member II
Strut zinc

Dan,
Our surveyor recommended a zinc on our strut as you have in your photo. I did put one on, but I think it was only ~2" across - yours looks to be more like 3" across. A couple of questions.
Did you sand the strut flat to create more contact area for the zinc? We considered it, but did not want to get rid of anymore material from the strut. Ours already shows years of pitting since it had no zinc (and probably never has).

It appears as though the prop shaft zinc wears faster than the prop strut zinc - is that true and if so how much faster? for example, strut zinc changed 1:4 times the shaft zinc? Or do both need to be changed together always?

Thanks
Skip
1974 E32-2
 

chaco

Member III
Your prop is actually creating electrical current as it turns. The current sets
up galvanic corrosion of your prop / shaft and strut sacrificing metal to the
water. The zincs are there to sacrifice zinc instead of your prop brass and
shaft / strut steel. The shaft zinc takes the brunt of the corrosion.
My shaft and strut zincs seem to ware out at the same rate and are replaced
at the same time. The rate of decay is also effected by the stray current at
your dock and the amount of time your boat is connected to shore power.
I work at keeping my shore power on only to charge batteries and turn it
off when I am not on board. This will all change when I go to 12V fridge
and will need to leave my shore power on all the time. I am changing zincs
out 2X per year now and expect that to increase to 4X per year without
some kind of galvanic isolator.
The Bottom Cleaner cleans off the zinc area with an abrasive cleaning pad
prior to install.

Happy Zincs :egrin: :egrin:
 

Glyn Judson

Moderator
Moderator
Plugged in at the slip.

Dan and all, I have done the zinc dance and learned that lesser is better. I have returned to using a single prop shaft zinc after having two additional sand dollar zinc's on the strut. Search the archives for details of my experience and why I went back to just the one. I'm plugged in to shore power year 'round and only have my zincs replaced two or three times annually and have never had any sort of galvanic isolator. Also after 12 years of running the trusty old Adler Barbour fridge, I began shutting it off around June of last year when not at the boat. It dawned on me that it was a great waste of energy, moderate wear on the components and was simply frosting up in the box for no good reason, also causing the compressor to work harder and with enough icing and causing it to run constantly. Unless your box is insulated like a walk-in freezer, you might want to consider adopting the same plan. Going to the Island for the weekend? Shoot down to the boat the day before and fire up the 'fridge. Happy New Year to all, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA
 

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
There is no strut zinc on my E38 and there is no visible issues with the strut. There is a shaft zinc and a large hull zinc that connects to the bonding wires. RT
 

Blue Jeans

Member I
Shaft Strut

We replaced the strut on Ericson 36C 'Blue Jeans' last year, electrolysis had done its bad deed on the old one. Marine Hardware had the specs and molds for for the strut, but they wanted over $500 for a new one. We found one that would fit, with a little modification, at a local marine salvage store, Second Wave, (206 632-4371) here in Seattle, WA. There should be a similar company somewhere in So. California.
We had to dig out an amazing amount of fiberglass resin and then repour with the new strut located and supported in place. We used the shaft as a line up tool and it lined up perfectly with the engine when we were done.

Bob McKee
Dean Ronhaar
'Blue Jeans'
 

lindaloo

Member II
Bonding wires ?

Rob, what are bonding wires ? Where is the hull zinc mounted and how do the bonding wires connect to it ?
 

tenders

Innocent Bystander
The cutless bearing mechanically separates the shaft from the strut, but because the strut, shaft, and prop are immersed in salt water, an electrolyte (or liquid that conducts electricity), they're electrically connected.

Because salt water is an imperfect conductor, the farther away the items are from each other, the less connected they are.

However, this imperfect conduction also means that the more distant the zincs are, the less perfect the protection is that they offer.

Thus I wouldn't want to depend on my shaft zincs to protect my strut, if I had a choice.
 

seanflinn

Inactive Member
I recently had a strut made for a 1970 e 35 If i remember correctly it was a company called Martec? in Long Beach/Wilmington if your lucky, they might have casted a few when the made mine.... good luck ! With the cutlass bearing it cost me around $500.00 :egrin:
 

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
Rob, what are bonding wires ? Where is the hull zinc mounted and how do the bonding wires connect to it ?

There has been much discussion here and in the boating world on bonding. Bonding wires are wires that connect each and every underwater metal part running throughout the boat. Discussion surrounds whether seacocks should be bonded or not. On my boat there is a large zinc on a hull mount, 1/3 aft on the starboard side maybe 2-3ft down from the waterline. The zinc mounts on a mounting plate that is through bolted to the hull. The bonding system is tied to it on the inside of the hull on one of the mounting studs. I have not seen this on other sailboats but I haven't really looked either. I know some powerboats have a similar setup. I assume that between the bonding system and the zinc all underwater metal meets equilibrium and the zinc is the first thing to go if there is galvanic corrosion. The zinc is 40% gone in 12 months. I assume its working. I also have a zinc on the shaft but its small. As far as I can tell the strut is not connected to the bonding system in any way. RT
 
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