1987 Freeedom 30 Survey

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Tricia
Posts: 107
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 9:59 pm

Re: 1987 Freeedom 30 Survey

Post by Tricia »

I got a Tides Marine seal from Paul Dennis for my F30. When I bought it a few years ago, Tides was custom cutting them so that they would fit the small space we have for them. That being said, I trimmed about 3/8" off the inside end of my shaft tube, then trimmed back the fiberglass around it a bit so that 2 hose clamps would fit well on the aft end of the seal. That was 5 years ago, I think, and all is well with the seal.

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rvivian
Posts: 210
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 2:08 pm

Re: 1987 Freeedom 30 Survey

Post by rvivian »

My F-30 came with a Norscott seal and I had it rebuilt and a new shaft installed two or three years ago when I hauled out.

I like the fact that the Norscott seal is a standard, unmodified product that is still manufactured that fits in place of the Syntron seal without boat modification.

It does use a bit of ATF fluid.
Heart's Desire
Freedom 30
Shelton, WA

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mike cunningham
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:21 am
Location: Jacqueline, F30 #3, Discovery Bay, California

Re: 1987 Freeedom 30 Survey

Post by mike cunningham »

I spoke to Paul Dennis yesterday. Very pleasant and helpful guy as many have mentioned. He has the tides available and, since he is familiar with them and sells them, I have decided to go that route. Paul had some unpleasant news though. He mentioned I can expect to have to replace the shaft, the coupling and to have to realign the motor and, oh by the way, you might as well replace those rusting 30 year old motor mounts and the cutlass bearing while you are at it. Man I love boating. How a simple replacement part escalates to an order of magnitude greater expense. I am guessing I will have to spend $3000 to replace a $300 shaft seal. The work is long overdue, but still.
Mike Cunningham
Freedom 30 (Mull) Hull #3
Build date...June, 1986 . Freedom Yachts USA, sloop, shoal keel
Gun Mount and pole retrofitted (purchased from a Hoyt Freedom 32)
Yanmar 2gm20F , 1600 hrs fixed two blade prop
e-rud and ocean racing equipment

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mike cunningham
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:21 am
Location: Jacqueline, F30 #3, Discovery Bay, California

Re: 1987 Freeedom 30 Survey

Post by mike cunningham »

A colleague of mine in the SF Singlehanded Sailing Society got me motivated to do more homework regarding my upcoming shaft seal replacement/repair. I am coming out of the Water 18 April so I needed someone to give me a push.

What an adventure!

I followed the Tides Marine path for awhile but got cold feet after talking to Tides directly and getting less than stellar vibes about the modified seal. The mod is basically a cut to reduce the length of the seal body as I understand it. Not too sure why Tides was not terribly enthusiastic but they said something like "some good some bad" and I wasn't keen on that.

So I then investigated Norscot. Very nice fellow at their facility spent a half hour educating me and the seal sounds good and would fit, I just was not keen on the extra ATF in the boat for the lube system.

So on the Syntron repair which was quite interesting. The MFG has changed hands a few times, Garlock is now the Mfg of the line and parts and seals are available. Possibly long lead and hi cost but have not received quotes yet. Point of contact is Gabe Duchene at 216-496-0061 if anyone wants to check this out. Very nice guy and was aware of the seal use in Freedoms. BTW, I asked him about the infamous greasing issue. Just to confirm what as been said here before. The grease nipples were simply installed by Freedom to allow "burping" of the seal and were not to be used to grease. Gabe recommended You simply put a barb in there and run a clear tube up above the waterline to be able to observe water is in the seal. There is no need to force feed the water. There are holes in the aft end of the seal to allow water into the thing for cooling. Seems like this could present problems with marine growth though. Anyway, that clears up a mystery for me.

Finally I checked in with Lasdrop. They sell a dry face seal which is 3.3 inches long. Paul at Lasdrop (1-800-940-7324) was also a very nice guy and stated he could easily cut 3/4 inches off the barb end of the seal and I would be fine - darn near the size of the Syntron which is approx 2 3/8 inches long (small !!). The nice thing about lasdrop is you can install a spare seal on the shaft and repair the thing at sea if the need arises. You need 1/2 inch for the "riding replacement" though so it'll be tight. Again, no water supply required, just plumb the tube from a barb at 12 oclock to above waterline (I will go into top step storage at companionway where engine water vented loop is located) and you are good. Cost was crazy good: $140 for the 1 inch seal and $25 for the spare guts - can't beat that.

So I am chasing the Syntron costs for the record but I did order the Lasdrop as a primary choice. If Syntron comes in competitive I may reconsider. At the price of the lasdrop, no harm no foul.

One thing for sure, to a person, these seal people were nice folks. Who woulda thought?

Mike
Mike Cunningham
Freedom 30 (Mull) Hull #3
Build date...June, 1986 . Freedom Yachts USA, sloop, shoal keel
Gun Mount and pole retrofitted (purchased from a Hoyt Freedom 32)
Yanmar 2gm20F , 1600 hrs fixed two blade prop
e-rud and ocean racing equipment

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sailmon
Posts: 237
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:53 pm

Re: 1987 Freeedom 30 Survey

Post by sailmon »

As noted above, Paul Dennis can help you out. We used Tides on our F30 and F38. Very happy.
Sailmon (Captain Bob Allenick)
S/V Her Diamond
1991 Freedom 38
Cleveland, OH

cberdie
Posts: 46
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2011 7:12 am
Location: 1980 Freedom 40 AC
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Re: 1987 Freeedom 30 Survey

Post by cberdie »

In 1997 we had new stuffing put into our box that was Teflon coated. It didn't drip for 10 years and was only replaced in 2012. The new yard didn't have the same stuff, so were back to a few drip a minute under power. It used the old stuffing box and only cost under $20 for the packing. The yard was able to put it in in the water. Unfortunately I don't have the products name.
Carl Running Free

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