SOME SNIPPETS ON LIP SEALS and STERN TUBE SEALS

Lip Seals are made of rubber and are primarily used to seal the oil
in the casing from the atmosphere through a ROTATING shaft.
Generally the oil is of Low pressure. Where operating pressures
of oils is HIGH a MECHANICAL SEAL is used.
Some salient points to be remembered while dealing with Lip
seals:

Direction
The Spring should face the oil side. The Spring force acts in a direction as to reduce the diameter of the LIP
( ID) and forms a tight running surface on the rotating shaft.
The Pressure of Oil also acts on the incline so as to press the ID on the shaft.
The SEAL WILL FAIL if fitted otherwise by Mistake. In case Spring is not there one should be guided by the
angle of incline.The force on the Incline should be such that it presses the lip TOWARDS the center line.
When LIP SEALS FAIL at quick intervals , one should suspect,

Suitability of the material with the TYPE and Temperature of the Oil or Liquid.

Misalignment of the shaft with respect to the seal

A worn out Bearing.

Grooved shaft.

The Concepts discussed above are applicable in the case of STERN TUBE SEALING
also.

You can See that Seals A and B prevent Sea water into the Stern
tube and C prevents Oil from LEAVING the stern tube.( A very
simplified view of the arrangement is shown focusing only on
the seals)
In a pump with Oil seal when the shaft gets grooved because of
prolonged rubbing of the lips,the shaft can be replaced. If the stern tube seals were to be rubbing against
the tail shaft and it results in grooving of the tail shaft, then the tail shaft would need to be replaced or
repaired, which is a very expensive and impractical proposition. Hence the lips in a stern tube bearing run
on a CHROME LINER which can easily be replaced when grooved. Normally before being replaced , these

CHROME Liners are SKIMMED upto the prescribed limits of the manufacturer. Other method adopted
while dealing with a grooved liner ( or shaft) is to SHIFT the position of the lips away from the grooves by
removing the distance pieces provided by manufacturers. This is done to increase the life of the Chrome
liner before renewal.
The performance of Stern Tube Seals depend upon the ALIGNMENT of the CHROME LINER. Hence it is very
important to check the alignment while renewal of Stern tube seals in Drydock.

Now unfortunately If a fishing net gets entangled (after

damage to the
rope guard) it
will damage
seals A and B
and SEA WATER
pressure
reaches the Gap
between B and C
You can see that the Sea water Pressure tries to LIFT the LIP. This is prevented by the Pressure of stern
tube oil (depends upon the head of Gravity tank).If the sea water pressure succeeds in LIFTING the LIP the
OIL will leak OUT because of the Head of the gravity Tank.

THIS CAN BE PREVENTED BY INCREASING THE HEAD OF THE GRAVITY TANK

The Diameter of the Stand pipe DOES NOT MATTER.
USE of a PVC Pipe can be used effectively as the height of the oil can be varied
easily by raising or lowering the pipe to get the optimum increased level when the
OIL LEAK into the SEA Stops.
OIL IS LIKELY TO LEAK IN A LOADED PASSAGE WITH A DAMAGED SEA SIDE SEAL AND
MAY REMAIN STEADY IN A BALLAST PASSAGE., contrary to the temptation of many
to expect the Opposite.