I bet the mechanic was happy to work in an engine compartment that has ample room, and unlimited head room. That same job would be TONS more difficult in other sailboats!
Ken, as always your vids are top notch! Extremely helpful for me learning the ins and outs on my SM. #362. I had my Vetus coupling fail 2 yrs ago, I replaced with new only to have it fail again in 6 months. The 2nd time this happened it also cracked my shaft on my C drive. I had a new shaft replaced but still needed to figure why it failed in the first place? Turns out, all of my engine mounts were bad as well. In the future, I will probably replace engine mounts at the same time I change out the Vetus Coupling. Live and learn!
Thanks for the information... I have new motor mounts in the boat, but didn't replace them. If I still get vibration in the engine I will replace the engine mounts in Turkey. Thanks for your advice!
I feel like Amel SMs are like my old Renault Espace - loads of features, but each one breaks down regularly and requires a difficult rebuild. Bow thruster, freezer, furling motors etc. Do you sometimes pine after a simpler life? (and a less expensive one)
I am not sure, but do you own boat, or a home? There is maintenance on everything if you want to keep it running. Aquarius is our home, our car, our entertainment... So, look at the average American family with a home, two cars, a jet ski and a motorcycle. How much maintenance would you think you would be doing on all those systems? Also, we make our own water, we have a generator, and solar... This is an off the grid home that you can take almost anywhere and be fairly comfortable. I didn't have to do much maintenance from Thailand, to Maldives, to Seychelles, to Tanzania... Then water maker need a service, oil changes, and C-drive seals. Then up through the Red Sea, all the way to Greece. Not much maintenance...... But not we have to do a few things here in Greece......, Why you would think other boats have less problems...? I think other boats have more problems than Aquarius...
@@SailingAquarius You're right. Everything in my life needs maintenance too. But comparing the Amel to other boats - i see a lot of proprietary engineering (and french (!!) where they favour design over practicality) . Instead of furling motors wouldnt it be better to centre the work around an electric winch in the cockpit? Or be able to swap it out with a generic motor from other manufacturers? In any case, I hope you know how lucky you are - i'd happily to sailing the world on Aquarius! Wanna swap lives? You can take my house in cold and wet scotland . Average summer temperature 14c
Hey from cold Sweden. I would like to ask you about te new Amel boats 50 and 60. Are they any good? The super maramu is a proven sturdy vessel, what can you tell about The new boats, reliability, well built and so on? Regards from Sweden. Pekka and Marlen.
I would much rather buy a SM or 54, and put some money into upgrades. The Amel 50 has some good points, but if you want a go anywhere blue water boat.... the Amel 50 just ain't it. A few things... 1) Exposed rudders. There is NOTHING blocking the rudders. 2) Look at the way the Prop on the SM is protected, then look at the Amel 50. 3) Sail configuration options are better on a ketch rig. 4) The SM or the A54 less than 1/2 the price. The Amel 50 looks great, and performs well, much faster in club races. But, which is better it will depend on what you are going to do... Circumnavigation = A54 or SM, Sailing the Med or Caribbean = A50. If you can afford a $1.2M boat, the cost of an A50, you can spend less than 1/2 to 1/4 and have a better world cruiser with an A54 of SM. Best....
I'm surprised you took the C-Drive apart, Did you have to adjust the oil in it? I wish I had thought of that, rather than days of split wedges and gentle tapping, well done.
With the Volvo engine this can be done without lifting it. It just slides along the rails once the bolts are removed and the aft piece of the frame is taken off. Much easier and safer than lifting the engine. This kind of damage to the coupling only happens if it has been ignored for a VERY long time or if there is an alignment problem. Are your engine mounts in good condition? They have a finite life and as they fail the alignment of the engine changes dramatically. The procedure used by this mechanic is totally inadequate to align the engine and c-drive. It will NOT WORK. It is stated in the video that the engine and c-drive need to be within “2 degrees”. This would grossly out of alignment. The correct specification is within 0.002 inches (0.05 mm) across the 4 inch flange face. An alignment error of 2 degrees would have the flanges out of parallel by 0.14 inches (3.5 mm), 70 times larger than the specification from Amel! That would destroy equipment in short order. The alignment can not be done with the coupling installed. You must do it with a flat flange in place of the c-drive side of the coupling. The correct alignment tool is available from Amel, or can be fabricated by any machine shop. Every Amel should have one on board, and you should immediately fire any mechanic who will not use it with the procedure as published by Amel. Your engine will very likely continue to chew up the coupling inserts until it is aligned correctly.
@@SailingAquarius One more thing to look at. The new coupling you have in hand LOOKS like a standard off-the shelf Vetus coupling. Amel makes several modifications to this to make it easier to install, and ensure proper alignment. Some of these mods are more important that others. If you did not get this coupling from Amel, get the information on the machining specifications to be sure it is correct.
@@thefishingsailor I'm in the middle of this job now and a few things to note. This is not an 'off the shelf' coupling. 'Off the shelf' have the clamping nut still attached. Also the standard 35mm Vetus coupling does NOT fit the 35mm Amel shaft.. it's too loose (I know confusing right?). I believe Amel bore something like a 34.9..mm (ish) up from a smaller bore so that it is a tight friction fit.. or whatever you want to call it.. and also the middle bit is not threaded.. as there's no need for a clamping nut. Not sure if Amel do this or they get Vetus to do it for them. Anyway it's designed to be TIGHT.. not clamped! I have never seen any specs online but I'm getting one delivered from Amel and hoping to take accurate measurements before installing it. Still learning on the job here.. and how NOT to do it from land based mechanics who tell me they have '40 years on the job' then install it wrong :/
Hi Ken -- QUESTION -- Not sure if this is a "dripless seal" but I keep seeing them on youtube but not explained. I am hoping that you can explain it. I cannot, simply cannot, understand how a dripless seal works. How can a stationary object make a water tight seal on an object that is not stationary ie rotating propeller shaft. It would seem to me that to make a water tight seal, at some point the non-moving part must squeeze against the rotating part so tightly that it would stop the rotating part from rotating. How can it both make a waterproof "dripless" seal, and at the same point not squeeze the rotating shaft? Seems impossible as the loose fitting would permit water to migrate past it. Increase the tightness and you stop the rotation. What is going on? How do they do this? There are no good videos on this at all. Seems like there is a theoretical insurmountable problem here, and yet, all sailboats talk about this dripless seal BUT never explain the magic behind it.
Aquarius does not have a "dripless seal". Super Maramu's have C-Drive Seals, which I will change next week. The C-Drive seals ware out every 800 hours ( engine time ) or so, and are not always water tight. In the end, the prop shaft seals all have some type of rubber seals under pressure against a smooth rotating surface. Lip seals on my C-Drive, and on a dripless water seal you have a rotor compressed against a rubber packless water seal. All seals can leak, need to be maintained, and replaced at certain intervals.
@@SailingAquarius ...interesting.. So the grip of the seal does not stop the spinning of the shaft. I guess the engine simply must overcome this resistance and muscle its way to overcome it. Wow. Surprised there isn't some better way but I guess there isn't one.
