Rubber Bearings
Vesconite Wins Over Rubber Propeller Bearing
While many have historically praised rubber and nitrile rubber marine bearings, Vesconite Bearings, the maker of the no-swell Vesconite Hilube polymer, has seen ship repairers increasingly turn to its product.Such was the case in June, when one New Zealand repairer, who has traditionally only used rubber bearings, requested Vesconite Hilube for two sailing yachts.The client requested two propeller shaft bearings for the first, and a single bearing for the second, informs Vesconite Bearings’ Eddie Swanepoel.Sized for 1¾ ” and 1½ ” shafts…
Thordon Completes Retrofit to all Carbon Fisher
Thordon Bearings has successfully completed the commissioning of a set of water-lubricated SXL propeller shaft bearings to what is widely considered the world’s largest all-carbon sports fisher.Four SXL bearings were retrofitted to the 39.5m (129ft) maxi sportfish yacht Lanakai in April after it was discovered that the original rubber bearings were causing a “high pitched squeal” when the shafts were turning at low RPM.The newbuild vessel, a fast planing tri-deck yacht, was delivered to an international owner in 2018.Jacob Power…
Shaft Vibration Eliminated With Vesconite Hilube
After replacing the all-rubber cutlass bearing of his new Jeanneau Sun Fast 35 Tide The Knot two times in seven years, Robert Metzen sought an alternative. A fellow sailor told him about his positive experience with Hilube as a rudder bearing. Shortly after contacting Leandro Panzini from Vesconite distributor VesArg, Metzen had a state-of-the-art polymer bearing installed.At 2,300 rpm, a sailboat engine will spin its propeller shaft a million times in less than eight hours. Cutlass bearing materials such as rubber and bronze wear prematurely.
