JASinIL2006
Vice Admiral
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2012
- Messages
- 5,729
Since it's cold and snowy here in Illinois, I'm trying to do some boat maintenance to keep me busy. I pulled my Alpha One Gen II drive and have it tucked away in the basement. I thought I'd pressure test it when I was changing the drive lube, so I cobbled together this little device, based on others
I have read about here:
I drained the drive lube, which looked pretty good, with no signs of water or milkiness. (Last year I changed the lube and replaced the impeller with a pump rebuild kit. Everything went back together fine and the drive ran great last summer.)
When I attach the pressure tester to the drive via the vent hole and pump it up to 11 or 12 PSI, I lose about one PSI over a time span of about 24-36 hours. Am I correct in assuming that's not acceptable? I've read of people checking for leaks with a bubble solution, but I'm not entirely sure where to check. I imagine I'd want to check the union between the upper and the lower half, the drain hole and the venthole (where my gizmo is attached; I probably also should check to make sure my pressure tester itself isn't leaking).
Will the bubble test show a leak that slight? Any other locations I should be checking? Is this something I even need to worry about? The boat spends about 3 weeks straight in the water each summer; the rest of the time it's on the trailer or out for day trips (if that matters).
Thanks!
Jim
I have read about here:
I drained the drive lube, which looked pretty good, with no signs of water or milkiness. (Last year I changed the lube and replaced the impeller with a pump rebuild kit. Everything went back together fine and the drive ran great last summer.)
When I attach the pressure tester to the drive via the vent hole and pump it up to 11 or 12 PSI, I lose about one PSI over a time span of about 24-36 hours. Am I correct in assuming that's not acceptable? I've read of people checking for leaks with a bubble solution, but I'm not entirely sure where to check. I imagine I'd want to check the union between the upper and the lower half, the drain hole and the venthole (where my gizmo is attached; I probably also should check to make sure my pressure tester itself isn't leaking).
Will the bubble test show a leak that slight? Any other locations I should be checking? Is this something I even need to worry about? The boat spends about 3 weeks straight in the water each summer; the rest of the time it's on the trailer or out for day trips (if that matters).
Thanks!
Jim
