An interesting tip from the BRUNTON / Autoprop crew at the London Boat Show earlier this week, regarding idiosyncrasies of the autoprop.
Is that, whenever you haul-out for period of longer than [3] days, it is important to re-grease the prop asap after hauling out. The reason being that after some time in the water, salt water enters the grease channels. Then, when out of the water, as the hub dries out the salt crystallises, which then creates opportunity for unnecessary wear later on (and as well making it harder for grease to flow through the now-obstructed channels, in order to remove the grease / salt). The preventative intervention is to get rid of the old grease (and with it any salt &/or other contaminants) before the dry-out takes place. Rule-of-thumb: Grease the prop within 3 days of haul-out, preferably within 24 hours.
All common sense when you think about it; but I never thought it through before.
David Perigee, SM#396, Martinique
Contact: BRUNTONS (UK), David Sheppard, Product Manager, david [at] bruntons-propellers [dot] com.
