Frozen Stuffing Box

[kenvail]

The stuffing box on my 2006 Hunter 38 is leaking pretty badly early in this season. I've tried to loosen the nuts but they won't budge. I tried some penetrating oil but that didn't seem to help at all, but I didn't give it much time to soak in.

Anyone have an idea of the best way to loosen the nuts?? Would a tap with a hammer be too aggressive?

Thanks,
Ken

 

[Davidasailor26]

We've used a hammer and bronze bar to tap the backing nut loose without causing any problems. YMMV.

 

[capta]

If your stuffing box is bronze, as most are, I'd begin by wire brushing the threads. Diesel is a good lubricant for bronze. Soak a rag in diesel and wrap it around the threads and give it some time to seep up the threads. Use a six point socket or wrench if you have the kind w/two bolts, not a Crescent wrench. A stuffing box or monkey wrench if you have the big center lock nut type. Be careful not to round off the nuts of either type, remembering that the steel tools are much harder than the bronze.

 

[Ronald Roman]

I just had the same problem with my 2009 38. I sprayed it Pb Blaster and then went to Harbor Freight and bought the biggest crescent wrench they had ($27). That did the job.

 

[Tom J]

Marine supply stores sell very thin but wide adjustable wrenches for packing nuts, that work well. Or you can go to Home Depot and buy the same tool for half the price (in the plumbing section).

 

[DaveJ]

Plumbers sink wrench.

 

[Ronald Roman]

I have a plumbers sink wrench but when your packing nuts are frozen that wrench is useless. Get the big creasent.

 

[capta]

I have a plumbers sink wrench but when your packing nuts are frozen that wrench is useless. Get the big creasent.

I carry various sizes of pipe that slide over the handle of the various size wrenches I use. There are very few things that can resist the torque of a 2' or 3' extension on a wrench.

 

[Richard19068]

I prefer good size pipe wrenches over crescent wrenches.

 

[Rich Stidger]

Use PB Blaster. Go to Harbor Freight. 24" Giant adjustable wrenches. Size matters. The wrench pictured above in post #6 works if the nuts aren't frozen, but they are only 10" long.

 

[jibes138]

Chances are it is salt encrusting the threads if you sail in salt water and have a standard one drip once in a while stuffing box. Try hot water to dissolve the salt. Also work the wrench in both directions to break the nut loose and reverse direction often while turning the nut to help flush out the crud in the threads. The nut is pushing a pile of crud in front of it as you unscrew it. The pile keeps getting larger as you go. Might be good to use a toothbrush and some PB on the threads to clean them up first before turning the nut.

 

[bawlmer]

I'm with RR. Go to Harbor Freight and buy two big crescent wrenches. Every year this thread repeats. I know I am responsible for at least one of the "stuck stuffing box threads" I am sure if you search "stuffing box" you will get a wealth of information. Read them carefully and make sure you don't get any PB Blaster on any rubber parts or seals. Best of luck.

 

[lehighsail]

If you haven't done it yet, check out MaineSails presentation on pBase for servicing the stuffing box.
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/stuffing_box. I sort of remember a thread about doing the work yourself because its one way you'll know its done right and the best way to learn your boat. My stuffing box did come loose with a couple of PB Blaster treatments and large wrenches. Getting out the stuffing was another thing. There were three turns of stuffing in the box but the third one, the deepest one, was unbelievably hard to get out. When out, it was apparent that the first two turns were replaced at some point and looked OK, but not the third one. It might have been the original from how hard it was and I guess the last person who worked on the box just gave up and didn't change it. May explain why it was leaking a lot at the end of last season.

 

[kenvail]

Thanks for all your ideas. So, I took a friend to the boat on Saturday, applied the PBlaster suggested above and let it soak in. Then we got on the nuts with a 14" wrench and an 18" wrench but the sucker wouldn't budge. We tried this probably four times over about 10 hours but it wouldn't break. I gave up and was about to put in a work order when I decided to check Sailboatowners.com for any replies to this thread. Reinvigorated, I went to Harbor Freight, bought a 24" crescent wrench and went back on Tuesday to try again. This time I wire brushed the corrosion first then reapplied PBlaster and let it soak while I worked on another project. 30 minutes later, armed with the 24" and the 18", it took just a fairly small amount of umpf, and presto - it came loose!! Thanks, just saved, what, $100 or more??

 

[Rich Stidger]

Good job! Like I said, "Size Matters!"

 

[Terry Cox]

Hi Ken, had the same problem recently. Service wrenches of the correct size work the best here: http://www.protoindustrial.com/en/i...-4dc4091e93d9_Proto®-Satin-Service-Wrenches/#

I've tried adjustable wrenches of assorted makes, pipe wrenches, etc., but the service wrench works the best. I've added a twelve inch piece of SS pipe that slides over the handle for additional leverage. In my case the box turned but the lock nut was frozen. So I squirted Liquid Wrench a number of times and tapped with a hammer in between applications.

After several tries the lock nut did finally move a bit, so I worked it back and forth until I got a complete rotation. This time I applied an ample amount of copper based anti seize compound and worked it into the threads. Hopefully, this should help for future adjustment.

 

[Bob J.]

Borrow a pipe wrench from a local plumber. I actually did this at Marthas Vineyard when down there fishing a tournement many years ago. Had to pay for a service call but what the heck. It was better than listening to the squeal.