A tip for loosening the stuffing box nuts.

[weinie]

Yesterday, I needed to tighten up my stuffing box which began to drip when out of gear.

However, even with two pipe wrenches, it was tough to get good leverage given the contorted yoga position I was in, to get the locking nut loose. I also left my can of PB Blaster in my garage.

The solution: Tap the wrench holding the lock nut gently with a heavy, iron or steel mallet two inches or so from the nut. The "shock" of metal on metal breaks the corrosion between the locking nut and the adjusting nut!

Two quick hits and the nut was loose. No chiropractor appointment necessary.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Good idea if done gently. I also suggest that one use Lanocote on the threads and the matching faces of the nuts to avoid having to do this in the future.

 

[Warren Milberg]

I took a "Diesel Dork" class some years ago when I got my first inboard diesel boat. The instructor told us that he often loosened frozen stuffing box nuts by directly whacking the flat of the lock nut with ball peen hammer. Over the years I've used that technique twice while helping friends repack a stuffing box. It always worked, but Stu's suggestion, once the nut is loosened, is the answer to never having to do this again.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Good input, Warren. What we should add to most respondents is this: Once the box is correctly adjusted, it should not need to be backed off. Don;t tighten up and then back off. Think about it - you want to snug it up and not compressed it and then back up.

There are thousands of "hits" on stuffing box on this board and many others.

Here's one that has very good links which you should also read:

http://www.c34.org/wiki/index.php?title=Stuffing_box_packing

Actually it's pretty easy if you have any kind of good access. Many boats do not. That's why we bought ours: I can actually GET to it.

It's like buying a boat: if you can't find out how to easily get to the oil dipstick, you should reconsider your purchase.