My 1988 30 tall rig almost sunk after I found the stuffing box badly leaking. Had 2 inces of water in the cabin after 48 hrs, as bilge pump seized. How often does one need to service it, and how? Thanks.
I just tightened mine last night. I was getting a drip every three seconds and that's usually when I start to get nervous. The time between tightening or replacement of the wax/teflon rope is a function of how long you have been motoring. I can sometimes go two years and never adjust it but this year saw a lot of motorsailing over to Catalina which caused me to tighten the packing twice. My next move will be to contact PYI and get a dripless unit. My friend has one and I'm very envious. The "how to service" part is easy. Get a large adjustable wrench (90 degree) and back the large packing nut away from the lock nut. Give the lock nut about a half turn in the aft direction of the boat then tighten the packing nut until they lock together and check the leak rate. IMPORTANT - make sure the shaft turns easily then run for 5 minutes in gear. Feel the housing for excessive heat. If there is too much friction, repeat the process after re-adjusting the locking nut a 1/4 turn forward. Success is no leak and very little friction on the turning shaft. Hope this helps. Jeff s/v Suzanne
It is unlikely that your stuffing box would ever fail to the extent that the boat would sink if you have a decent working bilge pump. There is 3 layers of flax in there and you have to back the adjustment off a hell of a lot to get a small flow. If you tighten the things up and it is still leaking badly then you should replace the flax or go drippless (not cheap or easy). You can even install drippless flax that lets you tighten it up so it does not leak (fairly cheap to do). By all means fix the bilge pump first!
Check the stuffing box leak rate every two weeks. I like no more than 1 drop/minute. Instructions from Jeff Walker on adjusting are exactly right. I usually adjust at start of season and maybe once during the summer. I usually motor about 40 - 50 hours/season.
While delivering my newly bought 86 27'after 10 hrs of crusing the bilge pump failed, Boat then filled with 8" of water,till I noticed it. All from the stuffing box.Your right, a good pump is worth a thousand words.All is well now.
I was getting a drip every 2-3 seconds and the bilge pump was busy but always kept things under control. Last spring with the help of a friend I installed a PSS dripless seal. Now the bilge is dry but, I need to test the bilge pump periodically because it gets very little action. Its a great solution and not all that hard to install. It took us 4 hours but it was well worth the peace of mind and the dry bilge.
Before we left for cruising my husband installed a second bilge pump with a loud audible alarm. We have never heard it, thank goodness, but I do rest a little easier knowing I have a back-up system
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