ruder

Oct 5, 2008
26
hunter 37 cutter brunswick
just had a new yanmar 3ym fitted with dripless shaft seal. all works great. noticed under power water leaking from the rudder tube or stuffing box, probably been going on for but never noticed it with the ofd stuffing box.a as i will not be back in the states for about a month is there a temp repair, or just leave it. the bilge pump can easily keep up
 
Mar 6, 2012
357
Hunter H33 (limited edition cabin top) Bayou Chico
personally i would monitor it and continue on till you have a chance to really check it out, is there any play in the rudder from side to side when you shake the blade by hand?
 
Dec 5, 2011
30
Hunter 37c Scotland
I've had a similar thing, I fitted a new engine and upgraded to a 3 blade propeller to match increased engine size. The 'leak' only happens on higher revs when the boat is charging through the water, and not at same revs tied to dock, I assumed it was because the back of the boat sinks down when you increase the throttle and the wash is putting more pressure on the rudder stuffing box

Angus
 
Sep 15, 2009
6,243
S2 9.2a Fairhope Al
if you are talking about the rudder shaft stuffing box you may need to repack with new packing or just simply tighten it up some ....if it is original to the boat i would think repacking is in order ...but first try tightening it some and see if that stops the leak...as for leaving the boat for a month with something leaking and trusting the bilge pump to take care of it i would not do that unless you have some one who can check on it daily the pump could blow a fuse or you could loose power for some reason or other and you may come home to a submarine insted of a sail boat ....good luck

regards

woody
 
Dec 5, 2011
30
Hunter 37c Scotland
thanks for reply. did you do anything about it
I haven't done anything about it yet, the leak is only when I'm full steam ahead on engine. When I'm next due out of the water I'm going to drop the rudder and replace the hose attaching the stuffing box to the thru hull tube (is that also called a log?). I'll reassess tension on the stuffing box bolts at that time.

Angus
 
May 27, 2004
1,964
Hunter 30_74-83 Ponce Inlet FL
Last year (or the previous) in this forum there was a detailed discussion, with pictures, describing the R&R of the rudder seal on the bigger Cherubini Hunters.

Try the search feature above. FYI
 
Jun 2, 2004
5,802
Hunter 37-cutter, '79 41 23' 30"N 82 33' 20"W--------Huron, OH
With the lighter 3YM the stern is definitely higher and should not leak while just sitting. The stuffing box on the 37 is much easier to work on than many. Tightening should present no problems. Repacking is also not that difficult.
 

Attachments

Jun 5, 2010
1,107
Hunter 25 Burlington NJ
Seek the no-brainer first

We've had this sort of leaking with Cherubini 44s, particularly those that were modified at new-build stage because many buyers did not agree with my dad's design and insisted that a prop in an aperture was *better* than the off-center arrangement (which is actually better) my dad (and Herreshoff) preferred. On the aperture boats the propwash was running straight up the rudder shaft and entering over the top of the gasketed flange there. I have heard of this on H30s and Raiders (which use the same Buck-Algonquin rudder-shaft packing gland) as well.

The C44 owners all suspected the prop shaft's stuffing box and kept tightening it ad infinitum. We 'fixed' this by specifying Tides Marine UHMW dripless bearings. The bearing arrives cut exactly to the shaft diameter and has to be hammered down onto it-- after that, all movement gradually wears it to a perfect-clearance fit. I wouldn't use anything else on an inboard-powered boat.

(There is another type of 'dripless' bearing whose name begins with P-- I forget what it's called-- but it's not as good as the Tides Marine one, though it is much cheaper.)

Two lessons got taught from this:
1. Don't mess with a perfect design.
2. Doubt the silliest, easiest and most-likely thing first, rather than relying on your preconceived notions of what *should be* wrong. :naughty:
 
May 3, 2009
88
H Cherubini 37 Madisonville, La., Pontchartrain
The "PSS Dripless Seal "I had installed on my boat some years back did the same thing at higher rpms to the point of the bilge pump coming on underway when over 1600 rpms. Come to find out the retaining collar that is behind the rubber boot before the tranny flange on the shaft was too loose and actually had no backup allen set screws. Tapped in collar about 3/8ths inch further back toward the boot and installed backup set screws to keep the inner ones in and problem solved.
Don't think I would go away for a month and leave it for chance.
Wally
 
May 3, 2009
88
H Cherubini 37 Madisonville, La., Pontchartrain
Sorry ...my bad...got off on the wrong subject.
 
Jun 5, 2010
1,107
Hunter 25 Burlington NJ
When I hear of a 'dripless seal' that has a rubber gasket in it somewhere, I smell two things:
1. oxymoron;
2. maintenance nightmare.

NOT what I expect from anything calling itself 'dripless'.
 
Oct 5, 2008
26
hunter 37 cutter brunswick
Just arrived back in the states. O what a difference a new engine makes. Re the rudder leak, it needs repacking can this be done in the water without dropping the rudder. And with what, the original says with o ring, can you use regular stuffing box packing, appreciate any help

Mike
 
Jun 8, 2004
994
C&C Frigate 36 St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia
Just arrived back in the states. O what a difference a new engine makes. Re the rudder leak, it needs repacking can this be done in the water without dropping the rudder. And with what, the original says with o ring, can you use regular stuffing box packing, appreciate any help

Mike
On my 1983, the rudder stuffing box uses regular packing. I haven't be been down under there in a year or two, but from memory I would guess 1/4"?