stuffing box and hose

[Peter]

During Easter weekend, my stuffing box on my c27 decided to come loose and remove itself from the flexible stern tube hose allowing many gallons of water to enter and wash my carpet. I take full responsibility for not having checked the hose clamps. I'm also thankful I have a good electric bilge pump. Two of the clamps were loose (the ones nearest the engine) and two were rusted (aft). I got by that weekend with replacing one clamp and tightening up two.Anyway, I decided that it would be appropriate to change ALL 4 hose clamps with new ones. I did that this weekend, but it seems that no matter what I do now, the stuffing box wants to slip out of the hose, even thought the clamps are as tight as I can get them. The box didn't completely release this weekend, but it did come out some.Other than hauling soon and taking everything apart and replacing the hose, any and all ideas would be appreciated. Although, I might have to haul soon to deal with this problem.Peter

 

[Stu Sauer]

Stuffing Box Damage

You are risking more damage by not replacing the flexible stern tube now. Make sure you check the inside diameter of the replacement hose and get the strongest double wall reinforced hose you can find.When the stuffing box moves up and down the shaft and / or twists out of the tube, you risk scoring the prop shaft or tearing up the flexible tube and having a leak you might not be able to stop.

 

[Steve G.]

Stuffing box

First of all, you need to make sure that flexible hose is the right one for the job. I don't know how old it is or who put it on, but make sure it's rated for a stuffing box. It should have a thick (about 1/4") wall and NOT have an embedded metal coil.Replacing that will mean hauling out because you'll need to remove the coupling to replace it. It'll be a job, but you'll need to do it if that's the case. In any event make sure your using good hose clamps that you can really sock down, not the slotted ones.Other than that, How's your shaft alignment? Good Luck.

 

[Peter]

stuffing box

Thanks, it sounds like I need to haul and replace it. The hose was there before I bought the boat. It's pretty heavy duty, but that's all I can tell. She was realigned last year, but I have been wondering if she's out of alignment again, and that caused/helped to create the problem. And yup, she let in a silly amount of water when she let go. All I can say is, you need a quality electric bilge pump in addition to a manual pump. There's no way in a situation like this I could have pumped and tried to stop the inflow.Thanks again.

 

[VIEXILE]

Hmmmm . . .

. . . just redid mine on hard. Hose kept slipping off the stern tube when I tightened. Try wiping the inside of the gland (rubber) tube with a rag dipped in acetone - just use your finger tip with a rag on it. Then wipe down the male part on the stuffing box and clean it with some more acetone. Don't get any on the flax packing inside. Use AWAB clamps. They never rust. Put the clamps on the END of the gland on first, then make sure the inner clamps on each end are fully on the piece they're supposed to seat on. Sometimes these things were made for only one clamp for some stupid reason, and you run out of stuffing box (bronze) sufficient to hold two clamps and the clamp closest to the end slides off. Hmmm. Anyway, the acetone will remove some shit from the surface and dry it so it's less slippery. Otherwise, haul and fix.

 

[Peter]

If need be I'll clean the new hose when I put it on. Trying to clean the old hose results in many gallons per second coming into the boat right now. But I think you are totally correct in putting on the clamps on the outside first, as I found that putting on the inside clamps resulted in pushing out the stuffing box somewhat.Thanks.Peter