Stuffing box leak

[Steve Schwartz]

On a recent outing (Hunter '93 30T) my stuffing box started to leak. The manual says it should drip four drops a minute. Water was squirting out at about a thousand drops a minute. There are two large white nylon nuts around the shaft at the stuffing box (I think they are called "gland nuts"). Anyway, back at the slip I removed the cotter pin slotted through the two nuts and hand tightened the outer nut which stopped the dripping altogether. But now the two nuts are not lined up so the cotter pin won't go back in. And it is not dripping those four drips a minute.My questions: I assume the nuts can be tightened/adjusted so that the durn thing drips 4 drops a minute. How do I do that? And secondly, should I replace the winding in the stuffing box next time the boat is hauled? I don't think the stuffing box has ever been serviced. I know there is a lot about this in the archives but I'm having trouble ferreting it out. ps: I set up a website with pics from a recent 9 day cruise in the Gananoque/Kingston, ON area.http://people.clarityconnect.com/webpages/schwartz/family/cancruise/cancruise1.htm

 

[Ken Palmer]

About your photos

Steve, I think we were in Kingston at about the same time. Looks like you had a good time. For a brief description of our vacation to that area, go to the link below.Oh yes, the stuffing box on my H33 is different than what you describe. No nylon parts or pins. Sorry.Ken Palmer, S/V Liberty

 

[Ed Schenck]

Some info.

You should be able to find your exact scenario in the Forum Archives. Mine is also different, bronze instead of nylon and no cotter pins or wire to lock the nuts together. The Related Link is a pretty good start. Your "outer" nut is actually the "box". When you tightened that it compressed the packing material inside. You can run the engine in gear at the slip and back off the spud until you get the drip rate that you want. Then you tighten the locknut against the spud. If the cotter pin holes do not line up then drill a new one. Personally, if you have two good wrenches, one to hold the spud and one to tighten the locknut, I wouldn't worry about pinning them.Lots of people change the packing in the water by stuffing rags in around the shaft. You can wait for haulout and be under less pressure to hurry the task. Then you could use what I do, dripless packing(see West Marine for "Drip-Less, Moldable") or you could install a dripless shaftseal from PYI.

 

[fred miller]

Same Set Up On My 35.5

You did as I did! I backed off the nylon nut until I got the drip rate I wanted and then drilled another hole for the cotter pin.At least with this style stuffing box you see whats going on.Fred MillerS/V M Squared

 

[James Marohn]

No drip when moored

Your stuffing box should not be dripping at all when your shaft is not in motion. 4 drips a minute is a guideline when your shaft is moving (the water helps lubricate the wax-like packing inside the box).If you have plenty of "turns" between the two large white nuts, I wouldn't worry about haul out and adding packing into your stuffing box. If your down to several threads, it's time to add packing.Or, if you got the extra cash, you might want to look into dripless stuffing box.BTW, great pics!!!Cheers,James

 

[Eric C Lindstrom]

Ithaca, NY?

Your transom says "Ithaca" but your boat's not on Cayuga?

 

[Steve Schwartz]

Ithaca no more

We had the boat trucked to Sackets Harbor last summer. We planned to spend a summer cruising the "Golden Crescent" but it is so interesting and challenging up here that we decided to stay for another summer. BTW: Several Cayuga boats are in the Thousand Islands area. There are at least three IYC boats in Sackets Harbor (Wind Dancer, Elusive Princess, and North Light) and many come through on a transient basis. We ran into to at least eight sailboats that had come up through the canals this summer.Cheers,Steve (Wind Dancer '93 Hunter 30T Navy Point Marina)