Rudder Stuffing Box

[thomm225]

How often do folks repack their rudder stuffing boxes? I know mine hasn't been done in 7 years so I was just wondering.

It leaks quite a bit after say a 10 hour cruise in strong winds and waves with lots of rudder movement. Otherwise, it's dry back there so it appears to be still working properly.

Btw, the boat sat on the hard for 5 years before I bought it. I believe it was done before the previous owner took his farewell 2 year voyage to Florida. I repacked the stuffing box for the prop shaft (before I pulled all that stuff out) and it was in pretty good shape.

[atoll]

have you tried tightening the stuffing box flange,normally a 1/4 turn is enough for another few years

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by atoll

have you tried tightening the stuffing box flange,normally a 1/4 turn is enough for another few years

I tightened it a little last year......and it seems to be working okay. I was just wondering.

[atoll]

if you can tighten it to its stops then it is time to repack it!

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by atoll

if you can tighten it to its stops then it is time to repack it!

It looks like there's tons move room. Plus I only tightened it about a 1/3 of a turn or so.

[atoll]

then i would tighten it as much as possable, it's hard to over tighten a rudder stuffing box

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by atoll

then i would tighten it as much as possable, it's hard to over tighten a rudder stuffing box

Like I said, it's working properly so I'm not going to tighten it at all. It leaks when used hard, no leaks when not in use..........

I was just wondering about the time thing.

[atoll]

if it leaks when sailing,hard or not, it is not working properly.
it should not leak under any conditions

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by atoll

if it leaks when sailing,hard or not, it is not working properly.
it should not leak under any conditions

Okay then, maybe I'll go ahead and give it 1/2 a turn or so......thanks.

[atoll]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Okay then, maybe I'll go ahead and give it 1/2 a turn or so......thanks.

as long as their is enough packing in there it is not really possable to over tighten it,due to the minimal movement of the shaft(compared to a propellor shaft,spinning at 1000 rpm!)

my advice tighten it till the leaks stop.

[bstreep]

In the event you choose to repack it, just look up threads for repacking prop shafts in the water. We did our prop shaft and rudder post while in the water. Not a big deal.

[thomm225]

We had a heavy rainfall today ...........mass quantities. So I went down to the boat as usual to see where I need to fix leaks. (I mark them)

I had just vacuumed the bilge a couple days ago and it had a lot of water in it. The old dude that owned the boat for years before me had put a small hole directly behind the rudder post below to drain the aft lazaratte locker I guess you'd call it. It has the open vents etc.

That is where the water was coming from. I'm like awesome I'll just plug that with epoxy then on second thought I may just leave it so it can drain the excess water from the locker.