Stuffing box shaft leak?

[Dstejps37]

Hi,

We recently repacked our stuffing box in the water for the first time. It is a 20 year old boat and we are pretty sure it has never been repacked. While we didn't have too many problems replacing the packing, we did find that after putting everything back that there was still a leak, but not from the gland. The leak was probably an eye dropper full of water ever 30 seconds. The leak was also coming from the rear part of the shaft hose, right under where the shaft met the rear part of the hull. Tightening the steel clamps seemed to help control the drip, but why did it start to drip at that point in the first place? It wasn't dripping from that point before we started this project. Could we have accidentally jarred something inside the shaft to cause the leak, as we were un tightening the stuffing box? How do you know if you have over tightened? Could over tightening ever cause the clamp and rubber surrounding it to burst?

Thanks!

[Irish rambler]

The rubber hose from the shaft log to the stuffing box gets stiff with age (like us humans). A simple cure is to loosen the jubilee clips and pour boiling water gently over the rubber hose until it softens, then while the hose is still warm tighten up the jubilee clips again.that should cure it.
You MUST make sure your bilge pump is working before undertaking this task and have someone standing by to help.
Personally I changed the old stuffing box on my boat for a PSS shaft seal and would highly recommend them.
I changed mine while the boat was in the water with no problem but unless your an engineer, either ground the boat if you are familiar with the underwater layout while you change the shaft log, or, if in the slightest doubt ask the marina to lift the boat in the slings for an hour while they go to lunch.