Rudder Packing Gland to Steering Quadrant Leak

[Ocean Girl]

Ok, typical boat fashion we will need to haul the boat to replace the stuffing box( yes, the engine shaft stuffing box).

Last week we had noticed, along with increased water inflow from the rudder post, that the stuffing box needed tightening. I tried to tighten it, but the darn thing still leaked. It was pretty corroded so I scrubbed it with a wire brush and carefully wiped some PB blaster on it. Well while we had the mechanic over to break the frozen bolts on the rudder post we had him tighten the stuffing box. He found the backing nut on the stuffing box was cracked. So, good news, the boat didn't sink. Bad news, my Saturday departure date is down the drain. Brian has always wanted the PSS dripless gland so Happy Birthday :-) to him. The yard cannot get the new PSS gland till Tuesday so we will haul out Tuesday/ Wednesday.
Mechanic( great guy BTW) could not budge the steering quadrant bolts. Actually, one bolt did move a smidgeon.(I must of loosened it for him). We decided to wait till haul out where he will have the air compressor impact wrench and all his other goodies at his disposal. Meanwhile, he doused the quadrant with PB Blaster. I will go back tomorrow and keep up with the PB blaster. A fellow PS34 told me of a trick where you tie a string around the bolt head and soak it with the PB blaster, I like that, thought I'd give that a try.

Not 100% sure we can replace the stuffing box without dropping the rudder( twitch twitch).

[Jim Cate]

OG, you sure know how to have a good time! Ain't cruising fun?

Good luck with it all on Tuesday... surely your perseverance will be rewarded, and dripless glands are good on your shaft (hmmm... that sounds a bit off, some how!).

Cheers,

Jim

[neilpride]

I have this one in my Perkins , shaft prop.. One of the best stuff in the market , seriously, 10 years without a problem, just the usual every 4 or 5 years lip seal change.. Simple, reliable, and easy to maintain.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Oh boy...

Again about the money not being a problem thing... I hope that doesn't come around and bite ya in the butt!!!

neverevereverever...ever.... say/type that out loud...

Sounds like you guys got a SUPER yard dog helpin'.... Volvo shaft seals are also very effective, decent service/replacement interval... and cheap...

PS: I'm kinda glad all this happened early on... You guys???

***crosses fingers***

[Boatyarddog]

Cut the bolt heads off, pull the quadrant apart you then will have the stud ends to grip with stud pullers or vise grips.
I've used aerokrol, to free up stainless to aluminum, let it penetrate.
You can then get to the packings.
It's not as hard as it looks.



Sent from my iPad SV Cloud Duster

[DeepFrz]

Try Aero Kroil.

[Ocean Girl]

Originally Posted by neilpride

I have this one in my Perkins , shaft prop.. One of the best stuff in the market , seriously, 10 years without a problem, just the usual every 4 or 5 years lip seal change.. Simple, reliable, and easy to maintain.

That sure is pretty. What model is it? I'm a simple gal and would of been happy with the good ole fashion bronze stuffing gland. But Brian likes the quality stuff :-).

[Ocean Girl]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

Oh boy...

Again about the money not being a problem thing... I hope that doesn't come around and bite ya in the butt!!!

neverevereverever...ever.... say/type that out loud...

Sounds like you guys got a SUPER yard dog helpin'.... Volvo shaft seals are also very effective, decent service/replacement interval... and cheap...

PS: I'm kinda glad all this happened early on... You guys???

***crosses fingers***

Yes, clearly I was tempting the boat Gods!! Wish we made it down to blue water. Zee is at least working on her boat in the beautiful tropics!

[neilpride]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

That sure is pretty. What model is it? I'm a simple gal and would of been happy with the good ole fashion bronze stuffing gland. But Brian likes the quality stuff :-).

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...8o3ecF6F4GV-lw

[Warby12]

Quote: "First, when you heat any solid object with a hole in it, the diameter of the hole increases from the thermal expansion, not decreases. Didn't you do an experiment in about fourth grade science where you heated a brass ring and the ball that sat upon it fell through? It may not be intuitive, but it is so!"

Thanks all for your help with that heating expanding question, finally an answer to a question I've always asked myself but never anyone else. Makes total sense now!

Sorry for the slight hijack of the thread

[Ocean Girl]

Ok. We hauled out yesterday. They replaced the cracked engine shaft stuffing box with the PSS dripless( sweet).
As far as the rudder packing. We still needed to remove the steering quadrant( or at least move it up a few inches) to repack the leaky rudder gland.
First the mechanic tried getting the frozen steering quadrant bolts by hand, nothing. Then moved to battery powered impact wrench, nothing. Then pneumatic impact wrench, which worked for all but one which he cut( inside lower bolt). Steering quad is now over at the machine shop being drilled out.

I'm so glad I handed it over to the yard, there was a lot of grunting, cussing, and banging while I sat comfy reading my book and sipping my tea😊.
Hopefully we will be back in the water in a couple hours( sleeping aboard while hauled out is Creepy!!).

I had pictures but dropped my camera( cannon sure shot) in the drink getting out of the dinghy :-(.

Our next good weather window is Friday, so that gives us a chance to run around here for a few hours to break in the new dripless packing gland and to make sure the rudder is leak free. Then on to Rabbit Island or maybe Cat Island if we make good time/ wind direction allows etc.

[deblen]

Glad to hear! Happy sailing / Len

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

Ok. We hauled out yesterday. They replaced the cracked engine shaft stuffing box with the PSS dripless( sweet).
As far as the rudder packing. We still needed to remove the steering quadrant( or at least move it up a few inches) to repack the leaky rudder gland.
First the mechanic tried getting the frozen steering quadrant bolts by hand, nothing. Then moved to battery powered impact wrench, nothing. Then pneumatic impact wrench, which worked for all but one which he cut( inside lower bolt). Steering quad is now over at the machine shop being drilled out.

I'm so glad I handed it over to the yard, there was a lot of grunting, cussing, and banging while I sat comfy reading my book and sipping my tea😊.
Hopefully we will be back in the water in a couple hours( sleeping aboard while hauled out is Creepy!!).

I had pictures but dropped my camera( cannon sure shot) in the drink getting out of the dinghy :-(.

Our next good weather window is Friday, so that gives us a chance to run around here for a few hours to break in the new dripless packing gland and to make sure the rudder is leak free. Then on to Rabbit Island or maybe Cat Island if we make good time/ wind direction allows etc.

Grunting and cussing are key ingredients. Profanity is the ultimate lubricant!


Know anything about the history of Cat Island? The WWII war dog training center there has a grim history. They trained dogs to sniff out and attack Japanese people there, the idea being that dogs know the difference by smell. Of course they don't, and it didn't work. But they used Japanese people from the internment camps and even the odd POW for their morally questionable training program. It did eventually lead to a more realistic and ultimately much more productive training program, however. Read about it in "War Dogs", or there's a PBS special.


Cat Island (Mississippi) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by minaret

Grunting and cussing are key ingredients. Profanity is the ultimate lubricant!


Know anything about the history of Cat Island? The WWII war dog training center there has a grim history. They trained dogs to sniff out and attack Japanese people there, the idea being that dogs know the difference by smell. Of course they don't, and it didn't work. But they used Japanese people from the internment camps and even the odd POW for their morally questionable training program. It did eventually lead to a more realistic and ultimately much more productive training program, however. Read about it in "War Dogs", or there's a PBS special.


Cat Island (Mississippi) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Good Grief... no wonder the program failed: what self respecting dog could pay attention to the lessons on a place called CAT island?

Jim

[RTB]

Some history at Ship Island (next to Cat) too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_Island_(Mississippi). A good anchorage if the weather is right. Go in close to shore next to the long pier. We hope to take time and visit the Fort there next trip through. We enjoyed Mississippi Sound, and guess what? You can do some real sailing for a couple of days.

Ralph