How do you know when to repack a stern gland

DAKA

DAKA

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The last time I tweaked the Port stern gland I think the adjustment was exhausted.

The boat is out now so should I repack both glands ?

There looks to be loads of space between the hull fitting and the piston that tightens so how do I know if I have come to the end or if it was just a bit of muck in the thread /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif


Should they be repacked every 2 seasons anyway ?
 
Not sure when last packed at best Aug 2004 ?
I have only needed to 'nip up' three times in 2 seasons.
The last time one nut would not move but 1/2 turn on the second nut did the job and not leaked since (drip every 30 seconds).

I thought the piston had come to the end but there is a big space left to run.

Should the piston close fully when exhausted ?
 
When it leaks like hell and no amount of adjustment stops it. Quite scary that. If it has'nt been repacked for a 2 or 3 seasons, it's worth doing as a precaution
 
On mine there's a lock nut that comes to the end of a thread and the carrier butts up against that when it needs repacking, just done one a couple of weeks ago and now need to do the other one.
Its one small advantage of being on a drying berth.
 
A leaking stern gland did screw up a holiday for me once. We moored our Broom in St Helier after a fairly rough Channel crossing. That night, I got woken by the bilge alarm and I was horrified to see a load of water in the engine bilges with a fairly constant stream of water coming out of the s/b sterngland. I managed to screw the clamp in enough to stem the flow which is a horrible job on a Broom. Unluckily it was the Friday night before the August bank holiday and we could'nt get a lift out for 4 days but I did'nt want to risk going to sea and making the leak worse. We had to abandon our proposed trip to St Malo and in fact we were stuck in St Helier for a week thanks to the weather. Result. One pissed off SWMBO and child. All due to my lack of foresight in getting the sternglands re packed
 
Does it do any harm to repack anyway?
Is it difficult or can it be done easily?
Will it affect the cutlas bearings if they are repacked?

I dont think ours have ever been done - 2001 boat.
They are leaking constantly at the moment - not alarming just a continuous drip on both. I only notice the bilge pumps when we first accelerate onto the plane but they must be working every now and then on the berth.

She's due out soon should I repack them?
 
Does'nt do any harm to repack them, Hurricane. If they're the traditional type, its just a case of removing the old packing material or whats left of it and placing some new packing around the shaft; it looks like a bit of thin rope. Its probably an easy DIY job but I had done professionally myself as, if you do it wrong, then it means lifting the boat again at huge cost. Can't see that it will have any effect on the cutless bearings?
 
just to clarify the point for hurricane. The boat must be out of the water to do stern glands. And all the examples discussed are for the traditional stuffung boxes. Many new boats now have dripless seals.

I changed mine last year and now have a completly dry bilge
 
Mine is the traditional stuffing box (I think).

As well there is a cooling raw water pipe in.

What does that do ?
I presume this does not affect the stuffing method ?
 
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