Rubber stern gland - Beneteau 393

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porth

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The stern gland on our 393 started to drip a month before the end of our year in the Med. Were intending to leave the boat where it is (S. France) for another year, but suddenly have crew raring to go in May and much cheaper place near Athens. Am trying to fix the problem but uncertain if anyone will do the job at short notice.
Question: is it ok to sail/motor to Greece with this problem? I have no idea how these stern glands are built. Does a steady drip (about 3 litres a day) mean there is a risk of sudden catastrophic failure, or is it something that will just require monitoring during the trip? SOmetimes the drip stops completely, at other times it is regular/fast.
Thanks for any replies.
 
Should not drip at all. Has it been greased regularly? Normally these last for years without any problems so a little surpised at showing signs of wear on a relatively new boat. Will not fail catastrophically, but 3 litres a day is a lot of water!

Would not be keen to continue using it as drip means more than likely the lip seals are worn or damaged and further running will lead to more wear and more drips. Not a difficult or expensive job to replace, but boat does need to be out of the water.
 
This time of the year and of the economy You should be able to have it changed in S. France by skilled worker; better than sail unsleepy to Greece and THEN having problems in having it fixed.IMHO.
If You are close to Port Frejus, I would contact:
RP MAGNE
René Pierre MAGNE
Aire de carénage
83600 Port-Fréjus
04 93 65 71 35 / 06 09 08 46 57
04 93 65 71 35 (fax)

They used to fit the boats for Benny, Bav et al.
Best wishes!
 
I agree with the other poster, 3 litres a day is a lot, its about shagged, it needs changing quickly. My mate has changed the one on his 381 in the water, got well prepared, coupling undone, coupling pulled off, get SWMBO to keep hand on shaft to stop it slipping back too far, undo clamp on the rubber bullet, get swmbo ready with several teatowels then go for it, slide the old one off, wrap teatowels around the gaping hole, kidding, kidding!!! Its not that big a flow, its important not to panic here!! Slide the pregreased new bullet down the shaft and push it on to the stub, panic over, and re attach everything.
The rubber bullets are about £80 from Volspec or Keyparts.
Stu
 
As Gianenrico says, Rene Pierre still does the commissioning for Beneteau, Italy in both Antibes and Port Frejus. He would be quite capable of doing this job but so would any competent boat-yard ................. or yourself. See if you can get someone to lift the boat for 1/2 hour and do the job with it in the slings whilst the crane driver is having lunch (or in France, for two hours whilst he is having his lunch!!!!); its an easy job and the most expensive part is lifting the boat. I like Skipper-Stu's method but haven't got the baxxs to do it that way myself.

Alan.
 
The boat was chartered before we bought it, and has 3000 hours on the clock. May have something to do with it.
As does the complete lack of greasing since we have had the boat. I was told (twice) that it was not necessary. On our boat it is difficult to reach or see the gland because it lies under the diesel tank. For future reference, I assume the gland has to be removed to grease it? I never found a greasing nipple.
Thanks to everyone for all info. The boat is a bit far from Frejus (in Port Gapeau near Hyeres), but I'll give Rene Pierre a ring just in case. Not too many boats being commissioned at the moment...
 
Greasing is relatively easy. The grease comes from Volvo in a little tube with a nozzle which you push between the seal and shaft and squeeze the grease in. Does not need much as the main seal is water cooled and lubricated. Alternative methods if it is difficult to access with the tube is to fill a drinking straw with the grease, flatten the end, slide that in and squeeze.

High hours and (probably) no greasing is likely cause of wear.
 
I just tried the drinking straw method myself and it worked like a dream. The straws that we had at home were rather smaller than the recommended MacDonalds ones so I gave it 2 straws worth.
 
In this case I would be VERY careful: while a once-or-twice a year greasing is a simple matter, a 30-or-34-hundred hours without greasing might have brought some damage to the shaft surface, thus reducing the water-tightness of the gland, even at new.
May I suggest You check this carefully before any decision?
Hope it is just a "Murphy's Law Preventer"!
 
Okaaay. Never having had a boat like this before, (am used to old fashioned boats/motors/stern glands), I paid a mechanic to show me the tricks before we left Turkey. He knew about "burping" the gland, but stated that grease was unnecessary. I thought that was strange but could find no way of getting grease into the thing. Hopefully the charter company who owned the boat was more up to speed. I'll try a new one stuffed with grease.
Should have asked you guys instead of paying the mechanic!
 
Is yours a Volvo seal? If so, this might help explain how it works:

DSC_6040b.jpg


Sea on the left, engine on the right. You need to get grease in between the inner and outer lip seals, and water through the bearing, as far as the inner lip seal.

Andy
 
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