Rudder Port / Gland / Stuffing box

[5teve]

Hi Guys

Looking for a bit of advice.. see picture here https://goo.gl/photos/KJcfyUA8tL6U7FUX9 regarding one of the potential boats we are looking at.

I cant quite understand the stuffing box being so rusty.. surely they wouldn't use steel here? I know it weeps and it is running rust through the bilge.. but doesnt leak badly. I don't think the bonding is working too well either

Does anyone recognise the type of stuffing box? I have searched high and low for a matching one.. but have not seen anything very close to it.

Advice would be appreciated.

Steve

 

[Tranona]

Can't comment too much on the cause of the brown stain, although that might have come from grease in the gland. Pretty standard gland arrangement. Adjusted by the big nut on the top which presses a sleeve against the packing. The gland housing should be bronze.

 

[Firefly625]

looks like it has a fair amount of verdigris, but a clean up with a wire brush will make it look loads better, if it doesn't perhaps it does need replacing but IMHO I doubt it, but then that's just from looking at the photo and it reality it may look far worse. The rest of the area looks fine to me, a tiny dribble of rusty water in a boat is pretty hard to avoid, salty water finds its way of corroding just about everything given enough time and that frame the rudder arm is mounted on could be powder coated steel.

 

[superheat6k]

There is what appears to be a very rusty jubilee clip at the top of the rusty part. Could be the have used black iron over bronze, which was not so clever.

The jubilee clip was likely meant to hold the bonding wire in place.

I would attack it with a wire brush to see how badly affected the fitting is. Shouldn't be that big a deal to sort out, but worth a lump off the price. A professional repair here will easily cost £500 and a lot more if a new tube fitting is needed to be glassed in. DIY ~ £200 (excluding haul out costs)

 

[5teve]

Thanks Guys

Yes on a closer look at the pictures, it does appear that there is a jubilee clip that is pretty rotten.. and probably the main cause of the rust stain and the discolour / rusty appearance of the lower section of the gland. I would assume that the bonding is doing nothing for it.. as it is so far gone. What would be the usual process for bonding the gland?

If we go this way - i'll try and clean it up / adjust the gland accordingly.. and remove the clip / redo the bonding.. and go from there.. but use it again as a negotiation tool..

I'm sure a repair here (Aus) would run into the thousands.. but i'll cross that bridge if required!

We are just at the hard part of deciding between 2 boats - both same make and model - but both very different layouts / engine / features! If we could merge the 2.. then that would be perfect.. but hey.. every boat is a compromise eh?

Steve