Stern-gland drips, grease and over-wintering

[awyatybw]

The stern-gland stuffing box is, to the best of my knowledge, original and therefore 15 years old. We have a storfer attached and kept it filled with Keenol (still have a couple of litres left).

Obviously we sometimes get a few drips of seawater from the gland. Usually, a quarter turn on the storfer is sufficient to keep things dry for several weeks of non-use. But recently it has become difficult to get the drip rate down sufficiently, perhaps dripping at a rate of once every 3-10 seconds. With no automatic bilge pump, and only a small bilge, we can find it close to overflowing upon return to the boat. Not a comforting situation.

A recent (4 years ago) change is that she is now lifted out in Kiel and kept in an unheated shed for the winter. Even though indoors, I suspect that she endures much longer periods of sub-zero temperatures than she ever did ashore in the open in Cornwall.

Could that be relevant or are there other reasons why we get the increased leakage? Should a well-maintained stuffing-box need renewing after 15 years? Any other suggestions?

I have read past threads on the subject of stern-glans but none seems to cover quite these points.

 

[Skysail]

A temporary ismeasure when you leave the boat is to smear grease round the shaft where it enters the gland.

Repacking the gland might help; otherwise there is nothing to renew.

It is also possible that the shaft is scored inside the gland. I can't think why low temperatures after lift out would have any effect

 

[Tranona]

Sounds like the packing needs renewing. Not a difficult job with the boat out of the water. undo the adjuster nut, rmove the packing and replace with new. You will need to check that you get the right size packing.

 

[ianat182]

Suggest repacking the gland with new PTFE impregnated packing and grease will cure problem.
You may have to do some later adjustment to the castellated gland nut after your boat is in the water, but out of the water would also be a good time to check for possible wear on the shaft itself.The packing is normally about 6mm square; turning the gland nut compresses this so don't overdo the tightening, and check when afloat and static and again when the engine has rotated. A simple job on most installations.
Keenol grease will be fine, half turn of the greaser before motoring ,and one turn when leaving the boat should be ample.

ianat182

 

[Skysail]

More on repacking here:

http://www.diybob.com/diyPackingGland.htm

 

[NormanS]

The rings of packing in the stuffing box or stern gland, very gradually wear, and this wear is compensated for by tightening up the gland. this compresses the packing, and stops it leaking.
Some care is needed, when tightening, as if it is too tight, it will cause heat. In an ideal world, your packing will not leak at all when the shaft is stationary, but an occasional drip while running is perfectly acceptable.
So, before thinking about re-newing anything, try tightening the gland a little.
The low temperatures that you have experienced, while ashore, shouldn't have had any effect.