Stern gland greaser?

[muckypup]

Anyone point me to a picture of what a stern gland greaser looks like please.

I have what looks like the same bore pipe as what feeds diesel to the main engine. There is an in and an out into each stern gland. The pipes then vanish off, one for some reason towards the engines where I can't follow it and one under the sound insulation where I can't follow it.

I'm assuming these are for supplying some sort of lube to the glands but I have yet to work out what and how it works.

S.

 

[Danny]

There's two types I know of. One is brass, cylinder-shaped with a piston that screws down from the top. The top unscrews so you can fill it with grease. There's a hose connection at the bottom for the hose (like the ones you've found).

The other is a fat, plastic cylinder (black) which is made in two halves. The top half screws down onto the bottom half to compress the grease. Again, the tube connects to the bottom.

The first type is about 6" long and about 1.5" diameter with a screw down piston out of the top. The other is similar volume but shorter and fatter.

There may well be other types but these are the only ones I've seen.

 

[Pye_End]

Are they clear plastic pipes?

Does the stern gland have a black rubber gaiter, with the two pipes opposite each other?

Do you have a small pot somewhere in a locker somewhere full of oil that you don't really know what it does?

 

[john_morris_uk]

Or it might be a water cooled stern gland...

 

[tillergirl]

Could be water pipes. I have a water lubricated stuffing box with a feed off the engine cooling water so it is pumped in. I don't have an outlet though since the water (in theory) disappears down the stern tube and out through the plain gland by the prop.

 

[Pye_End]

Yes that sounds more likely on that type of boat.

Didn't look at that!

 

[muckypup]

No, they are the same metal pipes as used by the fuel system. The stern glands have no external rubber components, just metal.

S.

 

[muckypup]

Water cooled? I had not thought of that - In fact I didn't know that this sort of thing existed... I shall have to try and find where the outlet might lie.

Are there advantages/disadvantages of this sort of thing?

Steve

 

[richardabeattie]

Meanwhile is there any particular grease to be used in the conventional one-turn-every-time-you-think-about-it greaser? Or will any automotive grease do?

 

[Guest]

I used good quality auto grease ... and then one time was in chandlers .... remembered I needed a new pot of grease and spoke to the guy. He gave me stern gland / trailer wheel bearing grease. While talking he asked if I had grease splattered about round the gland ... yep ! He reckoned the stuff he gave me wouldn't do that ......... seems true .. and I can't figure out why !!

 

[l'escargot]

 

[john_morris_uk]

Advantages - they stay cool, and usually don't need greasing. When they are installed properly and working well, you have a no-leak almost fit and forget stren gland.

Disadvantages - complex to install. Easy to forget them so much that you fail to notice when they need some TLC and/or start leaking.

 

[muckypup]

Where does the water usually exit? I have a tube in and out so it must go somewhere else... Next time I'm down I shall have to try and get a picture.

S.

 

[john_morris_uk]

On the ones I have seen, the water exits via the stern tube. (from memory)

 

[apollo]

If its the same as my princess 37, these pipes come from and return to the heat exchangers on the front of the engine. They are feeding cooling water to keep the stern tube from overheating.

You wont have a greaser.

 

[muckypup]

Is there any maintenance required for this setup?

Steve