Stern gland rubber boot

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richardabeattie

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My engineer came to repack the stern gland as it was dripping even when the engine was off. He found that the rubber boot - the only thing keeping the boat off the sea floor - was so softened that it could be picked apart by hand. So I am in for a posh new modern gland which is water lubricated and won't need a stern gland greaser. Check your glands!
 
richardabeattie said:
My engineer came to repack the stern gland as it was dripping even when the engine was off. He found that the rubber boot - the only thing keeping the boat off the sea floor - was so softened that it could be picked apart by hand. So I am in for a posh new modern gland which is water lubricated and won't need a stern gland greaser. Check your glands!
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Well I'm glad you didn't lose your boat because of it.

I'm happy to rely on my 4 turns of PTFE gland packing to keep the sea where it belongs. If it does fail it fails nice and slowly, giving plenty of warning. And I don't have to disconnect the shaft to maintain it or source expensive parts.
 
Inclined to agree with Poignard on this, last boat had old style packing stern gland which failed, but so slowly that was able to wait for the end of the season before changing the packing, new boat had a slight leak, just tightened the packing nut a quarter of a turn last year and it’s still perfect.
Never really trusted ‘face- seal’ type stern glands.
 
Praxinoscope said:
Never really trusted ‘face- seal’ type stern glands.
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You don't have to fit face seal types to get a modern reliable drip free seal. Plenty of lip seal types on the market such as the Volvo/Radice, Tides Marine, Vetus.

While traditional stuffing boxes have advantages and don't normally fail, many are attached with rubber hoses, which as the OP says are a weak point and can fail catastrophically.
 
Just removed my face type seal as it has never really worked in 8 years do to the length of my drive shaft ! Sure they are great in certain applications but not mine. Packing gland welcome home. For sale one used PSS Seal LOL
 
Poignard said:
Well I'm glad you didn't lose your boat because of it.

I'm happy to rely on my 4 turns of PTFE gland packing to keep the sea where it belongs. If it does fail it fails nice and slowly, giving plenty of warning. And I don't have to disconnect the shaft to maintain it or source expensive parts.
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Not if the rubber boot between the stern tube and the stern gland were to fail as in the OP's post. You would still go down like a stone.

Donald
 
Aja said:
Not if the rubber boot between the stern tube and the stern gland were to fail as in the OP's post. You would still go down like a stone.

Donald
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Just to avoid mis-understanding before we go any further, are we talking of a length of hose reinforced with steel wire and fabric, or a rubber boot enclosing a patent seal?
 
Poignard said:
Just to avoid mis-understanding before we go any further, are we talking of a length of hose reinforced with steel wire and fabric, or a rubber boot enclosing a patent seal?
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Well, he was talking about “his engineer” coming to re-pack it, which implies a traditional gland. I assume the so-called “boot” is the typical short length of hose used with a soft-mounted engine.

Pete
 
prv said:
Well, he was talking about “his engineer” coming to re-pack it, which implies a traditional gland. I assume the so-called “boot” is the typical short length of hose used with a soft-mounted engine.

Pete
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+1 and another vote for replacing the hose and keep the old packed gland. The most worrying part of the OP's post was paying someone to do the work:)
 
Poignard said:
Just to avoid mis-understanding before we go any further, are we talking of a length of hose reinforced with steel wire and fabric, or a rubber boot enclosing a patent seal?
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I was suggesting a rubber hose not reinforced and not enclosing a patent seal. The boot was terminology used as I intimated by the OP.
 
Poignard said:
Thanks for clarifying that.
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Many owners substitute any old piece of hose for the correct item, exhaust hose commonly being used along with various others. These may not have the properties required for the job, which includes water resistance, oil resistance, torsional strength, etc. The correct hose can be purchased for not a lot of money. There are several examples of incorrect hose selection on my website at http://coxeng.co.uk/stern-gear/stern-glands/
 
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