My stuffing box nuts are jambed tight. I acquired the boat in this condition 2-1/2 years ago. The packing nut never drips. I know this is bad and they need to be loosened along with inspecting the condition of the shaft so:
Any tricks for loosening the jambed packing nuts? I can’t get enough leverage to move them. I am pushing both wrenches downward to loosen them. I’ve tried Kroil (type of Liquid Wrench only better) but no luck.
Are there better wrenches out there than the ones supplied by the factory? The ones that came with the boat are about 1/4" thick aluminum that were cuts on a band saw. They fall off the nuts too easily. I need something with width and strength so a solid force can be exerted.
Help!
Richard Herbst
That’s right, you’ve got to hold the one that is hose-clamped to the hose, and loosen the one that is inboard. You hope very much that the outboard one doesn’t move, otherwise you have a problem…if you’re in the water, that is. Use some penetrating oil like WD-40 or PB Blaster if you have to, but do not apply force in the same direction to both nuts, hold the outboard one steady.
You’ve never said what boat you have nor where it lives. Also, is this a shaft drive or “VEE” drive. Not matter what you have, take a brass hammer and after soaking them liberally with some type of penetrant, hit the flats as hard as allowed by space considerations. Wait 24 hrs and then attach the wrenches so that they are spaced about 30 degrees apart and then squeeze them together making sure they are going in the correct direction. If that doesn’t work, I can give you more instructions.
Joe Valinoti
S/V IL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
Brass drift pin and a hammer. Requires careful placement of the drift pin on the locking nut to force the nut counterclockwise. Sounds scary, but it works and the brass shouldn’t damage the bronze lock nut.
I recently repacked my stuffing box after having a difficult time loosening the packing nut and the locking nut. I have a Vee drive, so access is limited. PB Blaster penetrating oil and carefully place blows with a hammer finally loosened up the stubborn locking nut. I was warned not to use the spray from the penetrating oil can to avoid damaging any seals. Instead, I applied the oil with a small glue brush.I am considering using “Never Seeze” on the threads to avoid future difficulty adjusting the packing and locking nuts.
.I found the following website to be most helpful, excellent photos, descriptions, and discussions.
When retightening, be very careful to not over tighten. On our Cape Dory, hand tight is enough and then just snug up the lock nut lightly. Monitor the new adjustment for awhile, a loose stuffing box can sink a boat very quickly.
Tim in STL
White O’morn NS26U #216
Harbor Point Yacht Club
West Alton, MO
Hi: this is Richard Herbst who is the person asking for help with a frozen stuffing box nut. I forgot to mention that I have a Nonsuch 30 Ultra with a Westerbeke engine and a “V” drive. The big problem is working in the tight space provided for the “V” drive.
To all, thanks for all the suggestions. Keep them coming.
I have been thinking of freezing the two nuts with CO2. That will shrink the lengths of each nut and perhaps make them easier to separate. Any thoughts? I understand that it will also shrink the diameter of the threaded parts but there should be enough thread tolerance that there would not be a diameter problem.
Reg: my boat is a Nonsuch 30 Ultra with a “V” drive. Does a Nonsuch 26 like yours have a “V” drive? Are you sure it is really a left-hand thread on the nuts? I never thought of that and have been positioning the wrenches on both nuts and simultaneously pushing downward. Is that what you do or, is it upward?
Richard Herbst
Nonsuch 30U
S/N 285
Middletown, NJ
Cooling will shrink the nuts and tighten them in the stuffing box, heat will expand the nuts, but could also damage the hose. Those nuts should NEVER be that tight. What brand is the stuffing box? They could be left hand thread, but all you have to do is study the threads and you can tell. Be sure that you are trying to loosen the jamb nut, not the main nut (the thicker one).
Tim in STL
White O’morn NS26U #216
Harbor Point Yacht Club
West Alton, MO
The proper wrenches are available from Buck Algonquin for a Kings ransom. However I use a cheap and I mean cheap pot metal " sink wrench" that you can find at Home Depot. Replace the original bolt with a stainless steel bolt and nut with a lock washer. Adjust the jaws as needed then tighten it up.
As for products to loosen up the “frozen” nuts, I have had great success on my British car with this product , and lets face no one does frozen bolts and rust like the Brits…
Tim: cooling will shrink the hole size of the nut and also will also shrink the length of the nut. The nut’s threads have a tolerance such that the amount of hole diameter shrinkage will not tighten the nut to the shaft. However, shrinking the nut’s length just may be enough to enable me to loosen the two nuts especially since I will be shrinking both nut’s lengths. I agree that heating is not a good idea since there is probably small amounts of oil on surfaces that could become a problem along with possible damage to the hose as you suggested. In addition, heating will expand the thread hole size faster than the threaded shaft expands and is why heating can allow threaded parts to be separated with heat. However, heating will also expand the length of both nuts causing them to jamb together even tighter. CO2 seems to be the best cooling material to use since a friend of mine is in the refrigeration business and has access to bottles of it. A CO2 fire extinguisher could also be used. Thanks for your suggestions. They got me thinking in new directions which is always helpful.
I inherited this tightness of the stuffing box from the previous owner. I don’t know what brand the box is. I will check out the threads for right or left hand type. That’s a really good idea. It will determine which wrench goes on which nut and whether pushing up or down is the correct motion for loosening.
I checked out the Buck Algonquin wrenches and you are right about the price. I purchased two offset adjustable wrenches as another member suggested. They will do a nice job. I’ll also give your suggested product a try along with hitting the nuts.
Craig: I do have teflon packing but, my understanding is that if it does not drip, there is no oxygen getting to the stainless shaft. In that case, stainless will rust and the rust will eventually get rough enough to mess up the packing and cause leaks that will not go away. I want to check out the condition of the shaft to see if there is any rust developing so I can clean it off and then establish a proper drip rate to keep the oxygen supply coming in on a constant basis. The drip rate is really based on temperature and I have a Harbor Freight thermal gun to measure this. Probably 2-drops or so per minute is adequate but temperature is the correct way to determine this as you suggest regarding resistance of rotation.
Richard, please remember that CO2 is heavier than air. If you are going to use it to cool the nuts, it could settle in the bilge and displace the air. This could lead to suffocation. Please use caution with this. It could fill the boat to the level of the companion way, depending on how much you need to use.
Peter Moodie
Nonsuch 30 #366 Catalyst
Sidney BC & Winnipeg MB