This may be a strange question but does anyone know where to buy a replacement for the bronze packing nut on the stuffing box? Not the lock nut, but the nut that actually holds the packing material…
You may recall from my previous post this summer that I replaced the packing material in my stuffing box while in the water. It went smoothly but I could only get a single ring of new packing material into the packing nut. The stuffing box functioned well on our 5 week cruise, and the shaft temp stayed at about 15 degrees above the seawater temps as recommended, even after 5 or 6 hours of motoring on occasion.
The reason for the replacement nut - I pulled the transmission the other day (I will post videos), and now with the transmission out of the way, I thought I would pull the stuffing box packing gland to see why I could only get one ring of fresh material inserted. I suspect there is old material jammed into the back of the nut that I just couldn’t pull out with my picks, a mirror, but working backwards (V-drive) and with water seeping in…
The boat remains in the water for winter, and has been winterized including the bilge, and I would like to keep the amount of water getting into the bilge to the bare minimum - so a replacement packing nut with packing inserted can either become a temporary water-stop, or remain in place as a new packing nut, and the old nut can be put into back-up storage…
Or do I just block off the water as best as possible (like in the summer) pull the packing nut out, clean it out and then put it back in, and pump the excess water out of the bilge with a hand pump, and not make this into a bigger deal than it really is, not to mention the probable high cost of a bronze nut that will fit a 1" prop shaft?
Westerbeke 27A, Hurth 150 V Drive, 1" prop shaft.
Thank you,
Peter Grabow
S/V CAKE WALK III
1987 30U 430
Jersey City, NJ
it is totally seized, the reason I replaced it with a PSS shaft seal.
You can have it for the price of shipping if you want it but someone nearer or at least in the same country may be a better option.
(Just seized from salt water. I’m sure it can be freed up.)
Now that you have the transmission off you should be able to pull the old packing nut completely off the shaft and look inside. With it right off you don’t need any special tools to remove the old packing..
I’m guessing you want a replacement nut that you can pre pack before you remove the old one because there will be a lot of water coming in around the shaft and you want to switch them quickly?
There are used packing nuts for sale on eBay but they don’t specify the size and some of them look very abused. so you may waste your $50. There are boat wreckers that should have loads of these old parts, but up here these guys are very difficult to work with unless you go visit them.
How old is the rubber hose that connects the stuffing box to the shaft log? If the hose (it is only 3-1/2" long or so) is old and hard/cracked you have that problem too. Changing the coupler hose in the water would entail packing the space between the shaft and shaft log from the outside.
An old hard/cracked coupler hose can fail causing a lot more than slight dripping. Proper replacement interval of hose is 5-7 years. The clamps might show deterioration from aging too.
An entire new Buck Algonquin 1" shaft by 1-3/4" shaft log stuffing box with hose and 4 clamps is only about $120 US online including freight.
Paul - you are correct, probably not worth the shipping costs, and if it is “total seized” not sure I could separate the packing nut. But the offer is appreciated!
Thor - thank you for the suggestions. I had looked at these tools before replacing the packing this summer, and the reviews were usually pretty poor… “flimsy” “fell apart during 1st use” etc. So I didn’t purchase and went with the set of hooks I had. The difficulty arose from not being able to see into the nut to see if anything remained… seems like something is really wedged in there as I could only get the nut to rethread with a single new band of flax.
The flax wasn’t the issue… it was sized correctly. it is something inside the packing nut.
Tom - Exactly why I was asking this question! With the transmission out, I am going to do just that - slide the packing nut completely off, clean it out and put new rings of flax in, anticipating I should be able to get at least 2 if not 3 rings into the cleaned out nut and have it thread back on properly.
I have seen on ebay and elsewhere the packing nuts, though as you pointed out, the sizing does seem to be a mystery with most of them…
Ward - The concern and advice is appreciated! The hose is in good shape, as are the clamps, having all been replaced a few years ago. I check these at teh beginning and end of each season, and a few times in the middle.
As the packing nuts seem to be a hit or miss proposition, I will probably just do what I did during the summer, which was to stuff a rag around the prop shaft and into the shaft log to reduce the amount of water getting in. This should keep the water in-flow to a minimum, while I clean out and re-pack the nut portion and put it back into place. I can use a hand bilge pump and bucket to remove any water from the bilge afterward.
I will post video/images after I have completed this project.
Peter Grabow
S/V CAKE WALK III
1987 30U 430
Jersey City, NJ
Happy Spring to those in the Northern Hemisphere (and Fall to those in the Southern Hemisphere)!,
Following up on my above stuffing box re-packing, etc.
Now that the water has warmed up a few degrees (barely), and my transmission repair is due to be finished and I should re-install next week, I figured it was time to see what the issue (above) was with the packing gland on my stuffing box. As noted originally, I had re-packed the stuffing box last summer but could only get a single ring of material into the packing gland, though I had thought I had removed all of the old material.
But for those of us with a V-Drive (Hurth 150 transmission) it is very difficult to see into the packing gland, even with a mirror, especially when the boat is in the water and the flow of water around the shaft is a bit distracting (even when mostly blocked with a rag)…
The “problem”… 2 rings of old (summer of 2018) stuffing flax were still in the gland… so I actually had 3 rings in the gland after re-packing last summer, and that is why it performed as expected for our 5 week sail to Kennebunkport, even though I thought I may have had only 1, or possibly 2 rings, in the gland.
The packing gland itself is in good shape and not in need of a replacement.
With the transmission still out, it was very easy to loosen the nut and packing gland, slide the gland off the prop-shaft, tie a rag around the shaft to reduce the flow of very cold water (wearing rubber kitchen gloves helped a lot!), and get a look inside… I removed the ring I had inserted last summer, and below that, nicely packed into the gland were 2 old rings. I pulled these out as well, cleaned the inside of the packing gland and threads, put 3 new rings into place - very easy to stagger the cuts in the flax so they are offset from each other when you can see what you are doing… and then slid the gland back onto the prop-shaft and tightened it up. When we commission the boat in a couple of weeks I will adjust the packing gland to the proper drip rate.
Here are a couple of photos of the 2 old rings after removal - they appeared to be in decent shape.
Both the original one in my boat and the buck algonquin I replaced it with use two rings of 1/4" material, and I am not aware of a packing gland for a 1" shaft designed for three rings of packing.
For safety’s sake, make sure you have a minimum of four full thread peaks visible inside the nut with three rings installed, or you may not have enough engagement with the gland.
My owner’s manual states 3 rings. I’ve done it myself at least twice over the last 20 years and had it done once while in the water by a contractor. Always 3 rings.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
Thank you Tim for the safety advice. The gland had sufficient threads showing to accommodate the 3 rings of 1/4" flax. It went back on easily and with multiple turns to tighten it up.
Joe - as always, thank you for your input and guidance! This was my 2nd time doing this while still in the water so the water flow was not a surprise - but still very cold here in New Jersey in March. A much easier/faster job with the transmission out (but hopefully the last time I will have it out!).
Peter
S/V CAKE WALK III
1987 30U 430
Jersey City, NJ
I currently have my stuffing box out of my boat. The lock nut put up a fight because of that green thread corrosion. To clean it up after I got it out I used a mix of white vinegar and salt. I am amazed at how it did. It cleaned the threads below the nut so well that I could screw the nut down to the end of the threads by hand. I wish I had tried that before all of the PB Blaster. I probably would have had to wrap a wet rag around it.
