Rudder Stuffing Boxes

[brimanst]

Does anyone have any exploded views of a rudder stuffing box? I have seen a couple of sketches on the internet, but not enough detail for me to figure out how it works.

Also, can these be repacked in the water? Mine are leaking fairly bad and I have tightened them without a lot of success. Again, I do not want to over tighten them without knowing how they work.

If anyone knows what size flax to use for a 480DB, that would be helpful as well.

Thanks in advance.

briman

 

[tobnpr]

Can't find a decent exploded view, either. Basically it's a nut that compresses the packing around the shaft. I don't see how the nuts can be removed for cleaning while in the water without the rudders dropping out, but maybe someone has figured out a way to do it. The best way is to haul and disassemble, and thoroughly clean the rudder posts as well because they are likely scaled up pretty good from all the leakage. Here's a description, though:
http://www.boatus.com/boattech/Casey/StuffingBox.htm

 

[Dancin Dave]

Just tighten them a bit more, youre not going to hurt anything. I'm told that the stuffing doesnt really need to be replaced, rarely on our large searays. Just go ahead and tighten it a bit more.

 

[brimanst]

I am worried about over tightening and causing the rudders to bind and stiffent he steering. Can they be over tightened? I read that article that tobnpr quoted and thye keep mentioning a half a turn here and there. I have already put close to a full turn on each one and they are still leaking.

 

[fwebster]

Look at the rudder bar clamped to the top of the rudder post...you are not going to tighten it to the point that it is hard to turn or even to the point thay you will feel any change.

The rudder packing assembly on some models are made just backwards from what you would think. The lower nut is the jam not, not the packing gland. Try loosening the lower one and thightening the top nut and see it that doesn't change the leak. When you are done, jam the top nut again with the lower one. If that doesn't work, you may have the other type and the top nut is the jam nut, so reverse the procedure and try again.

You should not need to disassemble the packing gland. There is plenty pf packing installed from the factory so it is not likely that you have fully compressed what you have or that it is too hard to stop a leak on a '98 model boat.