[C38] Rudder post packing gland, must remove steering quadrant
Don Strong
drstrong at ucdavis.edu
Wed Jul 29 21:37:58 EDT 2009
Dear People:
I failed to tell you that I had removed the steering quadrant before the
operation described today.
Removal and replacement of the quadrant doubles the fun! The first time,
you will find frozen nuts, and more!
Grease those nuts and bolts before replacing.
I also have the steering arm from the below deck hydraulic autopilot.
Don
Richard West wrote:
> Hi Les,
>
> My quadrant has either been raised or lowered and I can't remember
> which - lowered I think. This was done to make room for a separate
> steering arm that is operated by my below-deck hydraulic autopilot.
> This really makes it tight. The only way I can get to the packing
> gland is to remove the quadrant (two piece aluminum). I don't think
> servicability was utmost in Mr. Catalina's mind with this design! ;-)
>
> Rich, Legacy, #360, San Diego
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 3:38 PM, Les <hlhowell at pacbell.net
> <mailto:hlhowell at pacbell.net>> wrote:
>
> JACE has the triangular plate type of packing gland also. In
> addition,
> the rudder quadrant is in the way, and I don't see either the quadrant
> or its collar in the photo. I was wondering what you did to get under
> it?
>
> I know that there is a better way, but I don't know what it is. Rich,
> you sound like you have the same design I do. Is your quadrant
> (actually a disk I think) immediately above the packing gland?
>
> Regards,
> Les H
>
> On Wed, 2009-07-29 at 14:24 -0700, Richard West wrote:
> > Wow, for what it's worth, your packing gland is very different from
> > mine. Mine has triangular plates with thee screws and just enough
> > room for about one ring of packing and no real cutout to hold it in
> > place. Equally hard to work on though!
> >
> > Rich, Legacy, #360, San Diego
> >
> > On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 1:49 PM, D. R. Strong
> <drstrong at ucdavis.edu <mailto:drstrong at ucdavis.edu>>
> > wrote:
> > In response to requests for my packing gland packing
> > experiences. This is really fun stuff (sarcasm intended).
> >
> > 1. I tried both the classical and the Teflon packing, and
> > vastly prefer the latter. It is tougher, takes the abuse of
> > insertion better, and it seems logical that the Teflon type
> > should last longer. I don't remember the size of the packing
> > material; middle size, not the largest or smallest. I
> removed
> > the old stuff and the West Marine gal helped me find the
> > right size. To save repeated trips, I bought three
> packages
> > of the two sizes that seemed right, then returned the
> unused.
> > WM readily takes refunds with receipt (because they know
> that
> > boat addicts cannot resist a purchase each and every
> time they
> > enter the store).
> >
> > 2. I removed the old packing with a tiny screw driver. A
> trick
> > taught me by Cree at Berkeley Marine Center is to make
> up your
> > new material on the exposed rudder post, up by the tiller
> > attachment (careful, don't let the rudder sink to the bottom
> > of the marina when you remove the tiller handle
> attachment!).
> > Or, you could mic the post and use another pipe of
> exactly the
> > same diameter. Coil the new packing material around
> around the
> > post three times. Cut through the coil on a 45 degree angle
> > with a sharp razor blade; this must be pretty easy because I
> > got it right the first time. The razoring of three wraps
> > procedure gives you three perfect segments, all with
> good cut
> > angles. Treat them carefully, especially the cut edges.
> >
> > 3. Grease the post and the new packing material just before
> > you begin. This will allow the material to readily
> slide into
> > the slot. I'm proud of having thought of this, but feel
> stupid
> > that I labored for hours ---butchering several packages of
> > packing trying to get the material into the slot
> ---before the
> > Lord delivered the grease idea on to me (pay off for
> > memorizing the 23 Psalm at 8). I used water proof marine
> > grease meant for bearings on boat trailer wheels.
> >
> > 4. Insert the coils with 66 degrees of rotation between the
> > cuts, so as to isolate them maximally from each other.
> >
> > 5. Use the ring on the sliding, unfixed, bottom half
> (bronze
> > color above the green base in the photo below) of the
> gland as
> > a hard tool to "force" ( = easy does it) the coils of
> packing
> > material in. Twist, pull up, and tap gently (if needs be) on
> > the sliding half with a small (!) hammer or wrench handle to
> > urge the insertion of the coil. DONT TAP TOO HARD OR
> YOU WILL
> > DEFORM THE UNIT. (Note, this is the point when your wife
> will
> > leave the boat owing to the language used by her lover).
> Note
> > that the packing material on Discreet Charm is inserted
> > upward, into the glassed on, fixed, top half of the unit.
> >
> > 6. I worked from the cockpit, from the top, through the
> stern
> > lazarette. If you know a 6 year old with really long
> arms and
> > strong hands (older kids are too big) who will work from
> > below, go for it. My first try (which failed because the
> > insertion of the packing material was sloppy; edges did not
> > line up) gave me a bad bruise across the chest at the
> point of
> > contact between me and the rim of the lazarette. Place a
> thin
> > cushion or towel between your chest and the on the rim
> of the
> > lazarette to prevent this unpleasant trophy of packing gland
> > replacement .
> >
> > Love Don
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Donald & Karin Strong
> > Discreet Charm
> > Catalina 38
> > San Fancisco Bay
> >
>
> >
>
>
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--
Donald R. Strong
Professor
Department of Evolution and Ecology
University of California, Davis 95616
530 752-7886
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