[C38] packing gland, "KISS"

[Don Strong]

Group: I believe that Larry's friend gives very good advice.  My father 
the engineer taught me "KISS," and the traditional packing glad earns a 
KISS gold star. Discreet Charm has a traditional, and perhaps the 
original, packing gland. With Gortex packing it runs without leaking for 
long periods of time. When it begins to drip, I see extra water in the 
bilge.  After verifying that the water is actually coming from the gland 
(and not the six bags of ice that my son in law left to melt in the 
cooler), I loosen up the pair of nuts and give the compressing nut a 
half turn (I have two pairs of water pump pliers in the tool bag!).  We 
have replaced the packing when the boat is in the water, and the bilge 
pump easily kept up with the incoming water while the packing was out.
Don

On 1/26/12 8:05 AM, Larry Malmberg wrote:
> Here is some advice from a marine expert friend of mine, someone I trust
> implicitly when it comes to boat maintenance and such.
>
> Hi Larry,
>
> "P.S.S. shaft seals are commonly found on many boats and as far as drip less
> seals go work well. With that said I don't particularly like drip less seals
> (especially for boats that do long distance or offshore sailing)  When (or
> if) they have problems they are difficult to repair and in some cases have
> caused flooding and even sinking. A traditional paling gland/shaft log is my
> preference. I have not seen them used as rudder seal but could be used with
> enough clearance I suppose. You may want to look at tides marine rudder
> seals as an alternative or rework/pack the traditional packing gland for
> Catalina 38' "
>
>
> Hence I am thinking Tom T and several on the list have the right advice, re
> pack with Gortex type packing and live with a little water in the bilge.
> BTW I have found that after a heavy sail a few drops of bleach in the bilge
> cuts down on a lot of bilge odor.
>
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Larry Malmberg
> Team Hassle
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steve Smolinske [mailto:SSmolinske at rainierrubber.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 11:07 PM
> To: Larrypi at roadrunner.com; Catalina 38 Listserve
> Subject: RE: [C38] Drip less stuff
>
> Larry,
>
> I read a story on the net very similar to the experience Tom related
> about one failing and steered away from it for that reason.   However,
> PYI is a local company and customer of mine, they are great folks and very
> very helpful, their customer service goes far above and beyond most
> companies, I'd give them a call and discuss concerns with them.
>
> I also had noticed an unusual amount of water in my bilge and was scratching
> my head trying to figure out where it was coming from, looked at the prop
> shaft, the rudder shaft, leaks in the cockpit, the binnacle and on and
> on.........then I was hit over the head with an epiphany "Hey that water
> seems to come sporadically kind of like when I turn on the house water
> pump.....Hey look at all those leaking tees and rusted hose clamps on the
> fresh water supply lines, replaced the cheap nylon tees with brass(which are
> difficult to find in stock in 1/2", thank you Fittings Inc.), moved the
> connection points to a more easily accessible location for maintenance and
> guess what not near as much water in the bilge.
>
> Also saw the attached picture on yacht world from another C38 and am
> thinking of glassing in small bulkhead in the bilge to get the same effect,
> but not sure about how best to address the issue of water coming from the
> bow if I do.
>
> Steve
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org
> [mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] On Behalf Of Larry Malmberg
> Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 5:22 PM
> To: 'Catalina 38 Listserve'
> Subject: [C38] Drip less stuff
>
> Has anyone installed a drip less shaft coupling and rudder shaft?  If so,
> can I get the pros and cons on them?
>
>
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Larry Malmberg
> Team Hassle
>
>
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-- 
Donald R. Strong
Professor
Dept. of Evolution and Ecology
University of California, Davis 95616