GB36 Water Cooled Stuffing Glands

[Oil Gypsy]

Lepke,

Im afraid derogatory comments can sometimes reflect on the person who makes them, it doesn't say anything about mechanics in Ladysmith, at the time of the failure the boat was in Everett, WA. In fact I cant see how where they are from matters, they were just trying to help.....

 

[angus99]

Many Defever stuffing boxes, as Catalina Jack notes, have water injection ports attached. This is partly to supply oxygenated water to the portion of the drive shaft that can become oxygen-starved (it’s in a cavity in the hull with a cutlass bearing) and helps prevent crevice corrosion.

The hoses are fed from the oil cooler—the last cooling component on the engine before the exhaust elbow, so they have zero effect on engine temps.

I was never comfortable with the brass hose fittings attached to bronze stuffing boxes—or with having a hose below the waterline without a valve on it—so I swapped them for true bronze. I wasn’t able to find 3/8” bronze replacements anywhere (If someone finds a proven source, please post) so I had the stuffing boxes tapped for 1/2” fittings and added valves. I do plan to swap the levers out for something smaller. Works great.

 

[catalinajack]

Here is a picture of the the hose and shut-off I recently installed at the anode ends of my heat exchangers. When I removed the hose barbs that had been threaded directly into the underside of the exchangers, I found one plugged with pencil anode detritus.

Many Defever stuffing boxes, as Catalina Jack notes, have water injection ports attached. This is partly to supply oxygenated water to the portion of the drive shaft that can become oxygen-starved (it’s in a cavity in the hull with a cutlass bearing) and helps prevent crevice corrosion.

The hoses are fed from the oil cooler—the last cooling component on the engine before the exhaust elbow, so they have zero effect on engine temps.

I was never comfortable with the brass hose fittings attached to bronze stuffing boxes—or with having a hose below the waterline without a valve on it—so I swapped them for true bronze. I wasn’t able to find 3/8” bronze replacements anywhere (If someone finds a proven source, please post) so I had the stuffing boxes tapped for 1/2” fittings and added valves. I do plan to swap the levers out for something smaller. Works great.

 

[kchace]

I also have water injection for both stuffing boxes. Mine are T'd off the main water line just before the exhaust elbow - so no impact to engine cooling.

Ken

 

[C lectric]

I had a thought??????

Do you know any one with a lathe? Get a piece of silicon bronze rod of adequate size and have him/her make a hose adapter to work with what you have. I looked at Jamestown Distributors and they do supply rods. cMaster Carr may also. Not cheap but at least it would be suitable material. THere will be a slight difference in the alloys but they should all be good for many years.

Get the bronze street elbow from Defender in the 1/4NPT to suit what you did on the stuffing box you tapped.

Even a small machine shop nearby but ask first about the cost for the machining.

Ask at the boatyard. SOme will have access to such tools or folk who can do it.

 

[SeaMaster101]

For what is worth based on my ocean crossing experience, I decided to install and use Kobelt's Vessel Monitoring System Vitals VT700. This system has the nice feature to have built-in SmartBus where I can attache many temperature sensors just tapping of 3 wire bus so I don't need to run separate wire from each sensor to the system.
I have temperature sensors on my shaft seal that monitors the temperature of the seal. Vitals also gets information about the ambient temperature of the surrounding water, from the depth sounder. The Vitals Vessel Monitor subtracts the water temperature from the shaft seal temperature and if the difference gets more than 10 deg F it gives me a warning and if more than 15 deg F, I get an alarm. I don't need to worry about shaft seal temperature and most importantly it does not give me false alarms as regular temperature measurement would with the change of water temperature over the seasons or going from North to South. If the cooling water gets interrupted for any reason, and the shaft seal temperature raises, I will get immediate alarm and can make the appropriate decision.
This Vessel Monitoring unit is fully customizable and it has many more wonderful features that make my cruising easy. I monitor, my alternators temperature, my engine room temperature and many others. Boating couldn't be easier...

 

[rgano]

To the OP, I would buff the shaft seal hardware to see if the pinkish tinge is more than skin deep before going to the trouble and expense of replacement. Also, about that brass piece you put in the unit; well, that is a no-no, and I have personal experience with one failing. I found plenty of nylon fittings which worked in my application. Metal is NOT a requirement.

 

[kapnd]

A big bonus from having a water feed to the stuffing box is that when you do a fresh water flush, (you do regularly, right?) it evacuates the salt water from the gland. This is especially vital anytime you’re laid up for a while, as salt water sitting in the gland can damage the shaft.

 

[Oil Gypsy]

I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to reply, a wealth of information. As I plan on keeping the boat for quite a while I'm going to bite the bullet and change the glands in the spring, I'm going to get some bronze pipe and fabricate a connector for the hose. Im still stuck on how to install a shut off valve but will post pictures when Ive finished. Once again thanks...