IG (Kong&Halvorsen) Twins Stuffing Boxes

[BruceK]

Ever wondered about the (lack of) access to your stuffing boxes? Here`s a day in the early design phase.
Joe:"Hi Harvey (Halvorsen). Harvey: G`day Joe (Kong).
Harvey :"The aft ER design, any ideas Joe?"
Joe: "Let`s start with the stuffing boxes and build around them."
Harvey :" Won`t owners need access?"
Joe:" We`ll put the adjustment instructions in the Owners Manual,but let`s not make it too easy."
Harvey:"Gotcha! Starboard we put a timber plate right over it and stick the HWS on top, plumbed in so it`s near impossible to move. Let`s leave a gap between it and the genset battery box so owners can just see it dripping."
Joe: "Cool. And port side mount, screw into place the 2 battery boxes for the big 55kg batteries, right over the top of it."
Harvey: "Silly question,but how will the owners adjust them?"
Joe: Well,they could flag down a passing octopus and train it. If Paul the octopus could predict football games,teaching one to adjust stuffing box nuts should be a walk in the park. Not the blue ringed ones though,they`re fatally poisonous,and their arms are too short"
Harvey: "An octopus! Spot on,why didn`t I think of that."
BruceK (with apologies to Mr Kong and Mr Halvorsen).

 

[Andy G]

You can buy the IG Octopus adjustment arm, from the old IG store at Bobbin Head, right next to the Lehman 120 high performance workshop.

Be sure to stipulate the left or right hand thread tentacle, you wouldn't believe how many get that wrong.Once saw a guy use a left hand thread tentacle on the right hand adjustment screw. Took hours to disentangle the Octopus from the prop shaft.

The guy that runs the workshop here is also adamant that Blue ring Ocky's, are OK to use, although he does seem to have a high staff turnover.

 

[BruceK]

You can buy the IG Octopus adjustment arm, from the old IG store at Bobbin Head, right next to the Lehman 120 high performance workshop.

Be sure to stipulate the left or right hand thread tentacle, you wouldn't believe how many get that wrong.Once saw a guy use a left hand thread tentacle on the right hand adjustment screw. Took hours to disentangle the Octopus from the prop shaft.

The guy that runs the workshop here is also adamant that Blue ring Ocky's, are OK to use, although he does seem to have a high staff turnover.

Which is the more disturbing mind picture, unwinding an octopus from a prop shaft,or a TF member doing No.2s on a patch of AstroTurf on the foredeck to encourage the boat hound.Mmmm... BruceK

 

[BruceK]

The port stuffing box/stern gland totally defied attempts at tightening despite repacking 16 months back. The leak became a trickle. So we had to slip/haul her. To get to the gland, the hot water tank and the plate it sat on required removing. Previous repacks, 2 in 3 years, were done with the added difficulty of it in place, so I won`t entirely blame previous shipwrights for 3 layers of cord, when it really needed 4. Not leaking now,hoping for a long and happy life.
Fact remains, it is silly to build over something that needs access. I`ve heard horror stories of boats needing holes cut to access spark plugs on gas engines at the first service, and of removing a/c units to service a genset,so it could be worse. The starboard side,hidden under 2 battery boxes containing 55kg 200ah batteries, is ok so far.