Alpha Craft Prop Shaft Grease Location.

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello Trev, 

Welcome to the forum.

Dependant on where you moor in Brundall have a word with Alex Frazer he services loads of boats around Brundall. 

Regards

Alan

[Smoggy]

You don't want too much grease in a stern gland or it will clog the packing and overheat, it needs the odd drip when running, the greaser is only really as a seal when sitting still (mine drip when still too but have no greasers), if there is a cutless bearing directly behind the gland it needs water flow to lube it which is why there is often a take off from the raw water pressure side piped to the back of the gland if there's no other way for water to get in.

Depending on access they can be repacked in the water as long as you pre-prepare your packing, it will let water in but not a huge amount, it may just need nipping up a touch but enough to stop all drips.

There are dripless glands available but need the bellows replacing every 5 years which needs the shaft pulling, dripless need 'burping' when launched or a vent pipe to above waterline or they run dry and burn out, I considered these but once I'd repacked my glands decided to ongoing maintenance of the packed gland was so cheap and easy it wasn't worth it, £10 will get enough packing for about 3 glands.

[Trev]

32 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

You don't want too much grease in a stern gland or it will clog the packing and overheat, it needs the odd drip when running, the greaser is only really as a seal when sitting still (mine drip when still too but have no greasers), if there is a cutless bearing directly behind the gland it needs water flow to lube it which is why there is often a take off from the raw water pressure side piped to the back of the gland if there's no other way for water to get in.

Depending on access they can be repacked in the water as long as you pre-prepare your packing, it will let water in but not a huge amount, it may just need nipping up a touch but enough to stop all drips.

There are dripless glands available but need the bellows replacing every 5 years which needs the shaft pulling, dripless need 'burping' when launched or a vent pipe to above waterline or they run dry and burn out, I considered these but once I'd repacked my glands decided to ongoing maintenance of the packed gland was so cheap and easy it wasn't worth it, £10 will get enough packing for about 3 glands.

Thank you very much for your comprehensive reply.  Obviously this a more complicated  problem than just adding some grease.  The shaft is dripping quite a lot and it  is over working the bilge pump.  I will get someone to look at it who knows.

[Trev]

40 minutes ago, ranworthbreeze said:

Hello Trev, 

Welcome to the forum.

Dependant on where you moor in Brundall have a word with Alex Frazer he services loads of boats around Brundall. 

Regards

Alan

Thank you for the welcome. Yes I know Alex.  He fitted my bow thruster.  I will give him a ring.  He's a nice bloke.

[Smoggy]

Chances are it just needs the locknut slackening and a slight nip up and retighten the locknut, if there is a grease cup on the gland itself that will be the bit you fill, just unscrew the top and pack with grease, replace top and give a nip down till you feel a bit of pressure as that will be pushing grease down, as said before don't over grease.

[DaveRolaves]

Just a thought, you say there is a greaser cup on the packing gland. The greaser consists of two parts, the bottom part screws into the gland and the top part is a screw down device to force grease into the gland . Is it possible the upper screw down part is missing?? Replacement greasers are readily available from places like ASAP in Beccles and other outlets

[dnks34]

There should also be a butterfly valve on the gland inline with the tube. 

Vital for when you are working on your raw water circuit and you cant work out where all the river water is coming from.......... 

(yes i mean me!!)

[Smoggy]

7 minutes ago, dnks34 said:

There should also be a butterfly valve on the gland inline with the tube. 

Vital for when you are working on your raw water circuit and you cant work out where all the river water is coming from.......... 

(yes i mean me!!)

Mine don't have a valve, if I disconnect the water pipe from the oil coolers I make sure I cable tie it high up.

Mine just have two pipes coming from the top, one is the water feed from the oil cooler, the other is a vent pipe and goes to a breather fitting on the side of the hull.

[marshman]

After a bit, the "stuffing" gets hard and even tightening it won't cure the drip! 

[Smoggy]

1 hour ago, marshman said:

After a bit, the "stuffing" gets hard and even tightening it won't cure the drip! 

Mine were like that before I repacked, all tightening did was make them run hot and still pi55ed in, a metre of new packing later and job done with enough to spare to do it again.

Don't get the ptfe stuff though as it seems to have a reputation for running hot against stainless shafts, stick to the graphite stuff, you would need to measure the size needed first which is easy enough, pop the cover off the gland and measure the gap between shaft and gland (usually 8mm or 10mm).

[Trev]

5 hours ago, DaveRolaves said:

Just a thought, you say there is a greaser cup on the packing gland. The greaser consists of two parts, the bottom part screws into the gland and the top part is a screw down device to force grease into the gland . Is it possible the upper screw down part is missing?? Replacement greasers are readily available from places like ASAP in Beccles and other outlets

Thanks I'll try that. Hopefully it will all be there.  If not I'll look for a replacement 

[Trev]

5 hours ago, Smoggy said:

Chances are it just needs the locknut slackening and a slight nip up and retighten the locknut, if there is a grease cup on the gland itself that will be the bit you fill, just unscrew the top and pack with grease, replace top and give a nip down till you feel a bit of pressure as that will be pushing grease down, as said before don't over grease.

Thanks.  I think this is what was done fairly recently.  I wonder if there is an issue with the packing.  I will try this again and if it fails I  need someone to look at it.  From the posts there seem to be several possibilities.  This is an extremely helpful forum.

[Trev]

2 hours ago, Smoggy said:

Mine were like that before I repacked, all tightening did was make them run hot and still pi55ed in, a metre of new packing later and job done with enough to spare to do it again.

Don't get the ptfe stuff though as it seems to have a reputation for running hot against stainless shafts, stick to the graphite stuff, you would need to measure the size needed first which is easy enough, pop the cover off the gland and measure the gap between shaft and gland (usually 8mm or 10mm).

This may be my problem.  Thanks

[OldBerkshireBoy]

When repacking the glands on commercial pumps we cut the ends of the packing rings at a 30 degree slopes which helps to seal the joint better than a straight butt joint and the other thing was to stagger the postion of the joints. First joint at 12 on a clock face, second joint at 4, third joint at 8, fourth joint would be 1, fifth at 5 and sixth at 9 and so on.

In the worst case`s we replaced the shaft due to it being worn away and undersized by as much as a 1/8" because people thought they shouldn`t drip and kept tightening the packing ring.

[Trev]

Thank you for the advice. I will make sure there is a slight drip. I didn't realise that. Others suggest about one drip a minute.  I'll aim for that 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

15 minutes ago, Trev said:

Thank you for the advice. I will make sure there is a slight drip. I didn't realise that. Others suggest about one drip a minute.  I'll aim for that 

Just take your time to achieve the one drip per minute as it is easy to overtighten the packing. Once completed you really want to check on it for a few days until everything is bedded down. Graphite is easier to cut than PTFE however both need a sharp blade.

[Smoggy]

As long as enough shaft is exposed (oh or missus) it's easy to wrap the packing round the shaft in a tight spiral and cut along the top leaving a handful of nicely cut rings with slight angle on the ends just the right size for the gland.

Most take 3-4 rings.

[colino]

On my alpha 35 the stern gland greaser is under back seat as you enter the cabin on the right. welcome

[dnks34]

I have only ever repacked the stern gland with the boat out of the water.  Not sure Im brave enough to try it in the water unless I had a powerful bilge pump and very good access to the gland. 

I use 3 rings with the ends cut at angles then stagger the joints when putting them in.  This slows water seeping in. 

Don't be tempted to over tighten as others posters have said it will run hot, ruin the packing and potentially wear down the shaft meaning you will struggle to get a half decent seal at all.

[Trev]

5 minutes ago, dnks34 said:

I have only ever repacked the stern gland with the boat out of the water.  Not sure Im brave enough to try it in the water unless I had a powerful bilge pump and very good access to the gland. 

I use 3 rings with the ends cut at angles then stagger the joints when putting them in.  This slows water seeping in. 

Don't be tempted to over tighten as others posters have said it will run hot, ruin the packing and potentially wear down the shaft meaning you will struggle to get a half decent seal at all.

 

5 minutes ago, colino said:

On my alpha 35 the stern gland greaser is under back seat as you enter the cabin on the right. welcome

Thank you.  That's the first place I will look.  Hopefully it will be there.

[Trev]

7 minutes ago, dnks34 said:

I have only ever repacked the stern gland with the boat out of the water.  Not sure Im brave enough to try it in the water unless I had a powerful bilge pump and very good access to the gland. 

I use 3 rings with the ends cut at angles then stagger the joints when putting them in.  This slows water seeping in. 

Don't be tempted to over tighten as others posters have said it will run hot, ruin the packing and potentially wear down the shaft meaning you will struggle to get a half decent seal at all.

Thank you.  I've heard you need to lift the boat to repack.  Last option I reckon.  I wonder if it's been over tightened in the past

[boycee]

Dan from Peachments changed mine in the water at my mooring following putting in a new gearbox 2 weeks earlier with no problems. Could just be that the packing is old, porus and needs replacing

Boycee

[Trev]

Yes.  That may be the case.  I'll get someone who knows to look at it if a bit more grease doesn't help

[Trev]

I am really grateful for the help with my drip problem.  I have located the grease point on my boat.  I shlall try adding some grease. But not too much.  If this solves it then sll well and good.  If not I will look at the packing and some.of the more serious issue if necessary.  I'm not sure if everyone gets my posts. From the.number of replies I think that's probable.  Anyway thanks to everyone that's helped.