Ericson 32 leaking stuffing box?

[Christian Williams]

I think its routine to change the cutless bearing if the shaft is out--it's easy and the part is cheap.

Unfortunately, many/most old boats with the original shaft and coupler find they should be replaced, too. Typical mission creep. Your teeth are fine, sir, it's your jaw has to come out.

 

[goldenstate]

Closing parens with my prop shaft stuffing box re-packing write-up:

E32-200 - Re-packing a propeller shaft stuffing box

Summary: I changed the packing flax material on my propeller stuffing box. It seems that no one had done this job for several years, so the difficult part was getting the packing nuts loosened up to begin with, and then extracting what I...

ericsonyachts.org

Thanks for all of the tips!

 

[K2MSmith]

Closing parens with my prop shaft stuffing box re-packing write-up:

E32-200 - Re-packing a propeller shaft stuffing box

Summary: I changed the packing flax material on my propeller stuffing box. It seems that no one had done this job for several years, so the difficult part was getting the packing nuts loosened up to begin with, and then extracting what I...

ericsonyachts.org

Thanks for all of the tips!

Thanks for posting them blog. I recently had mine tightened/adjusted by the local diesel service company. It was a simple job if you have the wrenches and knowledge on how tight it should be. They did some other work at the boat, but marine services are still expensive... ferrari repair prices for 50’s technology - reminds of the aviation business. I think I will do it myself next time.

 

[Alan Gomes]

Thanks for posting them blog. I recently had mine tightened/adjusted by the local diesel service company. It was a simple job if you have the wrenches and knowledge on how tight it should be. They did some other work at the boat, but marine services are still expensive... ferrari repair prices for 50’s technology - reminds of the aviation business. I think I will do it myself next time.

This is definitely something you can do yourself!

For a stuffing box with conventional packing, just adjust it so that it drips slightly with the engine in gear. Indeed, one way to see that it's right is to look right where the shaft exits the stuffing box nut/gland on its way forward to the transmission. If you can see a glistening of water right where the shaft protrudes from the nut, that's good enough. It doesn't need a lot of water to cool it but it does need some--and that goes for the "virtually dripless" packing as well.

Run the engine in gear (the boat can be tied to the dock) and, being careful not to get in the way of any of the engine's moving parts, feel the stuffing box nut. It should be anywhere from cool to warm to the touch. It should not become so hot that you can't keep your finger on it.

Remember that it's better to let it drip just a bit than to run it bone dry. You can always sneak up on the adjustment in small increments. That is, run it maybe a bit on the loose side for a while and then tighten it just a bit and run it some more, checking temps.

Having the right wrenches makes the job much easier. Some people use those adjustable plumbing wrenches from Home Depot, but they are wretched. Buy dedicated open-end wrenches that fit the stuffing box nut as well as the retaining nut. On my little stuffing box on my E26, those happen to be 1-7/16". Yours may be (probably will be) different. It makes the job so much easier. Realize that those nuts are not necessarily precision made, so I have found that, depending upon how the wrench is oriented with respect to the nut, the fit may be either kind of tight or a bit sloppy.

If you do need to apply a penetrant (e.g., PB Blaster) to free the lock nut, just be sure that you don't spray it on any rubber parts. So avoid getting it on the stuffing box hose as well as the rear oil seal for the transmission.

Anyway, since this is a job you will need to do from time to time, you don't want to be at the mercy of a "local diesel service company"--certainly not for a job like this.

You can do it!

 

[KS Dave]

It was a simple job if you have the wrenches and knowledge on how tight it should be.

I'm not sure you even have to have any special tools/wrenches. The Ericson manual on adjusting it says you can use channel-lock pliers as long as you don't Magilla-Gorilla it. Adjust it a bit, run the engine, adjust some more. Done!

Edit: Oh, Alan just beat me to the same answer.

 

[Alan Gomes]

I'm not sure you even have to have any special tools/wrenches. The Ericson manual on adjusting it says you can use channel-lock pliers as long as you don't Magilla-Gorilla it. Adjust it a bit, run the engine, adjust some more. Done!

Edit: Oh, Alan just beat me to the same answer.

While you can do it with channel lock pliers, that's somewhat of a pain. Dedicated open-end wrenchs is worth the investment. They really prove their worth when you are trying to bust things loose if/when the are giving you a fight. You then don't have to worry about squeezing the channellocks tighly enough as you are leaning on them, so they don't slip and round off the threads.

 

[KS Dave]

While you can do it with channel lock pliers, that's somewhat of a pain. Dedicated open-end wrenchs is worth the investment.

No disagreement, I'm sure it is much easier. Channel locks are what I had when I needed to adjust mine recently and I was just careful. Death to uni-taskers!

Appreciate the details from this on this topic, and the blog post, Tom. This will be one of my haul-out tasks this Spring.

 

[G Kiba]

I'm not sure you even have to have any special tools/wrenches. The Ericson manual on adjusting it says you can use channel-lock pliers as long as you don't Magilla-Gorilla it. Adjust it a bit, run the engine, adjust some more. Done!

Edit: Oh, Alan just beat me to the same answer.

Using a vintage cartoon character name as an adjective - is that like "dial this number"? Looking at your avatar, your use of it is appropriate. Snidely Wiplash right? I could not think of his name until just today!

 

[Kenneth K]

Having the right wrenches makes the job much easier. Some people use those adjustable plumbing wrenches from Home Depot, but they are wretched. Buy dedicated open-end wrenches that fit the stuffing box nut as well as the retaining nut.

Sometimes if I complain too much about having to buy specialty tools, I'll get an estimate from a "pro" for the job. Their cost usually covers the cost of specialty tools for the current job plus the next 3 or 4 jobs. And you wind up with a nice set of tools.

 

[KS Dave]

Looking at your avatar, your use of it is appropriate. Snidely Wiplash right? I could not think of his name until just today!

That's actually Dick Dastardly from "Wacky Races". However, Magilla Gorilla was also Hanna Barbera, so the connection is there (and yes, it's definitely also an adjective). Snidely Whiplash was from the Dudley Do-Right show (which was part of Rocky and Bullwinkle).

Thanks for picking up on my reference, either way!

 

[K2MSmith]

After fixing the excessive stuffing box drip, Replacing o-rings on speed sensor and double clamping a few hoses for good measure , the bilge completely dried out after 3-4 days of dry weather . That’s encouraging.
My next problem is still an unreliable rule pump which 50% of the time won’t pump from dry - probably due to an airlock which I thought was resolved. The only reliable work around is to leave 1/2” fresh water in the bilge with the pump primed. At some point , I’m just going to bite the bullet and redo the whole affair with a diaphragm pump if I can find a place for it . There is an accessible place in the engine compartment where a diaphragm shower bilge pump is installed . It doesn’t work. Maybe use this pump (or least the location) for the main bilge pump . Do I need a shower bilge pump. Does anyone use the shower on a 33’ boat ? Maybe I can just put a little rule in the shower bilge? That one is not so critical to require a self priming pump ? Thoughts ?

 

[Christian Williams]

Sounds like a good plan. I suggest an easy-to-reach inline filter on the diaphragm pump pickup hose to keep bilge debris out of the pump.

I have a small Rule submersible for the shower sump, which doesn't get used much.

If you want a "float" switch, I'm using the Waterwitch electronic sensor with a Rule three-way switch. The shower sump has a traditional float switch, and its own three-way controller.

I wrote this up here.

 

[K2MSmith]

The recommended Jabsco 480 diaphragm pump is self priming but only up to 7.8’ according to west marine spec . That’s probably a bit shorter than the hose run from my bilge pickup to the engine compartment. ( but weren’t the original factory bilge pumps in the engine compartment? ) I’m wondering how accurate that spec is .

 

[Loren Beach]

That's a more expensive pump than our reliable 37202, and IRC the pumping distance refers to height and not distance of the exit hose.
Our total lift from bilge to the top of the hose loop in the lazaretto is probably 3 feet or maybe close to 4 at the most. Flow is brisk, from personal observation.

 

[K2MSmith]

That's a more expensive pump than our reliable 37202, and IRC the pumping distance refers to height and not distance of the exit hose.
Our total lift from bilge to the top of the hose loop in the lazaretto is probably 3 feet or maybe close to 4 at the most. Flow is brisk, from personal observation.

That makes more sense as “uphill” flow would be more distance dependent than straight line level . The 37202 seems to have good reviews and there are parts available to rebuild it if needed. The filter / screen on input seems like an absolute requirement as the the complaint I hear about diaphragm pumps is that they can clog or fail with dirt / particles inside .

 

[peaman]

The recommended Jabsco 480 diaphragm pump is self priming but only up to 7.8’ according to west marine spec . That’s probably a bit shorter than the hose run from my bilge pickup to the engine compartment. ( but weren’t the original factory bilge pumps in the engine compartment? ) I’m wondering how accurate that spec is .

Most likely, the 7.8' is maximum vertical lift, and not length of hose, etc. So it should be plenty of lift for our boats. Starting with a suction pipe full of air, the pump will need to lift water up to itself, and it can suck only so hard in order to do that.