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Hi, we recently had a new prop shaft fitted and the stern gland was repacked and the greaser was cleaned out and refilled. After our last little trip I turned the greaser one half turn as usual, but could not turn it any further no matter how hard I tried. Disconnecting the flexible pipe where it joins to the stern gland enabled me to turn it and grease came through ok.

Is this as it should be? I ask as before with the old worn prop shaft I think I could keep on turning the greaser down...and it got harder very gradually. Thanks, not a burning issue but am curious. Alan

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Bizzard's advice is great. You are right to ask about this issue, but as the stuffing box/gland is original don't think there could be a blockage. After a day's cruising I suspect you will be able to turn the greaser again.

 

My boat has a spring-loaded grease accumulator so it only needs the grease to be turned occasionally but quite a few turns to refill the accumulator, say once a month.

Edited by mross
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It would be stiffer with a new shaft, plus the grease will be thicker in the winter. You could slacken off the gland pusher and try the greaser to make sure the glease is coming through.

Good idea, will try that. I guess the grease enters on the engine side of the packing rather than the prop side, so will squirt out behind the two nuts as it were?

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Good idea, will try that. I guess the grease enters on the engine side of the packing rather than the prop side, so will squirt out behind the two nuts as it were?

No. The grease enters behind the packing, propeller side. It has to lubricate the tube. The grease should ooze past the packing though when the gland pusher is slackened off

 

ETA When turning the greaser a certain amount of grease will ooze through the packing to lube the pusher where the shaft passes through it. One of the reasons why the gland pusher nuts or ring should not be over tightened.

Edited by bizzard
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This all seems pretty normal to me. The water is cold, so the grease is thicker. There is a new stern bearing- so presumably much less clearance than a knackered one and so less room for grease and less space for it to escape to the back. The pipe is OK as per the OP's check that grease comes through when not connected and so a half-turn sounds about right.

 

I would suggest that the OP goes out for a tripette and checks that nothing is getting hot around the stern gland/packing/pusher and if that is OK carries on greasing to extent the tube willtake grease.

 

N

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Again, my understanding was that the stern tube should be warm to the touch, like holding a warm cup of tea, and a drip of water every 15 seconds or so is a good indicator that the packing is at the right tightness.

Again, my understanding was that the stern tube should be warm to the touch, like holding a warm cup of tea, and a drip of water every 15 seconds or so is a good indicator that the packing is at the right tightness.

I agree with the drip part, and that alone says the packing is not too tight, but a warm cup of team would be hotter than I would want the pusher and shaft. I think just barely warm is about as hot as I would expect. It's only the friction of the packing on the shaft and the shearing of the grease layer that should generate heat but the whole thing is water cooled both by immersion and the drips that pass through.

 

 

 

N

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Rubber mounted engines without a proper double UJ or Aquadrive between gearbox output and shaft will waggle the shaft about in the sterntube bearing, causing more friction, making it warmer than the aforementioned double UJ or aquadrive set up, or a solid mounted engine with properly aligned stern gear.

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