DaveR Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 Good afternoon all, How long can I run the boat with no stern greaser available?? Conventional stern tube and packing. Stern tube leakage, - about a pint a day. Existing greaser pipe has split and no grease is getting to the gland. Is there any rev limits I should observe? Time limits - how long can it go without lubrication? I ask this as I have been told the greaser system is not essential equipment and it is OK to run the boat "for a while". Thank you Dave R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEngo Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 I would not go much longer than 10-12 hours, or less if it starts leaking badly. ( what will you do then to stop the water?) The water eventually washes the grease out of the bearing and then the packing. How fast depends on the clearance in the bearing Pro Tem can you remove the split pipe and replace it with a grease nipple? Grease pipe connections are commonly 1/8 BSP which is a standard size for grease nipples. You can then put stern tube grease in a gun and apply that way. N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 If you are leaking a pint a day then it needs pretty much immediate rectification. It will get steadily worse every hour it is run as the packing 'dries' out and gets further compressed. A properly 'greased' stern tube should only leak (at most) a couple of drips a day. Our last Nb did not leak a single drip in the 15 months we had it. Whilst I know you say your tube is split - a pint a day is getting to be a fair bit Sort it out this weekend at the latest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloomsberry Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 And with no grease comes increased wear on the stern tube leading to more leakage. I'd try and get it replaces as soon as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Dunkley Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 (edited) Good afternoon all, How long can I run the boat with no stern greaser available?? Conventional stern tube and packing. Stern tube leakage, - about a pint a day. Existing greaser pipe has split and no grease is getting to the gland. Is there any rev limits I should observe? Time limits - how long can it go without lubrication? I ask this as I have been told the greaser system is not essential equipment and it is OK to run the boat "for a while". Thank you Dave R If the split in the pipe is below the waterline it's possible for the water pressure in the sterntube to slowly force the grease back out of the stuffing box and out of the broken pipe [the grease entry point is outboard of the packing], resulting in a continuous dribble of water into the boat. I've had to deal with several partial or total sinkings which were caused by either disconnected or broken pipework. Edited March 17, 2016 by Tony Dunkley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Mack Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 If you have to leave the boat for any length of time I would tighten up the gland nuts to compress the packing and stop the leak. But you will need to slacken it off again, preferably with the greaser fixed and the packing newly greased, before you start the engine again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Smith Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 Cant you get to a chandlers and buy a new tube as you should grease after a days cruising. Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHutch Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 Our prop turns at a very slow speed (say 150-200 rpm) and appears to last a long time between re-packing, but is also a 2inch shaft so the linear speed is higher than the rpm would be on a smaller shaft. Cut a long story short, we do 12hour days frequently dont always grease every day, with no ill effects to date. The grease should last fairly well and in the main you are applying it as much to purge grit getting in than to replace the grease. Obviously however, a new tube would be a very good call, and should not been too hard to source I would not have thought, as well as being fairly common boat-to-boat I expect they are also standard industrial fittings. Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 Our prop turns at a very slow speed (say 150-200 rpm) and appears to last a long time between re-packing, but is also a 2inch shaft so the linear speed is higher than the rpm would be on a smaller shaft. Cut a long story short, we do 12hour days frequently dont always grease every day, with no ill effects to date. The grease should last fairly well and in the main you are applying it as much to purge grit getting in than to replace the grease. Obviously however, a new tube would be a very good call, and should not been too hard to source I would not have thought, as well as being fairly common boat-to-boat I expect they are also standard industrial fittings. Daniel That is all true, but, the OP appears to have been running 'greaseless' for some time (maybe not realising his tube was split) and is now in the situation where he is getting a pint-a-day leak. Running it for any further length of time is only going to worsen the leak - when the packing fails completely how is he to stop the boat 'filling up' ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FadeToScarlet Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 Can you not repair the pipe? I've made good temporary fixes (OK, get you home bodges!) with self amalgamating tape, wrapped around pipes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 Can you not repair the pipe? I've made good temporary fixes (OK, get you home bodges!) with self amalgamating tape, wrapped around pipes. Or a short length of hose pipe, a piece of rubber floor mat, or, cut off a bit of spare engine hose, cover the 'split' and jubilee clip it into place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceinSanity Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 Can you not repair the pipe? I've made good temporary fixes (OK, get you home bodges!) with self amalgamating tape, wrapped around pipes. Yes, I keep a roll of self-amalg in the toolbox for just that sort of problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted March 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 Folks, Thank you all for the suggestions and help. I have managed to cut out the damaged section of tube and replace the olive to achieve a seal and re-route the pipe to make it all fit. I intend, at the next opportunity to replace the plastic tube with copper pipe. I don't want this happening again. Once again thank you all. Dave R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHutch Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 Folks, Thank you all for the suggestions and help. I have managed to cut out the damaged section of tube and replace the olive to achieve a seal and re-route the pipe to make it all fit. I intend, at the next opportunity to replace the plastic tube with copper pipe. I don't want this happening again. Once again thank you all. Dave R Excellent news. Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHutch Posted March 19, 2016 Report Share Posted March 19, 2016 Fair call on the fact it might have been like that quite a while already btw. I must say, the leak/packing would be the least of my worries, more wearing the shaft/bronze. That is all true, but, the OP appears to have been running 'greaseless' for some time (maybe not realising his tube was split) and is now in the situation where he is getting a pint-a-day leak. Running it for any further length of time is only going to worsen the leak - when the packing fails completely how is he to stop the boat 'filling up' ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Booth Posted March 19, 2016 Report Share Posted March 19, 2016 Folks, Thank you all for the suggestions and help. I have managed to cut out the damaged section of tube and replace the olive to achieve a seal and re-route the pipe to make it all fit. I intend, at the next opportunity to replace the plastic tube with copper pipe. I don't want this happening again. Once again thank you all. Dave R I would have thought a copper pipe would be more prone to breaking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Smith Posted March 19, 2016 Report Share Posted March 19, 2016 The grease pipes on my diggers are nylon and suffer lots of vibration but I have never had one split or fail unlike the hydrolic ones. Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted March 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2016 I would have thought a copper pipe would be more prone to breaking? Right before I make the change, where will the vibration come from when the stern gland is fixed and the greaser mounted on the bulkhead? Thanks Dave R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain_S Posted March 20, 2016 Report Share Posted March 20, 2016 Either should be fine. Main worry, in my opinion, is the chance of bumping it with something, or standing on it, in which case copper might kink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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