Our "77 C27's keel stub bilge drys out between sails on weekends. I run a dehumidifier when we're at the dock. We get more water from window leaks (dammit) than from the prop shaft. The packing gland doesn't drip at when the shaft isn't turning.
We have a regular ole' packing gland, fitted with "dripless" teflon packing. We have replaced the packing every couple of years and we adjust the nut as needed, so it rarely drips while motoring. We have a small Rule bilge pump in the keel stubby. With the newer dripless packing, you don't need water to cool the gland. Water contains contaminants,, which wears shafts.... but you gotta have a smooth shaft for them to work well. The shaft was inspected the last time the engine was pulled, in 2002. The packing gland has been concientiously maintained, so the prop shaft is in good condition, with no visible scoring. We repacked it in about 2005, because it was starting to drip more frequently than 1 once or twice a minute. Sorry, I can't remember which brand of "dripless" packing we chose last time. I paid the pros at Svendsens' marina about $90 to repack it last time -- I don't like working in the "cave: -- it hurts my neck. They adjusted it once for free after that and only charged me for 20 minutes at the shop rate to readjust it a year later. The shop foreman does it himself while checking out my boat. I'm happy to pay for expert advice when I don' t have the expertise myself. I'm don't know any more than that about packing glands, and what I've written is just what I've learned from the pros at Svendsen's Boatyard in Alameda, CA Fair winds, Judy B 1977 C27 TR #3459 "Bijou" San Francisco Bay, CA www.blumhorst.com ________________________________ From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Mon, April 5, 2010 8:39:48 AM Subject: Re: [IC27A] Re: Bilge Pumps I'm kind of pessimistic about this "theoretical" fix to get a dry bilge, but - - - - - Has anyone tried using a solar vent to vent the bilge area, and get the bilge water to evaporate? Theoretically, I tend to doubt that it would work as there is usually a bit of oil on top of the bilge water, but I thought that I'd ask. Or should one just spend the time and effort to stop all leaks and use dripless packing for the shaft seal? Bob In a message dated 4/5/2010 9:00:27 A.M. US Eastern Standard Time, jmyers6...@aol. com writes: >This does not address your backflow problem but I see that someone has already >indicated a solution. As far as setups go, I bought a 1984 C27 in Nov 2006 and >the owner had a nice set up on the bilge pumps. He had one Rule 500 GPM >automatic pump mounted to small plexiglass plate that sat on the bottom of the >bilge. It was his primary. Then he added a seconed pump about a foot or so >forward but it was mounted elevated about an inch or two. Then he ran the >discharge hose from the second pump up and out a thru hull in the side wall of >the cockpit on the battery (port) side. The theory was that all was well if >pump # 1 was working but if pump # 1 ever failed, pump # 2 would kick in to >save the day, and if it ever did, you would be alerted by the water suddenly >flowing into the cockpit floor. Seemed like great insurance. > >--- In ic...@yahoogroups. com, "PaulJ" <jau...@...> wrote: >> >> I am curious as to the bilge pump setup in other C27s. My 1986 has a Rule >> 2000 with a float switch. It seems to do the job, but I have the usual inch >> or so of backflow when when the pump shuts off. Does anyone have a better >> solution? >> Thanks >> > >
