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Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] replacing seal on the rudder

Germain Jean-Pierre <jgermain@...>
 

Hello Giovanni,

I had the same problem.. it is one of continuous wear on the packing and eventually it leaks; you are not alone and every SM eventually has this problem.

However, there is a caution I wish to add; if your boat is more aft heavy than the average, the rudder post base will be in water.  If this is the case, empty all the “stuff” you have in  the aft lazarette (folding bikes, stern anchor, dive tanks) and move all of it temporarily to the bow.  This will raise the rear above the water.. then you can change the packing at your leisure without any water ingress.

The project may seem daunting now but it is easily done… as an opinion, I favour using liberal amounts of Teflon grease during the installation. OH…  I almost forgot… buy a proper dentist pick at your pharmacy: it is VERY useful to remove the old packing. 

Fair winds,


Jean-Pierre Germain,
SY Eleuthera, SM 007
Guadeloupe

On 9 Feb 2017, at 02:03, divanz620@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:

 

Hi Giovanni,


When you remove the nut, not much water will come in....maybe not more than now, but when you remove the three packings, that's when the water starts. In my experience, if you have someone to help with a big sponge to remove the water, and you are all well prepared with your new packing pieces, it shouldn't be too bad.
I don't use any grease or paste, just teflon impregnated 8mm packing cut just a millimeter or two, too long, so it will fit tightly.
The way it works is that the nut compresses the three layers of packing, pushing it against the gland housing and the rudder shaft. It is important that the cuts in each layer are not aligned, if they are, and/or your packing is not a tight fit, the gland will be more prone to leak.

All the best
Alan
Elyse SM437
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