![]() ![]() Inspection timeframes may vary among manufacturers, but twice yearly (at the beginning and end of the boating season) is a good start. What you should do: Inspect all waterproof grommets and bellows for tears, cracks, dry rot, and other damage, at intervals recommended by the manufacturer as part of your routine maintenance schedule. A damaged bellows can cause damage to output shafts and gimbal bearings (due to water-induced corrosion) and can even lead to sinking in some cases. These can be difficult to see unless the drive is raised or tilted to the left or right (depending on the type and location) so that the bellows can be fully extended for inspection. Cracks or splits often occur inside the folds of the bellows. They can also be cut or torn due to marine growth such as barnacles, mussels, and other critters. What you should know: Outdrive bellows can dry out and fail due to a number of reasons, from heat, extreme weather, and age. Similar in appearance to an accordion, they seal out water around the exhaust, universal joint, and shift cable while allowing the drive itself to pivot and tilt while underway. Where it is and what it does: Outdrives have flexible gaskets or rubber "boots" called bellows. Chafe is a rope rode's worst enemy, so you'll also want to check hawseholes, chocks, cleats, windlasses, and other areas of potential chafe for burrs, sharp edges, protruding hardware, or anything else that can cause rode damage. Check rope rodes for issues such as wear, cut strands, aging, discoloration, and hard spots (due to heat generated friction caused by placing a kinked line under load). Proper maintenance includes inspection of these as well as pulling the rode from the anchor locker and laying it out for thorough examination at least annually. What you should do: Your anchoring system is only as strong as its weakest component, which includes not only the rode, but also shackles, splices, chains, mooring bitts, cleats - in short, any gear used to secure your boat while at anchor. This helps prevent surge damage to the attachment point on the boat while reducing the chance an anchor will be ripped free from the bottom when it's needed the most. The anchor rode not only has to be strong but also possess at least some degree of stretchiness to absorb the effects of wind and waves. In a nutshell, its purpose is connecting the boat to the anchor. Where it is and what it does: While the anchor typically enjoys a place of prominence at the bow, the anchor rode itself is relegated to the dark, dank recesses of the anchor locker. As it requires the boat to be out of the water, many owners simply repack the stuffing box as part of their annual haulout or spring commissioning routine. How often you repack depends on the number of hours your boat is used. ![]() This bit of routine maintenance should only take about an hour, and it normally costs less for materials than you'd spend on a mocha-frappu-latte-whatever and a free-range muffin. What you should do: You can avoid excessive leaking and shaft damage simply by replacing the packing on a regular basis. Keep compressing it and it will eventually score the propeller shaft, which will then have to be replaced before the stuffing box will seal properly. This works to a point, but as the packing gets smaller it also gets harder. When this happens, the first reaction is often to simply tighten the packing nut(s) to compress the packing material and stop or reduce the leak. ![]() Packing material hardens over time as the lubricant dries out and gets worn away by shaft rotation, allowing water to pass and enter the vessel. A leaking stuffing box can cause a number of issues, from corrosion caused by the spinning shaft slinging excess water all over your engine compartment to sinking, particularly if the boat is left unattended in the water for longer periods of time. More than that amount, say 10 drops per minute, or it drips while the shaft is not turning, indicates the need for maintenance. What you should know: Water helps lubricate the packing material, so it's OK for a stuffing box to leak a few drips (three or four per minute) while the vessel is underway. Most packing consists of a square plaited material and comes either as traditional greased (or waxed) flax, or a more modern version impregnated with Teflon. The more you tighten either type of gland, the more the packing material is compressed against the shaft. The shaft is sealed by compressing packing against it, most often by using a hollow nut that screws onto the inboard side of the shaft tube or a tightening arrangement that uses a plate secured by nuts and studs on either side of the shaft. ![]()
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