Blakes Baby overhaul

I am taking my discharge & flush pumps apart to clean, paint & replace the seals. On my discharge pump I have the old 1962 to 1974 top nut version with a self adjusting gland. Diagram and photos attached. Does anyone here have experience of that? What kind of maintenance / adjustments does it require? Should I "upgrade" it with the newer style nuts with the O-rings?

This is relatively new to me.....from a season of sailing & racing I have not noticed any specific problems....

Dear Hattie,

I am not sure you can upgrade it (I have the very same model and works very well even after 40+  years), anyway to be 100% sure  you ask them  (jackiecrosby@sea-sure.co.uk) .

Let us know!

Fair winds,

matteo (47/069 Vanessa)

Thanks Matteo!

The model I currently have (and you also it seems) has a crew on cap, which when removed looks like its filled with grease....is that correct?

I would guess it acts the same way as the o-ring in that the grease seals any gaps.....and as you screw down on the cap it pushes more grease into the shaft - am I correct?

The grease was pale green so it looks like Blakes Seacock Grease. 

Dear Hattie,

all correct (and in my opinion it works better than the later model, which you have to dismantle when the o-ring is worn out).

Attached is mine.

Fair winds!

matteo (47/069 Vanessa)

Dear Hattie

We have one of the more recent  seal versions on Kairos; from what we have seen in the last 9 years I would say there is no need to upgrade.

Our gland nut, even with a new gasket, needed checking and tightening every few days. And even then there used to remain a small leakage when the pump was in action.

We have therefore  added some additional grease and packing on top of the gasket, which has helped a lot and we virtually got rid of any leaking but I would much rather have the version you have. Seems much more elegant to just have a little screw to tighten for some more grease sealant ...

That's just us, and we do tend to sail with a large ish crew so the Blakes get some use. We had them both refurbished at the factory just before Brexit hit, which was well worth it and we wouldn't want to replace them ever but the leaking was a little irritating, especially on the discharge pump.

Hope this helps,

Fair winds

Stefan

SY Kairos (57/043)

Dear Stefan,

I would say if it doesn't leak some drops of water it would not be an original Baby Blake !

;-)

matteo (47/069 Vanessa)

PS I have two of them, one with the seal (and I added too some packing, as I was suggested 25 years ago by Blake's boss) and the other one is the old model, love them both !

Great info - thank you both!

I am also wondering how to liberate the safety valve from the flush pump. It looks like it needs a special key, which I can of course buy....but I can find no instructions on how it works.

Any ideas?

I am on the home stretch here with my dismantling, cleaning, repainting.....hoping to put it all together with new seals this weekend.....but the safety valve is badle corroded and I'm thinking of replacing it.

Hi Hattie

We purchased the set of tools from Blake, I'm afraid.

Fair winds

Stefan

SY Kairos (57/043)