[C320-list] Good stuffing box trick
KEN GEIGER
kendgb at aol.com
Sun May 22 07:56:52 PDT 2022
I just repacked my stuffing box with 3 rings of 1/4" Gortex. Pretty easy with a pusher I made from a 1 inch ID steel tube.. But now we are launched and no drips but a warm to hot packing gland on a short run to dock. I may have over tightened initially. Nut backed off and now engaged about 2 turns.
Any guidance to avoid/reduce overheating of gland. What would be a maximum operating temperature? 1 inch Brass shaft, fresh water lake.
Thanks
Ken Geiger on Northern Dream#765 2000
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On Sat., 21 May 2022 at 21:29, Joe Grande<joe_grande at msn.com> wrote: Thanks for sharing Jack! I too, use the 3/16” Gortex. The addition of axle grease is a new trick. I imagine that winch grease should work as well.
Thank you,
Joe Grande #772, S/V Whisper 2003
Marina: WESTLAKE LANDING
2046 Westlake Ave N, Slip 34
Mail: 2132 Westlake Ave N, PMB 103
Seattle, WA 98109-2404
Phone: 206.940.1231
________________________________
From: C320-list <c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com> on behalf of Jack Brennan <jackbrennan at bellsouth.net>
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2022 5:55:05 PM
To: C320-List at Catalina320.com <C320-List at Catalina320.com>
Subject: [C320-list] Good stuffing box trick
Here’s a good stuffing box trick I learned recently from the diesel guru at Boot Key Harbor in Marathon, Fl..
I hired him to help me change the packing, seeing as the 320 is the first sailboat I’ve owned in which I could actually access the stuffing box with my 215-pound body.
We used the Goretex packing. What he did was dip the packing liberally into a jar of waterproof axle grease before inserting it into the nut. What a difference. The shaft turned more easily and, just as important, six weeks and many hours later, I get a drip or two a minute. The stuffing box is cool to the touch after a good motoring.
It’s very possible that the boat yard just did a lousy job when it replaced the packing a couple of years ago. I always had too many drips, and re-adjustments would last only a short time before I had to tinker with it again. But still …
Also, for the record, my stuffing box took 3/16, not quarter-inch, packing. The water leak was easily handled by my 800-gph bilge pump. If you’re worried about it, an old bicycle tube can be wrapped around the shaft to slow the leak to a dribble.
Hopefully, I won’t have to do it again for several years, but it is now a DIY project.
Jack Brennan
Sonas, 1998 Catalina 320
Tierra Verde, Fl.
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