Stuffing Box Issue

[saildog2]

It was repacked with 'tefon' impreganted packing, and done by the yard that replaced strut and installed 1" SS shaft.  Upon splashing the boat after it arrived, the local yard 'adjusted' it and said it was 'good to go'.  After a few hours I checked it and found the box pretty warm and no dripping. I went thru process of loosening to obtain dripping, and checking after 30 minutes running, only to find the box was again getting hot, and very little dripping.  I did the loosening process 4 or 5 times with the same results, even to the point on having it drip every 3 seconds. Dripping slowed to about 1 every minute, but still gets hot. Adjustment from no drip to drip occurs with only about 1/8" adjustment.  I also note slight 'friction' when hand turning the shaft. I discussed with the local yard that did the original adjustment, and they are suggesting a re-pack with traditional flax.  I suspect that it was orignally over tightened, and obtaining the correct adjustment will not be possible. Does this sound right?
Appreciate input, comments, suggestions
Thanks in advance
 

[Gary]

Hi Dale,

I would not worry about the repacking job until you have more time on the new shaft, bronze couplings and the flax stuffing.  Intead of tuning for drips per minute try tuning to eliminate heat.  The stuffing expands with moisture over a week or so which means if adjusted to produce no heat in the early break in the stuffing will expand and create less dripping over time.  Some of the heat is in the flax but some some is also from a new shaft adjusting to the bronze coupling.  An older coupling has broken in to the old shaft and the coupling may actually be out of round a bit.  So the new shaft and coupling have to wear in.  This is not a problem since the stuffing material will fill in the gap around the shaft.  I would live with more drips (one a second) and no heat during the wear and stuffing expansion time.  In a week you will see the dripping slow to a nice rate as everything adjusts.

[Ron Hill]

Dale : I believe that you are correct, that they overtightened the gland nut.  Here's what I'd do:
Get some of the Gore Drippless packing (410) 392-3200 and change it out yourself.  I wrote a tech note(Mainsheet) article on how to change the packing in the water.  Not that difficult to do and you don't get a gusher of water if you follow those procedures.
Always tighten then gland nut with new packing with your fingers.  When you need to make additional adjustments turn ONLY 1/12 of a turn at a time.  Just like with all plumbing never backup if you can help it!  The packing gland can get warm, but not so warm that you can't hold on to it.  The Gore packing does NOT need to drip - get rid of that smelly, corrosive salt water in your bilge.
Good luck  

[Stu Jackson]

Dale,

Line 1053 of the new "Knowledgebase" has a series of articles on the stuffing box.  Go here: http://www.c34.org/tech-notes-index/technotes-excel.xls

FAQs has my original 1998 article on how do it (in the water, too).  Go here: http://www.c34.org/faq-pages/faq-stuffing-box.html  This was written BEFORE goretex was invented, use it (http://www.emarineinc.com/products/gfopacking/packing.html) instead of the more expensive green goop.  I did mine last week without Ron's plastic baggie idea (which is great if you have a dry bilge and don't want any water in it).  If you don't mind water, just do it without the bag, it works and does NOT sink the boat!   

A recent thread here includes pictures.  Go here: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=3611.0

What more could you want to avoid the dreaded "my mechanic, my yard, my yard worker, etc. screwed it up what do I do?" 

Do it yourself, it's easy, avoids dependency, is a safety issue YOU need to know about and how to fix, and involves a LOT less hassle.

For instance, do you know how many rings they put in the box?  The C34 manual, on the webiste, has a picture and shows how many are required.

An overtightened box will take a while to absorb water and expand the flax.  Back it off, let it get wet and readjust it.  When our boat was out of the water a few years ago for an extended haul out (we're usually in the water 24/7/365, or for a few days for bottom painting for a normal haul), it all dried out and I had to repack.  Folks who pull their boats every year should have similar input and experiences, I'll leave it to them to comment.

Stay with the teflon, NOT the traditional flax if you don't use the goretex or the green goop.  Why use something that provides LESS friction?  Also suggest using Syntef (sp?) on the flax as suggested by manufacturers (see WM catalog).

Given ALL this information about how to do a five minute job, if it was my boat, I'd open up the box, rip out whatever they did and do it right.  For the amount of time you've been back down in there...

[saildog2]

Thanks for the great info. You're right, I should tackle it myself, but since the yard here didnt do it right, I'd like them to fix. My 'learning curve' with my boat is increasing since getting it 9/06, and the projects/upgrades I have done so far have greatly improved my understanding and my confidence in the boat and its workings.  It's a process.  Thanks again. Great website, great knowledgable people.

[Stu Jackson]

Uhm, Dale, if they couldn't get it right the first time, what makes you think...

Sorry, but whenever I find someone who can't get it right and is in the business of doing it, then I try to stay as FAR away as possible from them and warn my friends and neighbors. 

I understand your process concept (I'm an engineer), but your job isn't to teach them how to get it right, it's your job to fix your boat and then have lots of fun sailing.   

[dgill]

Gentlemen,  Monday I pre cut three strands of the Goretex packing, then opened the stuffing box, slid the packing gland forward, tied a couple of 2" strips of old tee shirt around the shaft opening to slow the water and pulled the 3 strands of old packing out.  I replaced these with the new strips and put it all back together in a total of about 15 minutes.  Not enough water in the bilge to even activate the pump.  With most things on our boats, once the business of doing something is demystified I have found the tasks are actually easy.  The hardest part is knowing that YOU can do it.  This site provides all we need to rely less and less on the boat mechanic.    

[Ron Hill]

Dale : dgill is a SHE, so if you read the "how to", I'm sure that you can get the job done yourself!!!   

[Randy and Mary Davison]

Wow Ron...That's dangerous on so many levels...In my part of the country you'd get your nautical accessories ripped off your body for that comment!

Randy

[Ron Hill]

Randy : Just thought all the "hairy chested guys" reading this post aught to know! 
She read my article and got the job done!!   

[Randy and Mary Davison]

Ron - Actually your article worked for me too.  I'm going to change mine in the water early next week.

Randy

[Steve Hansen]

Just got motivated to change my stuffing because of this site. Used Graphtex Ultra GTU Shaft Packing purchased at WM. It is made out of the Gore material. First time at the job and this site helped greatly. Didn't worry too much about water entry, just let the bilge pump deal with it.

Steve

[saildog2]

I did the repacking, thanks to the great info and encouragement on this site.  It still ran hot. Now suspecting a friction issue, I decided to check alignment, and discovered I didnt have the 'sweet spot' set correctly prior to engine alingment.  After further re alignment, the box is remaing cool to only warm. Less vibration at low rpm's too.   Lesson learned.  Thanks again to all.

[Paul Blumenfeld]

I probably made the same mistake and had the yard do the stuffing box replacement while out of the water for bottom paint.  They used the Gore Graphtex Ultra GTU material Steve used, not the GTO from Gore. They also used the 1/4" size, not the 3/16" I see mentioned often on the board.

I'm having trouble getting it adjusted so the shaft is cool.   Today I was getting 1 drip every 10 seconds and it still was getting too hot to hold on to for very long after running for 10 minutes in the slip.   It was dripping less and cooler before the change. 

Is there a break in period and I should just let the boat sit for awhile or could the yard have over tighten to begin with and I'll never get it to adjust?  Also, is there any difference between the GTU and GTO packing material or should they both work ok?

Thanks,

Paul

[Stu Jackson]

Paul

If they used the larger 1/4" and your box needs 3/16, that could be a cause of it running hot.  Most of our boats used 3/16, but there have been some rare reports of 1/4, and only YOU can measure your boat to find out.

They also could have overtightened the stuff like the earlier part of this thread discussed.

The difference is the green goop vs the gore-tex material from e-marine.  See my post above (reply #3, para. 2) and the original FAQ referenced link in that reply.