GFO stuffing ??

[gasngo]

I know this has been beat to death but Ill take a chance and getting kicked around. Bought a 27 Catalina and doing some dry dock work in my back yard. I really would like not to worry about the stuffing box drips. I realize that the first stages of repairs and getting on the water will require some attention and adjustments. It seems the GFO has the best feed back before going to more elaborate systems not to mention the cost. Ill need to replace the flex hose but the shaft and the packing box are in decent shape sorry no pics but a little TLC and it will look as good as new. This unit has seen some some salt water time but nothing like I have seen in some photos. Any input is welcome.

I have replaced the seals on a inboard ski boat and under stand the process but the drips of fresh water verses salt. If I can keep the salt out of the boat then its that much less of a chance for damage.

Thanks Brad

[bstreep]

Brad,

We went with GFO on our last repack. It's been way better than traditional material. But, you will still get drips - that's part of the process. If you want drip free, look at other alternatives. I'm not fond of them, but many are.

[S/V Alchemy]

GFO is a better packing because the impregnated Teflon allows less friction in the packing against the shaft. If a stuffing box isn't dripping, however (and opinions differ as to how much is enough), it isn't working. Without the drip, the packing would just get hotter and hotter, which can lead to problems a lot worse than a cup of water in the bilges. So get used to drips: You can slow them down, but if you motor a lot, that's a bad idea. If you motor for an hour and stop and touch the stuffing box and it's clearly hot to the touch, it's not allowing enough drips through, IMO.

I just installed a PSS in my steel boat as part of a total drive-train replacement. It's impressive to see ZERO drips in the boat, but it will cost you two to three hundred bucks to achieve.

[zeehag]

i use dripless packing in my ericson and my bilges are stone dry and there is no drip--yes it is working. and it is working well,thankyou,as it has been since 2004.
dripless stuffing is spozed to be just that--DRIPLESS..... enjoy--it works well.

[Jim Cate]

I too used dripless teflon packing on our previous boat. Was able to tighten it up until no drips dripped at all, and it ran cool.

So, put some of it in your packing gland, tighten it just enough to stop the drips, go out and motor around, checking the temperature of the stuffing box. If it gets hot, loosen it a bit and recheck. Not rocket science...

Cheers,

Jim