Stuffing Box Packing

[sabray]

I have a 1" shaft going through traditional stuffing box. Any guesses on what the best packing material is and what diameter is appropriate. Ive used traditional flax in the past. I have no idea whats in this boat buts getting short hauled and would like everything here prior to haul.

[Cheechako]

I've tried the teflon, but I like the traditional flax... the teflon oozed out white stuff. It's hard to know what size. I usually just buy a couple of sizes the first time. You are likely 5/16 but could be 1/4...just guessing. If you buy those two sizes it'll be 3/8!
Wow....just noticed it's a Peterson 44...only a 1" shaft?

[Vasco]

just plain old flax does the trick, think your's is 5/16 but there's only one way of knowing for sure.

[btrayfors]

+1 on traditional flax. The newer stuff is problematic.

And, yes, your Peterson 44 has only a 1" diameter shaft?????

Bill

[pullord]

Originally Posted by Vasco

just plain old flax does the trick, think your's is 5/16 but there's only one way of knowing for sure.

,n--JUST READING www.latitude38.com date feb 16 2011 now got to get under the rear lazarrettte and tighten that with the 15 inch pipe wrench... know what yiou mean. Cheers

[gonesail]

i have 1" shaft with 1/4" packing .. i used the GFO packing with great results. i have a buck algonquin packing box.

[sabray]

Originally Posted by btrayfors

+1 on traditional flax. The newer stuff is problematic.

And, yes, your Peterson 44 has only a 1" diameter shaft?????

Bill

Ooops I think its 1 1/4" im going to have to check now. I rmember its smaller then it I would have liked it to be.

[PetenSuz]

I have a 1 1/4" shaft. Just repacked the stuffing box on our Catalina 42 two days ago. I'll confess...I tried the Teflon stuff this time. I'll see how it works and give an update. I used 1/4".
Pete

[Jim Cate]

FWIW: On our previous boat we switched from conventional flax packing to a teflon impregnated one and used the fancy lube that West flogs. It was the best single thing I ever did to the drive train! One tightened the packing up by hand, no drips at all, ran cool and never needed replacing in the next several years. Our current boat has a dripless dry seal and I wish it had our old setup.

Cheers,

Jim

[Jesse]

Recently changed from flax to GFO. It's running at ambient water temp with no leaks, I'm liking it so far.
Jesse

[AnchorageGuy]

We used the Gore packing material for years and put thousands of miles on it. I would never go back to the old packing materials. Teflon is not one of my favorites. Chuck

[PetenSuz]

Originally Posted by Waterwayguy

We used the Gore packing material for years and put thousands of miles on it. I would never go back to the old packing materials. Teflon is not one of my favorites. Chuck

Chuck,
It's good to hear that you have liked the Gore packing, but I think it is also "Teflon", which is PTFE or Polytetrafluoroethylene, which has also been patented by Gore as Gore-Tex.
Pete

[PetenSuz]

My traditional flax packing had lasted only about 50 hours or so on the shaft, and then water was flowing as a continuous stream from the stuffing box. When I pulled the flax fom it, it was in poor condition, in shreds. The stuff I bought this time was off the shelf at West Marine, and contains PTFE and graphite. I'll see how it lasts. (good thing I have a good new bilge pump!)

[Pblais]

I would add a plug for flax. Gore I had for a while and while it did work it also failed once. Probably because of the alignment getting whacked but repacking with flax has held a long time. Some boats with more play probably would do better with Goretex.

Sabray I'm willing to bet 1 1/4 is correct. Either by prop size or by shaft length you need a bigger shaft than 1 inch.

[Pblais]

Petensuz,

It could be your shaft is out of alignment. Once that happens it eats the packing out of the stuffing box quickly no matter what you use. I've been there. It can eat up all the packing! I would estimate 10+ gallons per hour worth. Someone really good can get the shaft to .003 in. If you lose this packing in less than a few months I would get the shaft aligned.