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20-03-2017, 07:54
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Marina Del Rey, CA
Posts: 350
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Stuffing box leak.
Repacked, was looked fine.
But when engine running, dripping starts.(in neutral).
So repack did not work? And what is the next?
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20-03-2017, 09:32
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#2
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cat herder, extreme blacksheep
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: furycame alley , tropics, mexico for now
Boat: 1976 FORMOSA yankee clipper 41
Posts: 18,967
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Re: Stuffing box leak.
how fast it dripping? if flowing like mississippi river thru nola, you may need new cutlass bearing and stuffing box. replaceable via haulout. if only a little drip while engine running, monitor it
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20-03-2017, 09:51
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Marina Del Rey, CA
Posts: 350
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Re: Stuffing box leak.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zeehag
how fast it dripping? if flowing like mississippi river thru nola, you may need new cutlass bearing and stuffing box. replaceable via haulout. if only a little drip while engine running, monitor it
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Thank you,
It is about every 5 second while engine running.
Replaced cutlass bearing last year while bottom painting.
Maybe replace to drip less seal.
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20-03-2017, 09:53
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Palmetto, FL
Boat: "Wanderlust" -- 1999 Jefferson Rivanna 52'
Posts: 875
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Re: Stuffing box leak.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpt_757
Repacked, was looked fine.
But when engine running, dripping starts.(in neutral).
So repack did not work? And what is the next?
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It's possible they just need to be adjusted a little more. Seems uncommon for someone to repack a stuffing box and get it set exactly right the first time. Loosen the lock ring and tighten it a quarter turn. Retighten the lock ring and test it again. Or get a mechanic to help you with it. I'd try this before hauling it out.
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20-03-2017, 09:59
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Skagit City, WA
Posts: 24,728
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Re: Stuffing box leak.
Drip every 5 seconds isn't to bad. Were you able to inspect the shaft at any time? Many boats that sit unused corrode inside the stuffing box if a SS shaft. Repacking wont help, new shaft needed.
__________________
"I spent most of my money on Booze, Broads and Boats. The rest I wasted" - Elmore Leonard
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20-03-2017, 10:05
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Fiji Airways/ Lake Ontario
Boat: Legend 37.5, 1968 Alcort Sunfish, Avon 310
Posts: 2,531
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Re: Stuffing box leak.
What material did you use?
How do you know it fully encircled the shaft? Was there overlap?
How tight is it? Have you done this yourself before?
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20-03-2017, 10:07
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Marina Del Rey, CA
Posts: 350
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Re: Stuffing box leak.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheechako
Drip every 5 seconds isn't to bad. Were you able to inspect the shaft at any time? Many boats that sit unused corrode inside the stuffing box if a SS shaft. Repacking wont help, new shaft needed.
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The mechanic did not say anything when he did the job, said everything fine other than one of my bilge hose.
I will ask him again thanks.
I hope shaft is ok.
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20-03-2017, 10:08
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Marina Del Rey, CA
Posts: 350
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Re: Stuffing box leak.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnEasley
It's possible they just need to be adjusted a little more. Seems uncommon for someone to repack a stuffing box and get it set exactly right the first time. Loosen the lock ring and tighten it a quarter turn. Retighten the lock ring and test it again. Or get a mechanic to help you with it. I'd try this before hauling it out.
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Thanks, I will ask my mechanic to check with it.
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20-03-2017, 10:09
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Marina Del Rey, CA
Posts: 350
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Re: Stuffing box leak.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheechako
Drip every 5 seconds isn't to bad. Were you able to inspect the shaft at any time? Many boats that sit unused corrode inside the stuffing box if a SS shaft. Repacking wont help, new shaft needed.
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Every 5 second is not bad with engine running neutral?
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20-03-2017, 10:19
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Shoreline, CT and Portmouth Harbor
Boat: Standfast 33, building a 65 ft Wooden Schooner
Posts: 636
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Re: Stuffing box leak.
once per 5 seconds while engine running (vibration) isn't so bad. There are two times when rate of drip is important.
1) When the engine is not running, you should be dripping once or twice per minute
2) when the shaft is turning. you want to ensure that water isn't fanning out with the spinning of the shaft. If it's still just dripping, then its fine...If the water is getting thrown, then you need to reduce the amount of water coming through.
The stuff box should be stuffed with 3 or 4 layers of flax (if you used flax), and the flax needs to be perfectly seated. You don't want any gaps end to end for each ring, nor do you want overlap. And you should stagger the ends so that they are 120 degrees apart from one another from one ring to the next so the water doesn't have a straight shot through the stuffing.
Tighten down on the stuffing a little. Sometimes as the flax moistens, it can be tightened down a little more.
Test the tightness while underway. If you are running full turns and the stuffing box feels hot enough that it's uncomfortable to touch, then your stuffing may be too tight and may harm your shaft. If the stuffing box is cool to the touch after running full turns for several minutes, then you probably have a lot more tightness you can add to to it.
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20-03-2017, 10:38
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Marina Del Rey, CA
Posts: 350
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Re: Stuffing box leak.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scot McPherson
once per 5 seconds while engine running (vibration) isn't so bad. There are two times when rate of drip is important.
1) When the engine is not running, you should be dripping once or twice per minute
2) when the shaft is turning. you want to ensure that water isn't fanning out with the spinning of the shaft. If it's still just dripping, then its fine...If the water is getting thrown, then you need to reduce the amount of water coming through.
The stuff box should be stuffed with 3 or 4 layers of flax (if you used flax), and the flax needs to be perfectly seated. You don't want any gaps end to end for each ring, nor do you want overlap. And you should stagger the ends so that they are 120 degrees apart from one another from one ring to the next so the water doesn't have a straight shot through the stuffing.
Tighten down on the stuffing a little. Sometimes as the flax moistens, it can be tightened down a little more.
Test the tightness while underway. If you are running full turns and the stuffing box feels hot enough that it's uncomfortable to touch, then your stuffing may be too tight and may harm your shaft. If the stuffing box is cool to the touch after running full turns for several minutes, then you probably have a lot more tightness you can add to to it.
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Thank you,
Basically, almost no dripping (means 1-2 drips per minutes)when engine is not running, neither during shaft turning, no sprinkled neither.
I will talk to my mechanics tomorrow morning.
Thanks again,
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20-03-2017, 12:01
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#12
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Now on the Dark Side: Stink Potter.
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Ft. Lauderdale
Boat: 2001 Albin 28TE.
Posts: 3,878
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Re: Stuffing box leak.
I used virtuallly drip-less packing, then coated it with Teflon on the inside.
Tightened until it stopped leaking, then checked while running during cruise
Power.
If the metal got warm to the touch, I backed off. It it leaked a drop 6 months later I tightened and checked temperature and so on.
Used the same packing for 10 years with adjustments once or twice a year and no leaks, no drops and no drips. Best thing since sliced bread.
I always had good cutlass bearings, changed every other haulout, no slack allowed and no vibration: Had new shaft installed and prop computer balanced and adjusted.
Very smooth running and no drips or leaks.
Here is the link to the above packing:
http://gfopacking.com/
__________________
Life is sexually transmitted
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20-03-2017, 12:09
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Cowichan Bay, BC (Maple Bay Marina)
Posts: 9,447
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Re: Stuffing box leak.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpt_757
Thank you,
Basically, almost no dripping (means 1-2 drips per minutes)when engine is not running, neither during shaft turning, no sprinkled neither.
I will talk to my mechanics tomorrow morning.
Thanks again,
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No need to talk to the mechanic, you're done. Just check it monthly.
All of the "dripless" are NOT really NO drip. You NEED a few to keep it lubricated. Even the instructions with the flax say that.
__________________
Stu Jackson
Catalina 34 #224 (1986) C34IA Secretary
Cowichan Bay, BC, SR/FK, M25, Rocna 10 (22#) (NZ model)
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20-03-2017, 12:29
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#14
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Moderator Emeritus

Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Jacksonville/ out cruising
Boat: Island Packet 38
Posts: 31,351
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Re: Stuffing box leak.
Yes, it's drip less, not dripless.
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20-03-2017, 12:48
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Lower Chesapeake Bay, VA
Boat: Bristol 27 #335
Posts: 8,814
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Re: Stuffing box leak.
If it's an old style stuffing box, it's suppose to leak when the drive shaft is turning
Servicing Your Stuffing Box by Don Casey - BoatTECH - BoatUS
From the article above:
Adjusting
Water is required to lubricate conventional packing, so a properly adjusted stuffing box can be watertight when the shaft is stopped, but it must drip when the shaft is turning. Two or three drops per minute are adequate. It is not uncommon to see stuffing boxes leak at a much higher rate.
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