To drip or not drip stuffing box?

[cabo_sailor]

Over the years I've seen two boats at my marina take on enough water through the drip less shaft to cycle their bilge pumps every couple minutes. I contacted the owners and they were able to repair the problem.

Personally, I will stick with Teflon impregnated flax. No leaks at all at the dock and only a few drops comes through while motoring.


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[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

Over the years I've seen two boats at my marina take on enough water through the drip less shaft to cycle their bilge pumps every couple minutes. I contacted the owners and they were able to repair the problem.

Personally, I will stick with Teflon impregnated flax. No leaks at all at the dock and only a few drops comes through while motoring.


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It's not a 'drip less', it's a 'dripless' seal.

And yes, if it's not fitted correctly, like mine, then it can drip. But it's not designed to and shouldn't. Correct fitting and maintenance will ensure peace of mind.

[lateral]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

Over the years I've seen two boats at my marina take on enough water through the drip less shaft to cycle their bilge pumps every couple minutes. I contacted the owners and they were able to repair the problem.

Personally, I will stick with Teflon impregnated flax. No leaks at all at the dock and only a few drops comes through while motoring.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

By drip less, you mean PSS style?
Do you have a greaser with the teflon impregnated flax?

[cabo_sailor]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

It's not a 'drip less', it's a 'dripless' seal.

And yes, if it's not fitted correctly, like mine, then it can drip. But it's not designed to and shouldn't. Correct fitting and maintenance will ensure peace of mind.

Blame autocorrect changes! And no there is no greaser. Just flax impregnated with Teflon.



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[crazyoldboatguy]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

Over the years I've seen two boats at my marina take on enough water through the drip less shaft to cycle their bilge pumps every couple minutes. I contacted the owners and they were able to repair the problem.

Personally, I will stick with Teflon impregnated flax. No leaks at all at the dock and only a few drops comes through while motoring.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

I wonder if the folks with the problem dripless seals either failed to "burp" their seals or didn't monitor the condition of the bellows type hose on the system. The only other way for water to get past the seal is if the 2 O-rings mounted on the inside of the SS donut are either not installed or are damaged during installation. The hoses are supposed to be replaced every 10 years - much like your thru hull hoses should be. Otherwise, given the design (decidedly NOT complicated) makes a failure unlikely. The system is in constant compression with the donuts pressing against each other without need for adjustment.

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

Blame autocorrect changes! And no there is no greaser. Just flax impregnated with Teflon.



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yep

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by crazyoldboatguy

I wonder if the folks with the problem dripless seals either failed to "burp" their seals or didn't monitor the condition of the bellows type hose on the system. The only other way for water to get past the seal is if the 2 O-rings mounted on the inside of the SS donut are either not installed or are damaged during installation. The hoses are supposed to be replaced every 10 years - much like your thru hull hoses should be. Otherwise, given the design (decidedly NOT complicated) makes a failure unlikely. The system is in constant compression with the donuts pressing against each other without need for adjustment.

I think that's correct. Unless someone has the problem I had with a bellows loosing compression, but it sounds like that was an exception.

[captain58sailin]

On a previous commercial fishing boat, I had two packing glands, which I replaced with the "dripless" style and I loved it, my prelaunch prep was taking a bucket of soapy water and pulling the bellows back pour it over both seals. I never had a failure in 7 years, and these units were located in the bottom of my fish hold so they ran in less than clean circumstances, once the fish were off loaded and the hold was cleaned, I never had any water coming in, gave me peace of mind when I had to leave the boat. On my current vessel, the first thing I looked at was replacing the greased packing gland with the PSS unit, however I didn't want to haul the boat out just for that. I've not had any problems with the grease gland either, so I don't know if I'll change it or not.

[Rustic Charm]

I don't know why but the instructions with the pss advise not to try to do the conversion with the boat in the water, but I'm fairly certain mine could have been done with the boat in the water. ?

[captain58sailin]

I have really small cojones, and I would be worried that if something didn't go right, I might have a problem keeping more water outside the boat than I allow in.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

I don't know why but the instructions with the pss advise not to try to do the conversion with the boat in the water, but I'm fairly certain mine could have been done with the boat in the water. ?

Just because something can be done, it doesnt mean it should. Ive always found that when a large volume of water starts to come on the inside of a boat, there is a moment of clarity about why in the worst circumstances that could happen, its best to be on the hard.

My experience is with seacocks and specialist plugs that didnt plug and a foot of water in the bilges I didnt want...........

But yes, it can be done...

[Hudson Force]

It's great to share information here, but there's no reason not to have all the means to gain direct information while your underway.

I use a small hand-held, laser targeted temperature gauge. While operating I can view the temperatures of a carrier bearing half way between my engine and my stern tube and at my stuffing box (or now my new dripless shaft seal).

I know to expect between 125*F & 130*F at the bearing and I usually have 85*F to 90*F at the adjacent shaft. Having this baseline data allows me to indentify problems before they become severe.

'highly recommend these temperature "guns"!

[capt jgw]

I have the Lasdrop that uses a rubber lip seal. It's been in the boat about ten years now and is still on the original seal. I have a spare but have not had to install it yet. It runs cool and doesn't drip at all. Very simple installation, no bellows, just the rubber seal in the housing and a split collar that can be removed with the shaft attached. It also only cost about $100 if I remember correctly. There is a water connection, but as posted above if you're under 10kn the hose just needs to extend to above the water line. The rubber seal looks just like an oil seal for an engine, pretty sure NAPA or the like would have them. I'm real happy with it.

[Jon Neely]

Gfo works great on our boat, have been using it for 2 years without issue.


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[lifeofreilly57]

I work in a company which makes large industrial processing lines that use many heat transfer pumps in its function, the mechanical seals in those are the same type used on drip less shafts seals. They are quite resilient but will fail if not properly applied and maintained. I've had them on two boats I've owned and really liked them. I made sure they were properly aligned and set up, I burped them upon spring launch so as not to score them. Never had an issue. However, my present boat is being prepped for extensive cruising off the grid, I chose to keep its packing gland for its simplicity and ease of repair in the field. Depends on what your main use will be.

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