stuffing box question

[Marty Levenson]

Our stuffing box has suddenly started dripping. It has always been unusually dry, but after five minutes in forward gear at the dock yesterday I noticed it was dripping. I observed about a drop every three seconds while running in gear at 1200 RPM. Slower drip in reverse. Fifteen minutes after shut down that dropped to every eight seconds.

I believe the change is due to a boat flood in mid October. At that time engine oil mixed with rain water and made a mess. I was unsure if the water level was up to the bottom of the stuffing box. That mess is all cleaned up, and the oil was changed three times within a week of the flood, and previous, longer tests did not cause any drips. Engine runs well.

I now think it likely that oil got in the stuffing, and wondering how to proceed. The drip rate is, I think, acceptable....but will it get worse? I cannot recall which type of stuffing I used: my maint log is on the boat, so i can find that out next week.

Can I just deal with this for the short term by simply tightening the box if the drip increases? I wasn't planning a haul-out this spring, so hoping that is adequete for one year. Or is there a danger of sudden complete failure of the stuffing while running in gear?

Any advice or thoughts appreciated.

[ndutton]

I can't say if your recent flooding has anything to do with it but here is my experience.

Packing flax wears, it's a regular maintenance item. You can get by for a little while with a minor adjustment to achieve the drip rate you prefer but be advised, adjusting the box tighter imparts greater drag on the shaft and at some point will scar the shaft. The immediate band-aid fix is adjustment, the corrective action is replace the flax. I kept adjusting mine but finally it applied enough drag on the shaft that the engine would stall in gear at idle RPM.

In my case I replaced the flax in the water but I enjoy excellent access to the stuffing box. There's a certain amount of anxiety the first time but so little water ships aboard during the process it's really no big deal. I even had to make the trip of shame to West Marine in mid-project because I bought the wrong size flax and still no problem.

Also be advised, that little drip adds up to an amazing amount of water and relying on a bilge pump to keep the boat afloat is IMHO bad form.

[Marty Levenson]

drips

Thanks, Neil,

"relying on a bilge pump to keep the boat afloat is IMHO
bad form"

Totally agree with that!

Previously we never had to adjust the box and had no drips. Two years ago I put in new stuffing when I installed a new shaft and cutlass bearing. Our access is painful, and I have ongoing shoulder issues, so for sure will be doing that on the hard. I guess time will tell: if the drip gets worse we'll likely haul-out this spring.

[JOHN COOKSON]

It is a good idea to have a slight drip rate.* The water around the packing keeps it running cool. If it is not dripping you may have set just right so there are no drips and not much wear OR you may have the packing nut over tightened resulting in accelerated wear.

TRUE GRIT

*Personal choice. I like 3-4 drops per minute.

[ndutton]

I prefer a [very] few drops per minute underway and ZERO drops at rest. This is easy to achieve with fresh packing.

I may have presented this before and if so, sorry for the repeat. Here is one of the better stuffing box treatments:

http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/stuffing-box.asp

[Marty Levenson]

another good guide

This guy has many good "how-to" projects with excellent photos:

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/stuffing_box

[Whippet]

re-packing on the hard

Hi Marty

Lesson learned from experience: Repacking on the hard has advantages in that you can take your sweet time without dealing with water intrusion.

Disadvantage is that it will be hard to know how much adjustment is too tight or too lose - since you cant judge by drip rate.

In my case, it was clear i hadnt tightened enough, because once she hit the water at launch, i had a good size jet coming in. So advice is to have wrenches at ready - or perhaps err on side of having too snug to start -- and back off a bit later once you are safely at dock.

[ndutton]

In my case, it was clear i hadnt tightened enough, because once she hit the water at launch, i had a good size jet coming in. So advice is to have wrenches at ready - or perhaps err on side of having too snug to start -- and back off a bit later once you are safely at dock.

I had a yard replace my packing on the hard when I bought my boat (never again!), they erred on the too snug side, at launch I backed out of the lift slip and the stuffing box warmed up imparting more friction than the engine could overcome at idle RPM, stalling the engine. I'm alone on the boat in tight quarters with a stiff breeze blowing me toward other boats in their slips.

In an instant I abandoned the helm (wasn't doing any good anyway), grabbed the wrenches and loosened the stuffing box so it was leaking profusely (that's what bilge pumps are for), restarted the engine and motored to my slip to sort it out. Missed drifting into the other boats by this much.

[roadnsky]

I replaced my packing while in the water just last August...

Because I wasn't completely sure of the size of the packing as well as how many rings were needed, I was a bit worried about the amount of water coming in.
Plus, it is tough to get to the gland with both hands on my boat.
The only way is to lay over the top of the engine.
To give me the "leisure" to be able to take my time both in getting the old stuffing out AND re-packing,
I wrapped a couple of turns of RESCUE TAPE™ around the exposed "box" which stopped all water flowing.
Cheap, simple and effective.

Getting the old packing out was more challenging than I thought it would be.
For me, having that luxury of not having to rush, made a big difference.
I could take my time.

I also made the re-packing tool that maine cruising suggests. (see pic)
THAT made getting the flax in the nut a breeze!

Oh yeah, with the new packing, 3-5 DPM while running and zero at rest.

Marty, I advise that you keep a close eye on yours if you're gonna go for another year.

[Marty Levenson]

1 drip per minute

Thanks for the tips guys. The rate has dropped to 1 drip per minute without the engine running. I will keep an eye on it for sure!

I plan to run the engine in gear at the dock a fair bit this spring and make sure that the rate slows way down after shutdown. In June we'll be on our mooring so want to be sure that's under control. Otherwise I'll do a short haulout in April.

[BadaBing]

Hi all.
6 years ago, after my fall, I installed a dripless. My reasoning was that due to my new limitations I wouldn't be quite so fast at reaching the stuffing box for maintenance and adjustments.
It served well for 3-4 years than developed a small drip. When I next hauled it I found that there was a very small compression line in the SS pressure plate. I republished it on 400 wet paper to remove the imperfection and reinstalled it. It has been dropped a ever since.
I like a dry bilge, well as dry as I can keep it.