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Shaft packing
Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 12:52 am
by Sanctuary 2
Boat in the water every thing is good.
I tightened the nut. Its a slow constant flow. Tightened a little more. It slowed a little more. Then snugged it with channel locks no change.
Should I keep tightening it?
Slept on board last night bilge pump run 2 times with an hour for about 15 sec.
Re: Shaft packing
Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 6:31 am
by BobCT
General rule is no, once you tighten too much you can't go back. Is the packing new? I would let swell up over a couple of days and then start adjusting. If it's not new then you might need to re-pack anyway.
Bob
Re: Shaft packing
Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 8:33 am
by The Dog House
If the packing is made of flax it will swell and hopefully the dripping will slow down. Even after swelling the flax packing I had still dripped. The best I could do was one drop every 6 - 10 seconds. If you bilge pump is turning on twice per hour for 15 seconds at a time it sounds like you are dripping more than that. If it doesn't slow down in the next few days you will probably need to repack the stuffing box. I would recommend the GFO packing if you repack. The GFO packing only drips when the shaft is turning. When the shaft is not turning it does not drip at all.
Re: Shaft packing
Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 8:48 am
by Sanctuary 2
It's new packing. Should it be hand tight or should I be using a special wrench.
I will tighten the locking nut and leave it for a few days.
Re: Shaft packing
Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:42 am
by The Dog House
Sanctuary 2 wrote:It's new packing. Should it be hand tight or should I be using a special wrench.
I will tighten the locking nut and leave it for a few days.
Hand tighten the packing nut until it is snug and then use a wrench to turn the nut one more "flat" (1/6 of a turn). Then use two wrenches to tighten the lock nut. Use one wrench to hold the packing nut still and use the other wrench to tighten the lock nut. Make sure the lock nut is tight or the spinning shaft will unscrew the packing nut.
Re: Shaft packing
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 4:24 pm
by Sanctuary 2
Adjusted packing still left with a trickle.
Looked today now it's a fast drip.
I'll see what happened over the next couple days
Re: Shaft packing
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 9:55 pm
by Big D
Are you sure you're using the right size packing? Maybe some can confirm the size you should be using.
Re: Shaft packing
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 11:03 pm
by prowlersfish
I have put a chart on here a few times If I can find it I will repost it
Re: Shaft packing
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 11:09 pm
by prowlersfish
prowlersfish wrote:This should help
1" uses 1/4" packing
1 1/8" shaft uses 3/16" packing
1 1/4" shaft uses 1/4" packing
1 3/8" shaft uses 5/16" packing
1 1/2" shaft uses 1/4" packing
1 3/4" shaft uses 1/2" packing
2" shaft uses 3/8" packing
2 1/4" shaft uses 7/16" packing
2 1/2" shaft uses 5/16" packing
3" shaft uses 9/16" packing
Re: Shaft packing
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 1:19 am
by Sanctuary 2
Thanks for the replies.
I'm sure it is the right size 1/4 in. I took old packing down to match it.
Maybe I did not put enough in?
Should I try to add more?
Re: Shaft packing
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 5:29 am
by ready123
Sanctuary 2 wrote:Thanks for the replies.
I'm sure it is the right size 1/4 in. I took old packing down to match it.
Maybe I did not put enough in?
Should I try to add more?
Three rings should be ample. Did you offset the joints? You did cut the ends at 45 degree angle?
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/stuffing_box
Re: Shaft packing
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 8:10 am
by Big D
ready123 wrote:.....Three rings should be ample. Did you offset the joints? You did cut the ends at 45 degree angle?....
+1
Re: Shaft packing
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 5:21 pm
by The Dog House
Sanctuary 2 wrote:Adjusted packing still left with a trickle.
Looked today now it's a fast drip.
I'll see what happened over the next couple days
If you used flax packing a drip every 6 to 10 seconds is the best you'll be able to do. How many seconds are there between drips?
Re: Shaft packing
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:22 pm
by Sanctuary 2
I think I have at least 1 drip per second.
Sounds like I need to replace it again?
I tried tightening nut with channel locks an pipe wrench. Not much change...
Re: Shaft packing
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:38 pm
by ready123
Sanctuary 2 wrote:I think I have at least 1 drip per second.
Sounds like I need to replace it again?
I tried tightening nut with channel locks an pipe wrench. Not much change...
RU saying you couldn't tighten it any? How many rings of packing? You checked size for shaft?