Packing nuts question

[Ralph Johnstone]

And is discussed in my article linked in Reply #15.
Please don't waste your money on one.

"IF" and that's a big capital IF you change out the packing at a reasonable period, it remains soft. My last time was five years because I was trying to see how many years I could get out of the packing while running it dry. It was still reasonably soft and it came out easily with a dental pick.

I have yet to see a packing puller that was small enough to remove 3/16" or 1/4" packing. And I'm always uncomfortable about using a drywall screw for fear of gouging the shaft.

 

[jaysweet]

If memory serves me right, the packing nut is 1-1/4" while the lock nut is 1-1/8".

That can't be right, can it? If you have a 1" shaft, I think the the packing nut will be more like 2" or so(?). As I recall, the 53mm wrench I mentioned was a little bit bigger than needed (53mm = 2.087"), but not much bigger. It could have been 1 7/8", maybe. Anyway, they are what they are.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

I gotta check this out to make sure I'm not the one going nuts here.
In the beginning (post #3) @capta had mentioned that:

The nut closest to the engine is a lock nut.

@Rich Stidger then commented in post#4 that @capta had his nuts in a knot which did seemed a little hurtful but I had to agree:

I think you have the nuts interchanged. The closest to the engine is the packing nut.

@shemandr then commented in post #16 that @capta had it right in the first place thereby un-knotting his nuts:

This seems correct to me. Not sure what Rich is saying. The packing nut couldn't be outside the locking nut. Unless I'm nuts?

Here is a shot of my packing gland with the packing nut on the outside of the lock nut:



And hence, the nut closest to the engine is the packing nut.

I have no idea just where this is heading but I may have just proved that the earth really is flat.
Go FlatEarthers ! ! ! !

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

That can't be right, can it?

You are so right. Probably closer to 1-7/8" and 2".

If memory serves me right,

I cautioned you not to trust my memory.

 

[tfox2069]

After futzing with adjustable wrenches which were too wide to work well, and risking rounding off the packing nuts when the torque needed caused the jaws to slip, I broke down and bought the dedicated thin wrenches from Catalina Direct for the 1" shaft packing nuts. PBBlaster and those wrenches made it a relatively easy job to separate the nuts without damaging anything in the process. Then I cleaned the threads and coated with anti-seize for the next owner. I'll probably sell the wrenches separately from the boat later. Oh well, buy once cry once. But now when I go to check the packing I just grab those two wrenches from my tool bag and I know I have exactly what I need.

+1 on the cheap picks from Harbor Freight. They work as well as can be expected in the tight space, and they're cheap enough that I bought two packs in case some fell apart - which they didn't.

 

[capta]

I gotta check this out to make sure I'm not the one going nuts here.
In the beginning (post #3) @capta had mentioned that:



@Rich Stidger then commented in post#4 that @capta had his nuts in a knot which did seemed a little hurtful but I had to agree:



@shemandr then commented in post #16 that @capta had it right in the first place thereby un-knotting his nuts:


Here is a shot of my packing gland with the packing nut on the outside of the lock nut:

View attachment 183268

And hence, the nut closest to the engine is the packing nut.

I have no idea just where this is heading but I may have just proved that the earth really is flat.
Go FlatEarthers ! ! ! !

Wow, a case in boating where everybody is correct. Go figure.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

That can't be right, can it? If you have a 1" shaft, I think the the packing nut will be more like 2" or so(?).

I knew I had a pic of it around here some place and it finally fell out of a loose page:



1-7/8" for the lock nut, and 2" for the packing nut as you had said.