A take on Maine Sail’s packing ‘tool’

[Solstice]

I’m sure most of you have seen Maine’s excellent How to on packing a traditional stuffing box. He devised a clever ‘tool’ to pack the material using a piece of PVC. I had the PVC and my hack saw but forgot my portable vice to cut it, so I came up with this using a piece of reinforced vinyl tubing that I use as chafe gear. For my 1” shaft I used a 1” ID 1 3/8” OD piece and it works great. One advantage is by using a slit to get it around the shaft, you get a 360 degree push on the packing...hope this helps someone and credit to Maine for the idea!

 

[Rich Stidger]

I have used a piece of PVC pipe and just held the two halves together, but this looks even better! Thanks for the idea.

 

[Justin_NSA]

I went with a dripless seal, but I like the idea, and the collective knowledge on here.

 

[JRT]

I'm learning a lot with a more complex boat then my old O'day 25 and I did review Maine's article. I wonder if your adaption could be done in the water, if the flexible tube is pressed into the shaft end and then temporally sealed using self fusing tape? I'm not sure I would try this in the water ever, but like thinking what ifs.

 

[Justin_NSA]

A little Flex tape should do it!

 

[Brian D]

A little Flex tape should do it!

LOL that is several hundred dollars worth of flex tape to "seal" that boat.

 

[Justin_NSA]

Seriously though. Could this stuff be used if a shaft seal failed?

 

[Stu Jackson]

I'm not sure I would try this in the water ever, but like thinking what ifs.

John,
The "can't do it in the water" concept is usually from new to inboard engine folks. It was for me, too.
But the reality is you should do it in the water.
Try this to compliment MS's link.
How to repack the Stuffing box – by Stu Jackson
Solstice, nice work.

 

[JRT]

Ha @Stu Jackson I knew I read this some place recently!

 

[capta]

What happened to just screwing in the nut with several rings of packing at a time? Perhaps a bit more time consuming, but fewer things to fiddle with.

 

[Richard19068]

What happened to just screwing in the nut with several rings of packing at a time? Perhaps a bit more time consuming, but fewer things to fiddle with.

I like to get mine done in a less time consuming manner (while in the water) and the piece of pvc or tubing really isn't much to fiddle with. It's a good method to seat one ring before putting in the next. But of course whatever works for you is the way to go.

 

[Solstice]

What happened to just screwing in the nut with several rings of packing at a time? Perhaps a bit more time consuming, but fewer things to fiddle with.

This allows you to seat the first couple of rings in without turning the nut or using a sharp object to seat it. My nut is fairly deep so I need something to push the first couple of rings in.
Prevents any fraying and assures you keep track of the joints on the flax so they can be properly offset.
I find this is actually much quicker than trying to fiddle with them manually....

 

[dehler25]

To prepare in advance one needs to know what size packing to acquire without having to open the coupling and extract the old for reference. Anyone know what size I might have on a Hunter 450 2002 or somewhere to look it up? All this discussion lead me to believe I am due the procedure as well.