Catalina 356 - Shaft dripping rate

Michal

.
Jun 25, 2014
10
Tiara S2 9.2A Woodbridge, VA
Hey,

Can anyone let me know if this shaft dripping rate (after running motor extensively) is OK?
More infromation: the next day (without running motor) there was no dripping at all.

Thank you and sorry if this question has already been asked, I could not find it on the forum.
 

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
That's too much, with the shaft not turning. It's also not dripping form where it should be, where the shaft exits the stuffing box.
 
Jan 4, 2006
6,444
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
Following on from @jviss, many, many questions before making any suggestions...........

- how old is the current packing
- how many rings of packing
- what is the composition of the current packing
- how tight is the packing nut
- what is the surface condition of the shaft
- what is your shaft alignment like

And several others which will come to me about 03:00.
 

Michal

.
Jun 25, 2014
10
Tiara S2 9.2A Woodbridge, VA
@Ralph Johnstone did it come to you at 3am? :)

Thank you for your reply, unfortunately I don’t have answers to your questions and at this point I have already decided to switch to a dripless shaft, however do you think it is safe to keep operating the boat this summer until I install the new shaft in Autumn?
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
do you think it is safe to keep operating the boat this summer until I install the new shaft in Autumn?
I could not see the water flow image, but your statement that it stopped was encouraging.
Was there any other circumstances associated with the time before you noticed the water inflows?

When I had my boat on the hard for 4 months the flax dried. When I put her in the water, there was water ingress “leaking“ around the shaft. I ran the motor and rotated shaft while hanging in the slings. Waited 10 minutes and the water stopped flowing in. That was in 2018.

Based on my circumstances and experience in the above case, i would be inclined to give the boat a couple of weeks. I’d be certain the bilge pump Is serviced and working properly. I would regularly inspect the stuffing box keeping an eye on the water dripping rate. If anything looked out of place I would change the flax or I prepare to haul and install the PSS drip”less” shaft log.
 
Jan 4, 2006
6,444
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
@Ralph Johnstone did it come to you at 3am?
Nah, the only thing that came to me at 3AM was the call of nature.

The leakage in the video didn't look too bad to me if you want to use the boat for the summer.

Follow @jssailem 's recommendations and see if it stops. As previously mentioned, the leakage is coming from the wrong place. The packing on the shaft seems to be doing its job but the nut threads are at fault. If it were me (and I'm desperate for adventure) I'd remove the gland nut and slather its mating part with the heaviest grease I could find in the hopes that would seal the leak, at least temporarily.
 
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