Packing nut adjustment

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Guest

I have a 1986 Cat 30' and find that I have to adjust the packing nut frequently. It seems to loosing up after a few hours of motoring. I am not having any trouble with a vibrating shaft and don't that is the problem. I purchased a packing nut wrench from Boat US but find it very difficult to adjust properly. What tool to you use for this job? How much of a drip do you maintain? How often do you have to make adjustment? Why did they put this in such a hard place to get at?
 
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Melody Miller

I Need to Know Too

Hi: I need to know this too. I think I have too much water in my bilge and someone suggested that this thing may need adjustment. What do we need to do LaDonna? Melody
 
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Melody Miller

What I Know About It

The previous owner (P.O.)of my boat looked at my packing nut yesterday and here's what I learned about it. The tolerable amount of drips is about 1 per 20 seconds when the boat is stopped and about 1 per seven seconds. when the boat is running. The P.O. used a pair of pliers to make the adjustments. How often it needs an adjustment will vary - I just noticed mine because my bilge seemed to have too much water - the drip was about 1 per four seconds when the boat was docked, way too high. Hope that helps, Melody
 
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Scott Kelly

I have put quite a few hours the last three years and here's what I do. Back off the nut using a hammer and a flat blade screwdriver. Just tap lightly once or twice and bingo. Too much dripping is a bad thing for me. Our fuel pump is close to the nut so if it drips too much under way it throws water on it(FUEL PUMP ) and really rusts in a hurry. I think 7 or 8 drops per minute is plenty. I check the nut for overheating once every 10 minutes (carefully ) after adjustment at cruise three times. If its cool, OK. My packing nut drips two or three times per minute when not running. I check the adjustment about every 10 hours or less. Why is it so hard to get to? It weeds out the faint hearted. Hey, have you ever serviced the batterys on a '91 Mk I. it is torture! All the best, Scott Kelly II PAC #63
 
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LaDonna Bubak - Planet Catalina

Holiday weekend cruises

Sorry for the delay in responding! I have an outboard so I'm not an expert on this but I have helped Rob adjust his several times. Two people definitely helps - he adjusted & I counted the drips (hmmm, sounds like my dating life!). Seems that while the engine was running, the desired result was a drip every 15-20 seconds or so (if memory serves). He used a pair of pliers too. He only had to adjust his twice a year or so. He had an '87 C30 so I'll ask him about it next time we speak (he's cruising the San Juans this summer - guess where I was this weekend?!) LaDonna
 
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LaDonna Bubak - Planet Catalina

Ok, here's your answer

I spoke to Rob & he said you need to replace your packing gland. This requires hauling the boat, loosening the packing nut, prying out all the old packing with a bent ice pick & replacing it with Teflon coated flax packing. He specifically mentioned the Teflon coated stuff cuz it lasts (supposedly) for 15-20 years. The gland should only drip one drip per 10 seconds while running (boy, I was close in my earlier estimation!) and should only have to be tightened once a season or every 100 hours. He uses two channel locks to accomplish this & has never had too much difficulty with it. Boy, I've learned so much about diesels lately, I could probably rebuild one with my eyes closed! ;-) Good luck! LaDonna
 
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Don

Packing Change

I did mine on a c-27 with the boat in the water. I got a stream of water about the size of a wooden pencil. The bilge pump kicked on about every 4-5 minutes. You can wrap a rag around the shaft and slow it down even more. The packing is inside the nut, which can be slid up the shaft to make it more accessable. I used a cotter pin extractor to dig out the old flax. Use 3 rings of new packing. Hand tighten only untill you can determine the drip rate. Too tight will cause overheating.
 
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Pete Podoloff

Leaky packing in shaft logs

If the packing nuts really do loosen then you are probably missing one of the nuts. There are usually two nuts , the inside nut is adjusted to put the proper pressure on the packing and the outside nut is use as a jam nut to tighten against the inside nut & prevent it from comming loose. If you really have just one nut then you could drill a small hole in the nut from the front to the back. Once the nut is tightened to the proper compression then use a piece of wire to go through the nut and tie it off to the shaft log. The wire will keep the nut from backing off. I worked for over 20 years in a marina & never had to use anything but a pipe wrench to tighten any of the packing nuts. The packing material in the stuffing box is just wax impregnated rope. If you tighten down to much the pressure either prematurely wears the rope (not so bad) or it wears a groove in the shaft ( not a good thing ). A groove in the shaft will prevent the packing fom doing its job and water will run in at a pretty good rate. Water should drip in ( this keeps the packing cool ) ,but it should not pour in.
 
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Mike Hagerman

Packing Nuts!

New to the Catalina 30, I have read up (and down)on the stuffing box and packing nut. During a July 4th weekend trip, it was dripping about right (or so they say): 4-10 drips per minute. Several days later, I had a small trickle that quickly overcame my bilge pump and battery. My efforts to budge the 2 (read the book...) nuts were in vain. Fortunately we keep our boat at the Rhode Island Yacht Club and have an excellent mechanic who is also a boater. He came aboard with 2 of the biggest adjustable wrenches I've ever seen and moved the 2 nuts to the right adjustment. I have since learned there's a new system for this installation that uses a bellowed seal and does away with the dripping, stuffing or both. I plan to retrofit when we haul the boat out this winter.
 
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