Stuffing Box Drip Rate

[Carmen Daccurso]

The drip rate from my stuffing box is one drop every 4 seconds with engine off. Is this normal? Tried tightening two screws. No change. Advice?

 

[Steve O.]

too much

That's a little too much even when motoring. I don't know which 2 screws you tightened, but the procedure is to remove the cotter pin in the shaft packing box and tighten the coupling. If tightening doesn't work, then its time to re-pack the box, a relatively simple procedure but too lengthy to detail here. Check out a boat maintenance book, or perhaps in the forum archives here.

 

[David]

Box dripping

No drops at rest, about 3 drops a minute when the shaft is turning. Bronze or plastic stuffing box? I am using dripless packing with a bronze setup. It should work the same for plastic.