I was wondering how often do you think the stuffing box on a Catalina 27 needs to be repacked? I've gotten several different answers, seems every boat owner thinks they have the right answer. Some say as early as every year and others as much as every 500 hours. My Catalina works fine at the moment, I'm just trying to get a proper answer. Thank you, JOHN PS: I did several years in the Pacific on another boat and we never had to change the packing.
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Stuffing Box repacking
John It all depends on what you've got in there in the first place, and if you've hauled your boat. You know the various materials, so the teflon packing with either gore tex from e-marine or the green goop from West Marine is the "dripless" variety. Don't know if you have that, or regular stuffing material that requires a drip. If you haul your boat the "stuff" (whatever you have) tends to dry out and need replacment. Up to you, no "right" answer from anyone else. Why'd you ask? Stu
John It all depends on what you've got in there in the first place, and if you've hauled your boat. You know the various materials, so the teflon packing with either gore tex from e-marine or the green goop from West Marine is the "dripless" variety. Don't know if you have that, or regular stuffing material that requires a drip. If you haul your boat the "stuff" (whatever you have) tends to dry out and need replacment. Up to you, no "right" answer from anyone else. Why'd you ask? Stu
stuffing box
I agree that it depends on stuffing material, and hours of operation and likely whether or not the boat sits in the water all year. I've gone 3 yrs now with the same drip packing. I tightened up the gland once when it was dripping too much. Usually, if you tighten up a couple of times and it keeps dripping too much for your liking, then you should be repacking. I'll be repacking this year (with dripless material) just to get rid of that water, but the packing itself is still ok.
I agree that it depends on stuffing material, and hours of operation and likely whether or not the boat sits in the water all year. I've gone 3 yrs now with the same drip packing. I tightened up the gland once when it was dripping too much. Usually, if you tighten up a couple of times and it keeps dripping too much for your liking, then you should be repacking. I'll be repacking this year (with dripless material) just to get rid of that water, but the packing itself is still ok.
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