stuffing box

[secondwind410]

I just repacked my stuffing box today for the first time. My only concern is if I put in the right size packing material. The old stuff measured .22, I tried to put in 1/4 " but it was a really tight fit. I am not sure if I could get more than one row in without a lot of force. I took that out and put in 3/16 which went in with ease. I put in five rows of the stuff and hand tightened it. I was concerned that the 3/16 material went in too easy. Does anyone know how tightly the material should fit in. Should it take a lot of force to put it in. Any input would be appreciated.

 

[Guest]

The first and only time I repacked our bronze stuffing box with three rows of 3/16th teflon impregnated flax was 2004. Since then I have retightened the box twice to maintain the one drop every eight seconds rate when the prop shaft is spinning.

After the repack I noticed the flax must have settled in after a while because it took a few complete turns to snug it up to the acceptable drip rate. Last season was the second time I adjusted the box nut and that time it only took a flat or two to snug it up.

Terry Cox

 

[secondwind410]

do you recall if the packing material was a really tight fit, that took a lot of effort to pack or was it relatively easy to put the new material in. I am concerned that the 1/4 was too thick (very hard to get in) and the next size down the 3/16 felt a little loose. I am not sure if when it is compressed if it will fill the gap enough to create a semi, water tight seal.

 

[Guest]

I would say the 3/16th inch is the right material for your boat. When I installed the packing it was a bit tight and required some effort, but the working quarters that I had to deal with left much to be desired. The five rows that you put in should last many seasons as long as you hand tighten only and make sure to not over heat the flax.

Did you use the teflon impregnated flax? It seems to do a much better job at making a good almost drip-free seal. Ours has about 500 hours of use since I installed it in 2004.

Terry Cox

 

[secondwind410]

Thanks for your reply Terry. I put it in by packing it with the packing nut, twisting it by hand. I tried to offset the rings but I am not sure if they moved once the nut was spun to push it in. I have been going over the procedure in my mind and I think the 1/4" must have been way too tight. I guess the 3/16 will compress to fill the gap or expand when in contact with water....I hope. I envisioned that it would have been a tighter fit. I will keep my fingers crossed at launch that it won't leak too much.

 

[secondwind410]

I did use the teflon impregnated flax type.
Dave

 

[Ken13559]

My H326 handbook says 3/16" on the 1" shaft but my yard thought its too small and put in 1/4". That's a tight fit. Too tight for any future adjustment I think. So next time I change it, it would be 3/16".

 

[secondwind410]

That is great to hear that your H326 handbook says 3/16 on the 1" shaft. It seemed loose but that 1/4" was very tight. Do you know if the flax packing expands with water or when tightened?

 

[Guest]

Hi Dave, it does. A slight correction to my earlier post. It was 2003 not 2004 when I last packed the box on our boat. It was 2004 when we last hauled the boat for some unrelated repairs. At splash time I became concerned at water flowing into the dry bilge only to find out the flax had dried out and shrunk allowing sea water to bypass. It stopped once the flax soaked up and expanded from the water.

Terry Cox

 

[Ken13559]

That is great to hear that your H326 handbook says 3/16 on the 1" shaft. It seemed loose but that 1/4" was very tight. Do you know if the flax packing expands with water or when tightened?

I don't think it expand with water, more like compression did it.

 

[Ken13559]

Hi Dave, it does. A slight correction to my earlier post. It was 2003 not 2004 when I last packed the box on our boat. It was 2004 when we last hauled the boat for some unrelated repairs. At splash time I became concerned at water flowing into the dry bilge only to find out the flax had dried out and shrunk allowing sea water to bypass. It stopped once the flax soaked up and expanded from the water.

Terry Cox

terry, i didn't think the packing would expand when wet, but since you've experience it, well perhaps i'm wrong about it.

 

[Guest]

Packing

It was really weird. The bilge was bone dry when the travel lift splashed the boat. I had the bilge open to keep an eye on things. All of sudden a stream of salt water comes trickling into the bilge.

I got real panicky and was about to instruct the lift operator to take her back out of the water when I checked the stuffing box. Sure enough that was the source. As I kept an eye on the rate of flow it gradually slowed to a drip then stopped altogether. It took about ten minutes for this all to happen.

Terry Cox