captain58
2011-10-03 19:03:55
I am getting ready to perform a main engine / transmission swap and at the time I will have very good access to the shaft packing gland, and I was wondering if anyone could recommend the best packing material? I know they have teflon impregnated and others, and it has been so long since I have dealt with it, I was wondering about recommendations. Thanks in advance.
entropy1
2011-10-03 21:55:08
If you can keep the stuffing box clear of grease and oil, goretex packing has worked great for me. You can keep it tight to the point of no dripping and it still runs cool. I couldn't quite bring myself to this and left it drip ever so slightly. Great stuff, runs cool and long wearing but was told grease and oil would damage it. wasn't a problem the way my shaft alley was set up.
captain58
2011-10-04 16:40:43
Thanks for the comeback. The problem I have with that is the gland is fitted with a grease zerk, and it has been receiving regular shots of grease, I don't think I will be able to get it all cleaned out. It is good to know that the packing will not tolerate grease.
stormbird
2011-10-05 01:51:24
I'd just go back with regular flax packing, the stuff that's greased with tallow. It's almost exclusively what we use at my yard, and we do this dozens of times a year. There's just not that much to be gained by going with the modern replacements.
A thought about the zerk fitting: sometimes you'll find a bronze ring in the middle of the packing rings. Say there were 5 rings of flax packing, you might find three against the spud, and then the bronze ring, and then the other two rings of flax. The bronze ring is a little smaller in OD than the flax rings, and gives a little 'reservoir' of grease inside the stuffing box. It would be nice to get this ring back in the same general spot in the stack of packing rings, so it more or less lines up with that zerk. Other times the zerk is arranged to squirt grease into the stern tube aft of the stuffing box, in which case all of the above is out the window. Good luck.
lone eagle
2011-10-05 03:21:44
My zerk fitting is in the wheelhouse; copper pipe runs from it down to the stuffing box, makes life a little easier.
salmontroll
2011-10-05 04:51:06
my last boat had a zirc fitting that shot grease into the shaft log. behind the lasdrop shaft seal.....four seals in a chamber around the shaft, filled with hydraulic oil... no maintenance other than checking the fluid level once a year. worked great