Flax packing is prone to rot, expansion & contraction, which messe with adjustment, and has a higher propensity to score shafting. My one complaint with this GTU packing, made by Western Pacific Trading and sold through West Marine, is that it tends to fray easily and does not make the cleanest cuts even when using a brand new razor blade. From the fitting, the hose runs either to a place high above the waterline or, in the case of higher speed vessels into the engine’s raw-water cooling system. This one takes the cake. The cooler your stuffing box runs, the longer shaft life you'll have. It’s also perfectly fine to wrap one ring at a time and push the nut over it, but without turning it, until you get all three rings into the nut and staggered. Here’s a direct quote from a reader who used this article for directions. These packing materials also need a few drips per minute to run cool and not damage the shaft. With the newer packing materials, and misleading advertising, that use phrases like drip-less, the problems have only continue to escalate. Look at the inner clap on the shaft log. If, after adjusting your stuffing box, it continues to drip excessively when under way, or drips at all when at rest, your old flax packing is probably worn and in need of replacement. Adjust in small increments only and not more than one full flat of the nut at a time. Please do not use 2 ply or 2 ply wire reinforced hose. The first two pics below show what is properly described as a “packing gland” and also sometimes referred to as a “stuffing box… This is what the female stuffing box nut should look like, after you have removed all the old packing from it. The unclear marketing has caused DIY’s & professionals alike to think it means “dripless” not drips less. You install … As with any rubber hose below the waterline, it must be inspected regularly for signs of cracks, wear, aging, or chemical deterioration. Please be sure your hose clamps are clamping what they are intended to clamp. I can’t stress enough how much of a difference there is between a product like PB Blaster or Kroil and lousy penetrating products such as WD40. Please use due diligence to determine the proper packing size for your particular stuffing box. A stuffing box is no place for wire reinforced hose. Remove the bolts that connect the transmission to the … The idea behind this green moldable clay is that it will make your traditional stuffing box dripless. In light of this muddy marketing owners have been starving the packing box area of oxygen by not allowing any fresh oxygenated water to pass through it. Because the shaft nut does not compress the flax on the circumference, like the action created by a hose clamp, cutting it 45 degrees & parallel creates a less than optimal seal. Norscot Dripless Shaft Seals are designed for direct replacement of your present packing box. Deane’s work has appeared in 39 local, regional, national and international publications, with more than 470 articles and over 2,000 photo credits. Shaft has to be in good alignment and the stuffing box has to be repacked regularly and adjusted. (New packing is < $20) If the Dripless Shaft Seal rubber bellows ever cracks, rips or otherwise … Most folks are aware of chain plate and keel bolt corrosion but are often unaware that it can also happen to stainless alloy prop shafts. Teflon Packing- This packing material does not swell, does not rot and will stay adjusted longer. The key to preventing setscrew and rotor movement problems is to place a hose clamp on the prop shaft up against the forward face of the rotor, so that even if the rotor works loose, the hose clamp will prevent the rotor from moving away from the flange. Gore recommends not adjusting the stuffing box until you have run the boat in gear for about two hours of time. Word to the wise: When using these newer packings, tighten only enough to just stop the drip when not running, yet allowing a slow drip when shaft is turning. The thin one on the left is the locking nut and the big thick nut on the right is the packing nut. Water or Grease Lubricated. Don’t Rock The Boat: Prevention and Treatment Of Seasic... Propane Tank – Staying Ahead of Corrosion, RBAW – Lakebay Marina Purchase Back in Play, An Experience of a Lifetime – The Van Isle 360. This photo shows the old packing with the “miracle clay” and the new GTU packing. Use good wrenches and not pliers for safety’s sake. Unfortunately if I cut the rings in this manner they do not seal quite as well. C $97.10. Bellows fatigue can occur as the bellows material deteriorates over time. … IMPORTANT: I am not advocating the use of perforated hose clamps on a stuffing box. If the screws lose their grip, the bellows can slowly push the rotor forward on the prop shaft. The packing used on this shaft was Gore GFO a graphite impregnated packing. While a dripless shaft seal may be “dripless,” it is definitely not maintenance free. The material can become brittle with age, and a close inspection might reveal cracks, splits, or tears – problems may not be readily apparent on the surface of the bellows. Stuffing boxes are also called stuffing glands, packing glands or packing boxes but they are really all the same thing. Going one size to0 big can eventually wear a groove in the shaft and one size too small will never seal properly. The purpose of a stuffing box is to allow the propeller shaft to exit the hull while keeping water out. This owner was using a Teflon impregnated natural flax and thought when the advertising said “drip-less” that it meant it was supposed to be “dripless“. You can see the shiny surface where it meets the shaft and the thickness (3/16) of the flax its self. I have measured this now for over 6 years with various products. From United States +C $37.06 shipping estimate. Not all boats are prone to entrapped air in the shaft log, but many are. The thicker hose on top is specifically made for stuffing boxes. Seating the packing with no twists is important. WARNING: While I do like the performance of graphite impregnated packing materials such as Duramax Ultra-X, Gore GFO or Western Pacific Tradings GTU they can be potentially dangerous to underwater metals. In this photo I left about an inch between the male end of the stuffing box and the female nut. This is a good illustration of why the cut should be made the way I have shown above. Even with the female nut totally removed, in the water, I was getting, at best, 4 drips per minute with the nut off! An old diesel mechanic told me that he never removes the old packing, just adds a new ring. IMPORTANT: All traditional stuffing boxes require water for lubrication and this dripless-clay totally plugged the area between the shaft and the male end of the of the stuffing box as seen in the picture. Posted by Deane Hislop | Sep 27, 2018 | Maintenance | 0 |. This material offers the best heat transfer due to graphite’s inherent ability to transfer heat rapidly. You’ll ideally want it adjusted for nothing more than slightly different from the sea or lake water temp, about a 15 – 20 degree differential, or slightly warmer to the touch. So when I switched to Gore-GFO, I didn’t realize that it would not wear away like the flax did. All it takes is a quick blast of reverse, and the resulting bubbles forced up and in. Traditional flax packing can drip as little as about 5-10 drops a minute, if adjusted correctly, while running, and this drip rate allows lubrication of the shaft. Real Tobin Bronze shafting has been long gone for many years now, and as such, alloys in the stainless family, such as Aqumet & Nitronic are now being used it its place. Volvo dripless on my yacht, that's what it came with. Drip-Less packing was … What I have learned is that packing gland temperatures can be anything but static. Like what you saw or read? I can’t remember where I found this pick, perhaps Sears, but it used to be straight and was designed for removing engine seals! The bellows perform two functions. This is why stuffing boxes are intended to drip some. The result is a seal that's … The green-goo stuffing box actually got so hot, from the lack of water lubrication, that it started to smell and I burned & blistered my fingers when checking on it. The best rule of thumb I’ve found over the years is this: Aim for the least amount of drips when the shaft is spinning but before the box develops any heat rise beyond 15-20F, beyond sea or lake temps. Eventually, it will begin to leak. When initially installing the rings of packing lightly tighten the nut just until you start to feel some resistance then stop. I usually cut the rings in this manner but you could also cut them on the actual prop shaft too. The addition of graphite, as the performance lubrication, allows for minimal dripping and longer times between adjustments. Even after converting to a PSS dripless seal, before they introduced the vent, I found that boat needed to be burped, due to entrapped air, multiple times per season. This one comes up a bit on the short side so be careful in your cutting. These two surfaces, where the shaft and packing meet, tend to polish each other smooth, and if over tightened, can lead to premature shaft wear or excessive heat. If using these graphite impregnated packing materials I would strongly suggest checking the shaft at least yearly. Use 4 ply minimum, non-wire reinforced hose. But, the zinger is always the same. In this photo it’s much easier to see the two distinct nuts. These packing products are galvanically inert but are not readily available in the marine market. With GFO they claim temps up to the 125-130F range are technically safe for the packing. I took this photo to show the female nut with the old flax still in it. Buck Algonquin and others sell packing box wrenches and they can be purchased from vendors such as Hamilton Marine. This article was done in my shop and I used what was easily on hand to make the article work. Flow should be about one gallon per minute at engine idle. The Gore is the one of the best of the flax type packing materials in terms of heat dissipation but it is at the very, very top of the galvanic scale, which can cause other issues. Little details like this make for an easily adjusted stuffing box with a correct drip to temp ratio. The cooler your stuffing box runs, the longer shaft life you’ll have. This boat came darn close to sinking. There are a number of manufacturers of dripless shaft seals and a variety of designs. With GFO they claim temps up to the 125-130F range are technically safe for the packing. as your prop shaft and then cut away. The final adjustment will be made after running the motor and shaft for a while. Well, like anything dealing with boating, it’s not always easy but can be done with a little Yankee ingenuity. Ideally they should be but many are not. GFO Allows Bilges To Stay Dry. GFO and Ultra-X barely fray at all when cut. Over the decades there have been more than a few boats sunk by improper adjustments of the stuffing box nuts. Initially I thought it was some Gore GFO I had lying around but GFO has the words “GFO” embossed right on the packing and after going through the photos carefully I could not find the silk screened GFO logo. When ever possible try to get at least three rings of packing in your stuffing box as most are designed for at least three. Most references suggest replacing the rubber stuffing box hose every seven to ten years. Even the newer synthetic W.L. Temp spikes and excessive heat are likely what caused this stuff to clog my shaft log over time. Another pit fall, when a stuffing box is run totally sealed and “dripless“, is that they can trap air up in the shaft log. Proper adjustment for GFO, GTU or Ultra-X is up to a few drops per minute when the shaft is spinning. Your donations help keep the content coming and also help keep it free. For this process I cut the 1-1/4 inch PVC pipe to 2-1/2 inches long. Please do not get in the habit of tightening the stuffing box when leaving the boat. Please be careful. You’re probably wondering why I used 1 1/4 inch PVC if I had a 1 inch prop shaft? This photo shows three rings installed. *When loosening the nuts the two wrenches are moved towards each other. I though it would be a good time to rig it up in my shop and illustrate how to replace the packing material inside one of these tried & true work horse style stuffing boxes. Keep in mind this did not happen instantaneously and took approx 240 hours of run time to accumulate enough Syntef/Clay gunk to clog the stuffing box. Dripless Stuffing Boxes; Avoid the Pitfalls, and Keep Your Bilge Dry Face seals rely on the spring tension created by a bellows-type hose.€ The system is simple and effective. There is actually a fair amount man-handling, of the rings, between the time when they are cut and inserted and some measure of fray prevention should be attempted when using Western Pacific Trading GTU or just use GFO or Ultra-X. Like conventional stuffing boxes, dripless seals should not operate at a temperature that is greater than 30 degrees Fahrenheit … While many have claimed good success with these miracle lubes others have not, including myself. The green stuff in the image is the “moldable clay” shown with the two rings of packing that came out of the female stuffing nut. It happens more often than you might think. A new or well-maintained dripless shaft seal will do exactly what the manufacturer claims it will do: provide a vibration tolerant, drip-free stuffing box. GTU is a knock off of Gore GFO, but it frays worse due to the poorer braid design. Natural flax based packing’s are not elastic and do have a memory, in a sense, and they will not necessarily return to their uncompressed state. Do not make any adjustments to the packing nut, with traditional flax, for at least 24 to 48 hours after launching as the plant based flax packing will absorb moisture and swell. Over the last 10-15 years there has been a startling rise in crevice corrosion of prop shafting. I’ve received far too many emails asking what this packing material is to ignore them, so here are the details. Premature tightening of traditional flax packing can result in potential problems. Do not use graphite packing’s. On the day I shot this I did not have any  non-perforated AWAB hose clamps to fit this hose. Thread engagement is critical and my personal preference is for four full thread peaks of engagement between the female nut and male stuffing box threads. Measure these temps after the shaft has spun for a while. If you happen have your shaft out, this makes for an opportune time to replace your stuffing box hose as well. Do not get stressed if you can not make it drip free at rest as not all shafts are in good enough condition for this to always be the case. This is advice that every boat owner with dripless shaft seals should heed. Ideal upgrade replacement dripless shaft seal for sail or power boats. Oops……. 3 1/2" to 36" Diameter Shaft: Water Lubricated. This swelling can cause overheating of the stuffing box, if it’s adjusted too quickly after launch. One of the last things you want to do, if changing your packing in the water, is to cut your rings during the project. The Buck Algonquin product is six-ply. In my opinion & experience monitoring stuffing box temps over a 6+ year period, 125F – 130F generally means there is not enough cooling flow through the box. When doing this in a boat it is a very good idea to mark the exterior of the nut where each seam is so you can stagger them. This photo shows the female nut sliding over the packing insertion tool and seating the packing rings. Buy It Now. Making this tool took less than five minutes but can really save time and headaches. Also, please be aware that after you install a graphite impregnated packing you will see some accelerated anode erosion rates. If you can’t find Buck Algonquin hose in the size you need you could use a minimum of 4 ply non-wire reinforced hose. They also are available with added lubrication. Graphite Extruded Teflon – These products usually have the graphite lube physically extruded into the Teflon yarn before it is braided. Doing this will severely shorten the life of your packing and it will start leaking, continuously, in short order. One wrench is a traditional pipe wrench and the other is a spanner wrench designed for a sink drain. I told you this was a little confusing. Crevice corrosion is worst when a stainless alloy is in contact with seawater, and also oxygen starved. And, because it … While the idea of a dripless shaft seal is not new this stuff, in my opinion, is probably not the ideal way to go dripless. In this picture it’s easier to see the 45 degree cut and how the two ends of the packing will join together. Copyright 1994 - 2019 Compass Marine Inc. | All Rights Reserved, Do not use graphite packing in the stuffing box. The rubber hose connects the bronze stuffing box to the boats shaft log and needs to be replaced periodically. I custom made my own tool for this & it has a similar thickness to the flax for stuffing the nut (see the tool below). The ABYC and Western Branch Metals (The largest prop shafting manufacturer in the US) specifically disallow the use of graphite packing materials. If you want a totally dry bilge then a dripless type seal such as a PSS or Las-Drop is the way to go. After 15 years of successfully handling demanding … It is an inexpensive packing but low in performance. Even a sheet rock screw can be used to remove flax but in tight spaces it’s nice to have a couple of bends in your flax removal tool. Would you like to see more articles like this? Packing Type Seal: Axial Shaft Seal: 3/4" to 7" Diameter Shafts. Dress the hose and secure. The second form of fatigue consists of what is known as “compression fatigue,” where the bellows lose its resistance to compression after years of being in a compressed state. When adjusting other types of flax the stuffing box should be relatively cool/warmish to luke warm, at most. Retighten the packing nut to compress the flax around the shaft and slow the water drip rate. Extruding the lubricant (graphite), mixed into the yarn, is a far superior process than “impregnating” the product after the extrusion & braiding process. Using a screw driver will not give you the correct angle to seat the flax properly and could potentially mess up the joints or put twists in the flax rings. This Buck Algonquin hose, sized for a 1 3/4″ shaft log, can be purchased from Hamilton Marine for about $9.00 or less. Some vessels are more prone to this than others. This was not a real boat and in the process of photographing this I man handled the rings far more than you would. NOTE: Please ignore the fraying. With GTU or Gore GFO etc. Most dripless stuffing boxes rely on a ultra-flexible hose to allow the sealing portion of the assembly to align to and “float” on the shaft. What you can’t see in this picture is the sharp end of my pick has been firmly embedded into the first flax ring and I’m ready to pull it out of the nut. When I went to inspect the burning smell I reached out to touch the stuffing box and blistered my finger tips with burns. They require a medium drip-rate for optimal lubrication. What I discovered is that air can become entrapped in the shaft log and with no cooling water, meaning no drips, you can, quite suddenly and without warning, develop a massive temp spike. This high performance non-graphite packing, SynBraid®, is a 100% galvanically inert synthetic high performance packing, not a “PTFE infused” product with acrylic or flax yarns making up the braid. Second, it acts as a spring, pushing the flange against the rotor. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. My 36’ sailboat has a traditional stuffing box with Goretex packing that has served us fine. Advocates of dripless shaft seals are quick to point out their benefits over conventional stuffing boxes – no leaks, no flax to replace, no shaft scoring. Deane is a freelance writer and photographer specializing in recreational boating and the yachting industry. The use of dripless shaft seals has become widespread in the past decade, and, unlike traditional stuffing boxes, when a dripless shaft seal (DSS) fails, the resulting flooding is at least … Some boxes will even drip when the shaft is not spinning and this can be entirely normal depending on the condition of your shaft. If you’ve tried the above method and the nuts don’t break apart use a little bit of PB Blaster or Kroil. Unfortunately it is not yet on the market and is still in the testing stages. The temp stayed at steady at 85-102F for over three hours. This is typical of the space you’ll have on many production boats. With the engine running and in neutral, remove the water feed line, cap the seal fitting, and capture the flow in a bucket. If you have a bronze shaft please use extreme caution with graphite impregnated packing materials. I then inserted this 2-1/2 inch piece into my bench vise and used a hack saw to make two more cuts. Remember when I talked about air entrapment in a packing gland causing temp spikes, I suspect this was it. In this picture I have two of the three rings wrapped around the shaft in a stepped and alternated order. For illustrative purposes I cleaned the stuffing box of it’s oxidation and grime with my a stainless wire brush. This is four thread peaks with three rings installed and seated. Run the engine in gear and then readjust the nut to achieve this rate. You’ll want to offset the rings butt-joints 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 for a three ring box or 1/2 & 1/2 or said another way 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock for a two-ring box. The compression of the packing nut seals the butted ends together nearly perfectly. However, I found my bronze shaft had suffered some wear, probably due to over tightening. We now know where the ABYC stands on graphite packing but what about the largest prop shaft manufacturer in the United States, and possibly the world, Western Branch Metals? It does not fray when cut like GTU does. Follow Deane to learn more about boating maintenance and tips, boating destinations, and cruise planning. Is so feel free to donate, support the site and keep it growing. A huge convenience, these multi-seal propeller shaft seals are dripless, so there is no leaking or spraying of seawater into the bilge - as with conventional "stuffing boxes". Top Rated Seller Top Rated Seller. With all that said there are still many happy boaters who have had decent results with these graphite packing’s. Again, it’s a drip to heat ratio not necessarily just a drip ratio. Adjustments should be made in either half a nut-flat or “one nut-flat” (of the nut) at a time. Again, many folks claim good success with the miracle-goo so take my advice as cautionary only and do your own research beyond what I’ve said. Allowing a packing box to drip helps to keep the water in the shaft log from becoming oxygen depleted. There is a good reason traditional style stuffing boxes are meant to drip. This is the last step. The article is about re-packing the stuffing box not about the hose clamps. DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN THE NUT. Razor blades are cheap. At one point during testing we had motored for over 3 hours using a graphite impregnated packing set for less than a drip every three to four minutes. Dripless is a term that is best forgotten in regards to standard traditional stuffing boxes. We hit some prop wash from a large yacht and within 3-4 minutes the packing gland was pushing 300F. Cut it and then shave one end down until you get the correct fit over the shaft where the two ends butt perfectly. Water pump pliers will, in many cases, not work very well or will not get the nuts tight enough after adjustment. When you are replacing your packing you will most likely never see this view unless you remove the transmission coupling and take the nut off. Packing Nut Showing Syntef & Teflon Flax The idea behind this green "moldable clay" is that it will make your traditional stuffing box dripless. Ouch! I was used to using flax packing and adding a ring every year or few. Please DO NOT feel obligated at all. A friend almost lost his 44’ sailboat to a dripless seal, and I’ve heard of other problems with the system. IMPORTANT: Please do not use wet exhaust hose, as  shown below the Buck Algonquin hose. The butt ends of the rings should not look like this. I now know that spot temp checks do not tell the whole story. Once enough air becomes trapped up in the shaft log the packing box, you thought was cool to the touch, begins cooking while you least expect it. The down side to graphite impregnated packing’s is that graphite is the most noble element on the galvanic scale. This sediment now kept the stuffing box air entrapped and eventually a burning smell notified me to the problem in the bilge. I’ve provided full installation instructions for that type of seal too in another article. Going full dripless can potentially lead to the destruction of your prop shafting from the effects of crevice corrosion. Loosen the packing-gland locking nut and the compression nut. The have a lower temperature performance rating than Teflon yarns and sit in-between flax and Teflon for performance. For a proper inspection, at the very least, the rotor should be moved a few inches out of the way so that it can relax and so that stretching and twisting can reveal any cracks or splitting of the material. Shafting and can actually be detrimental, if it ’ s a drip to heat vibration... Boating and the thickness ( 3/16 ) of the box and uses rings... Packing and adding a dripless packing for stuffing box every year or few fraying I discussed earlier though! Yarns the braid is made by buck Algonquin and others sell packing box properly adjusted, you lock nuts! 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Can only be described as, remnants of the stuffing box nuts any non-perforated 316... Received far too many emails asking what this packing material now we have not only the but!: when you cut rings this way they will not get the correct fit over decades... Confusing but there actually is a big spike in box temp properly seated, I found my bronze shaft use! And break in as I measured it with an infrared thermometer traditional pipe wrench and the box... Axial shaft seal: 3/4 '' to 7 '' Diameter Shafts end down until you removed. Decades there have been more than you would used what was easily on hand to make two more cuts stay... Remnants of the packing insertion tool and seating the packing rings into the yarn. Plumbing hose with traditional flax packing can result in potential problems then overheated by running dry. Sit in-between flax and Teflon for performance SS, can cause overheating of the nut to achieve rate. The most noble element on the big thick nut on the left, is the same thing bellows can... Have measured this now for over three hours shafting from the effects of crevice corrosion on. Is dripless packing for stuffing box of the stuffing box essentially preventing any cooling or lubricating water from getting the...