Stuffing Box adjustment - How Warm Should it Get?

[dworfel]

Our dealer was aboard today working on adjustments to the stuffing box. During the adjustment process we found the stuffing box getting quite warm and I'm still not sure how much dripping we should be seeing. For those of you who've worked with the 355's stuffing box what drip rates are you seeing and how warm is the stuffing nut getting?

[Chris McDonnell s/v "Even Keel"]

Was just checking mine today. No drips at rest; one drip every 6 seconds when shaft is turning. Our water temp is in the 80's now, but the gland is not warm to the touch, so below body temp. Chris

[Mike Green]

Zero drip.  Very low temp.  Don't remember for sure, but quite low using a heat gun.

Mike Droid Green

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[Jon Vez]

Correct setting would be no dripping while at rest and cool/luke warm to the touch while underway. Counting drips while underway is very difficult, so if you use temp as a guide that is a good indicator I have a cheap temperature gun I use. Try to keep it no more than 10 degrees above water temp when motoring for several hours.

A couple of things--is it new packing? If so, it should take about an hour to break in and during that time the box will get rather hot, but should quickly settle out. Has the boat been in the water for a few days to give the packing time to swell?

Mine does drip very little when at rest. I keep a sponge under it to keep the boat dry. I probably need an 1/8th of a turn, but would rather have it stay lubricated rather than risk scoring the shaft.
If you do end up backing it off a bit to get correct temp., you may end up with a bit of a drip at rest as well since the packing once compressed typically stays that way. It's no big deal.

-----Original Message-----
From: catal...@googlegroups.com [mailto:catal...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of dworfel
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2014 6:11 PM
To: catal...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [Catalina 355:1151] Stuffing Box adjustment - How Warm Should it Get?

[dworfel]

Thanks for the response. Post adjustment, by the dealer, of the packing nut yesterday, We tracked the temp of the nut, today, with an infrared thermometer. Started at 67.4 degrees prior to engine start. Twenty plus minutes into motoring at aprox 2500 rpm, the nut was up to 165 degrees F. I was logging temp results for our dealer. Fortunately was able to shut the engine down and sailed the rest of the time.
Sent the results of testing to our dealer with my comments that the nut is running way to hot and I think re-packing is in order. By way of comparison, the packing nut in our 30 would hardly be warm after hours of motoring.

[Jon Vez]

Dave,
Definitely too warm. If you backed the nut off and it's still running hot is there any chance you are not getting sufficient water into the shaft log? Checking the Cutless Bearing for clogging may be worth a looking at. Good luck and let us know how you make out...

Jon

-----Original Message-----
From: catal...@googlegroups.com [mailto:catal...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of dworfel

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[Jeff Kanter]

What size packing material is needed, 1/4 or 3/16"? Can't find any reference

Also, the basin below the drip area drains through limber holes that carry the water around the engine bilge and comes out through more limber holes in the keel bilge. I'm not thrilled with this water sitting under the floor boards where it can produce mold.

Segue
#25

[stusm...@cox.net]

Jeff, I changed out the stuffing material to the teflon stuff and keep it
tight enough that I get very very little water drip and keep a small
absorbent pad underneath the stuffing box so I get 0 water in the bilge.
From all I read if you can touch the shaft after running the prop at cruise
for extended time it is cool enough. I used an infrared hand held
thermometer while under way and determined the temp to be about 115 degrees
on the box and less on the shaft, but like I say im told if you can touch
the shaft and box with a bare hand for awhile it is cool enough. I am not a
mechanic and would suggest you speak to one but this has worked for me for
the past 3 years.

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Kanter
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2016 6:02 AM
To: Catalina355
Subject: RE: [Catalina 355:2389] Stuffing Box adjustment - How Warm Should
it Get?

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[Jeff Kanter]

Thanks Stu, that's helpful, but you didn't tell me what size packing material is needed.

[stusm...@cox.net]

My boat came with three strips of the hemp type stuffing material 3/8". I
replaced them with teflon material and attempted to put three strips back in
but had difficulty, and because I was doing it in the water I wanted to do
it quickly so I put one strip of 1/4" sandwiched between 2 strips of 3/8" to
make it a little easier. When you put the strips side by side off-set the
places where the ends of the strips meet after being cut to size so that you
do not have them aligned (like 12 o'clock, 4 o'clock, and 8 o'clock) when I
haul this November I will try to get 3 strips of 3/8" in because I will be
out of the water and have more time. My current set-up has worked fine for
the past three years however.

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Kanter
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2016 10:21 AM
To: Catalina355
Subject: Re: [Catalina 355:2391] Stuffing Box adjustment - How Warm Should
it Get?

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[Jeff Kanter]

The owner of our local chandlery researched the issue for me and said all the packing nuts are made by the same company, Buck Algonquin, and that the packing for a 1" shaft (pretty sure that's what ours is) calls for 1/4" stuffing.

BTW, I emailed the question to Catalina but haven't had any response.