Stuffing box

[CaptSoterio]

First of, I bought this boat about a year ago and havent played around with it too much. I dont know when the stuffing box was last serviced but i know the rudder shaft box was serviced in '09.

So I took apart my stuffing box and to be honest, it didnt seem like it had any packing inside it what so ever. I didnt buy the right size packing for it so ive got to get it exchanged but anyways so the grease fitting on the stuffing box looks like it would prevent packing from going into the stuffing box. ontop of that it doesnt seem like there would be any space for grease.

okay, so instead of rambling my question is this, Why wouldnt my stuffing box have ANY packing material inside of it?

Then, without addding packing has anyone experienced only adding grease to stop the drip rate?

So as of right now, it only has grease in it. i will get a picture of my stuffing box by my second post.

 

[CaptSoterio]

 

[Vyndance]

Is that the transom or what is behind that bulkhead? That looks like a carrier bearing.

 

[Edelweiss]

Yup, That looks like a bearing assembly to me. I've never seen a shaft log that looks like that? Your shaft log should be on the other side of that bulkhead where the shaft goes through the bottom of the boat. Does the boat have a full keel under it? If so and that's a single engine, then the shaft would probably pass through the keel.
Larry B

 

[CaptSoterio]

behind the bulkhead is about 5 ft to the transom.

The shaft log is on the other side of that wooden bulkhead and itself is made out of fiberglass molded into the bottom. I havent seen the bottom of the boat yet so i dont know about the keel.

So are you saying the packing isnt supposed to be inside there?? its on the bottom side of it?

 

[psneeld]

behind the bulkhead is about 5 ft to the transom.

The shaft log is on the other side of that wooden bulkhead and itself is made out of fiberglass molded into the bottom. I havent seen the bottom of the boat yet so i dont know about the keel.

So are you saying the packing isnt supposed to be inside there?? its on the bottom side of it?

Well..who knows...your pic doesn't really show me anything unfortunately.

One possibility is that there is NO stuffing box...only some sort of bearing and the original owner just used grease.

Your "stuffing" box should have either 2 studs with nuts on them or a large nut that can be tightened down to compress the packing. I really can't see in your picture which kind it is...or isn't. Do you have something like this? If so..the packing goes right behind the fitting that tightens down when you tighten the nut(s).

 

[Forkliftt]

Maybe this?

Cap'- it sure looks similar to my old stuffing box. The difference is that mine has ears on the box with a nut the adjusting bolts screw into. Your box appears to have the female threads cast into it. I have water pumped to a fitting where your grease fitting is. Does it leak?

 

[Edelweiss]

behind the bulkhead is about 5 ft to the transom.

The shaft log is on the other side of that wooden bulkhead and itself is made out of fiberglass molded into the bottom. I havent seen the bottom of the boat yet so i dont know about the keel.

So are you saying the packing isnt supposed to be inside there?? its on the bottom side of it?

-----------------------------------------------
On the end of the fiberglass shaft log is there a length of black hose and a brass threaded pipe, collar and nut that the shaft passes through? If that is a "yes" the packing goes in the nut. If "no" then I have no idea what you have. Never seen a gland where grease was used as a water seal.
LB

 

[CaptSoterio]

water only leaks from underneath the shaft. there are two bolts each side of that flange that loosen it and tighten it. we took it apart again yesterday and added 4 rings of packing inside, in a couple hours we are going to take it out for an hour to test the heat levels and the drip rate.

I've looked at hundresds of pictures of stuffing boxes and i think that forklift is right it was just made with female threads. anyways ill see if i can get some more pictures today. i kept forgetting the camera and before when i started having an issue we had used electric tape to stop the leak.

 

[skipperdude]

Just a thought.
Did you really dig into where you put the new packing material?
After years of tightening the gland the stuff can get as hard as a rock.
I had to use one of those cork screws to get mine out.

SD

 

[CaptSoterio]

Just a thought.
Did you really dig into where you put the new packing material?
After years of tightening the gland the stuff can get as hard as a rock.
I had to use one of those cork screws to get mine out.

SD

we scraped and scraped with a metal pick and got nothing but grease. ran for about 30 min yesterday before sunset and the stuffing box was about 86F which is about 20 degrees higher than the surface temp of the water.