Hi Brett,
Forgive me if I am being too basic in my explanation, but I don't know your
prior level of expertise. First, there are three parts of the stuffing box.
See the picture here: Buck Algonquin 00PB75 Packing Boxes - Complete Assembly.
|
| |
Buck Algonquin 00PB75 Packing Boxes - Complete Assembly
00PB75 Buck Algonquin Packing Boxes - Complete on sale now. Huge savings on
Buck Algonquin hardware. | |
|
Note the smaller, thinner nut. This is a lock nut. If you haven't backed
that off, the larger part, that looks kind of like a nut (though is deeper)
won't move. This sounds like your problem. I had a '77 C&C 27 MKIII not far
from you, and given that you are in fresh water, I would doubt the nuts would
be corroded. So once you try that, the it is a question of whether you need
new packing or not. If you can tighten it down and stop the leaking, you don't
need to replace the packing (at least for now).
Now to the speed of the drips. You absolutely do NOT (and I will stress again
NOT) want to tighten it down so that it stops leaking completely. As another
poster noted, you need drips of water coming through the packing when the
engine is running to lubricate the shaft and keep it from getting so hot that
you score it. So, you want to tighten it enough that it doesn't drip when your
sitting in the water with the engine off, but dripping once every 15 - 30
seconds or so when the engine is running and in gear.
As for the packing material, West Marine and other chandleries sell packing
with PTFE (teflon), and some include a green kind of slimy "goo", or green
packing material that supposedly you can use to have a dripless packing. While
I like the basic material due to its increased lubrication factor (thus
hopefully not heating up the shaft), I did not (and would not) rely upon that.
Thus I would still keep it leaking a bit under way. As to the size of the
packing, I simply don't remember. You can crawl down and measure the
difference between the prop shaft and the outer nut, and start with a packing
material that is 50 - 75% of the difference as a starting point, with the idea
of returning the unopened material.
When putting in the material, I heard a good hint. Wrap the packing 3 times
around the shaft and use a razor blade to cut through the wraps. You're
looking to create 3 rings that fit the shaft. You then put them into the
stuffing box with the rings offset. If you can't get all 3 in, that's OK.
As for getting the old packing material out, I'f found the combination of an
dental pick and a large fishhook partially straightened out to be very helpful.
Though, if you are in the water, you may just end up putting one new ring of
material in the stuffing box and waiting until its out of the water to dig the
rest out.
Hoping this is helpful,
Whitmore
(847) 404-5092 (mobile)
bwhitm...@sbcglobal.net
From: Brett Robertson via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com>
To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com
Cc: Brett Robertson <brettrobertso...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2017 10:23 PM
Subject: Stus-List Stuffing Box on 1986 C&C 33 mk2
Hello and thanks for taking the time to read and respond. I’m a new owner of a
1986 C&C 33 mk2. My stuffing box is leaking/dripping. I’d say a drip every 3
seconds. I’m going to try and see if I can tighten it, but I briefly tried and
it was very difficult…maybe due to corrosion. Plan is to try again after some
PB Blaster or other compound to assist in loosening. I don’t know when the
stuffing was replaced previously.
Looking for some help in selecting the correct stuffing/packing size. I
believe you select the diameter of the packing material according to the shaft
size???
Many thanks for the help, any suggestions would be appreciated.
Brett Robertson
Oshkosh, WI
_______________________________________________
This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you wish to
make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to:
https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
_______________________________________________
This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you wish to
make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to:
https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
