Don:
Can't say exactly what your problem might be....you said you used 1/4
inch flax....on what size prop shaft? I have a 1" shaft and use 3/16"
and it works fine. This might be helpful:
https://marinehowto.com/re-packing-a-traditional-stuffing-box/
Can't suggest anything with the engine issue....not my expertise....but
if air is getting into your fuel system, it will stall your engine.
I had problem that involved an 'air leak'....not the same as yours but
significant.....launched, started the engine, no water exhaust from the
transom thruhull....stop engine, check all hose connections, thru hulls
which don't ever get closed over winter are all open....start engine, no
water exhaust.....now what....finally put light on the raw water
strainer with glass bowl which still has antifreeze....tighten the 2
wing nuts on the top of the strainer which was sucking air and not sea
water and we are good to go. It can be that simple or worse.
Rob Abbott
AZURAbut
C&C 32 - #277
Halifax, N.S.
On 2018-12-02 10:39 p.m., DON JONSSON via CnC-List wrote:
Stuffing Box Issues
In the last week we took the boat out of the water, put on a new Campbell
Sailor prop., pulled the shaft and put in a new cutlass bearing, and repacked
the stuffing box.
Considering it is a boat all went reasonably well. As an aside we are very
happy with the prop in the short test we did. More power and way smoother than
the two bladed prop we took off. Way smoother.
However, this was my first attempt at doing the stuffing box and it is not
going well. Previously I always paid someone, perhaps a lesson there. I'm
hoping someone can give some insight.
We used flax rings 1/4 inch which seem to fit well into the nut. They were cut
at 45 degrees and the cuts placed at different positions around the shaft.
Before being pushed in. We used 4 rings.
At the moment it is dripping slightly when not running. When starting out the
box drips slowly when at idle whether in gear or not. As you power up it
continues to drip but as the box warms up the dripping slows down, causing the
box to get warmer and warmer. Ultimately the dripping stops and things get
hot. When you stop and go back to idle and let it cool down it ultimately
starts to drip again. You can loosen the nut so that when not running you are
getting a steady drip, but when you power up the process repeats itself.
So the question is what have I done wrong?
Dirty Fuel Blues
In a previous email I talked about fuel problems we were having that seemed
odd. Odd in that we thought it was dirty fuel but the primary filter wasn't
that dirty. And we ultimately got the engine running again without changing
the filter. Someone suggested that it could be air in the top of the Racor 500
filter and then when running the engine while motor sailing if you had enough
heel you would get bubbles in the fuel line which would cause the problem. And
that scenario of motor sailing is what was going on shortly before the engine
died. Sure enough we had air in the top of the filter, which we thought
could have been from not properly filling it when we recently (previous to the
problem) changed the filter. So we drained the tank, sucked out everything on
the bottom so that it is reasonably clean, changed the filters and filled to
the top the Racor 500. Everything runs fine now, except the top of Racor
housing continues to get about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of air in it. We
have checked lines, tightened everything that can be tightened, etc. All the
fittings have been re-taped and tightened, etc.
That air has to be coming from somewhere, right? And we think that was the
cause of our engine quitting.
Any ideas?
As always, thanks.
Don
Andante, C&C 34, Victoria
Sent from my iPad
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