Stuffing Box

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davehogue555

New member
Thanks to the administrators of C-Brats for this forum and thanks Ranger Jeff for participating. It's a good feeling to know that even as far as I am from the factory and any Ranger dealer I can still get official info on my new Soulmate........well, she's not new, but new to me. Ranger Jeff, is there a written procedure on changing the packing in the stuffing box? Diameter of packing material? I bought my R21 with 50 hours on her and have no idea of the status of the packing. It "leaks" a gallon or so an hour which I think is too much, but maybe not.
Thanks for your help.
Dave
 
That's too much, no matter what kind of box you have. If it is a flax filled, take up a turn to tighten the stuffing material. It shouldn't leak a gallon in a week or two.
 
I had never heard of the Drip-Less packing material until now, sounds pretty cool. I used to use a FMC stuffing box. FMC used these in the vegetable processing industry. They are a graphite ring in a special housing. They require virtually no care, just burp them when you put them in the water. I put about 5000 hours on one and didn't do anything but give it a periodic inspection. They were especially good in restricted areas where the Lasdrop and others were too big to fit.
 
Dave...You bet that is too much.....way too much !!!
I doubt my packing box leaks a cup full in an entire season...4 months in the water... I don't have a Ranger tug, mine is a Sea Horse tug.... your packing nut is too loose...you can really reef down on those suckers...don't be afraid of it... all your doing is compressing the packing....and it lasts for years and years...probably 5 or 6 at least.. heck it is the same packing I use on the water pump on my Model A Ford and that lasts years...

I use a teflon type packing that I buy from West Marine...its a string like material...but don't use it like a string... what you do is cut the material and make rings of it then install the rings so the cuts never line up...
You tighten it up until the drips stop....and leave it...if you notice more drips take another 1/2 turn on it...and so on...until the drips just stop...won't hurt anything...your just compressing the packing.

I also have some lead coated packing that I have used on the old car for 30 years... but I think the teflon packing is so much better...and nicer to work with... it's easy.

I should be in Texas in a couple of weeks...riding cross country on my motorcycle... if ya need I will stop and show ya how it's done...

Joel
SEA3PO
 
Hello Dave,

Congratulations on your new boat. The stuffing box on the 2005 R21 is under the battery. It would be pretty unusual to need to change the packing material with just 50 hours on the boat. There is a lock nut on the front of the box that will need to be loosened. The packing nut can then typically be turned by hand. adjusting the packing nut should be done in 1/4 turn increments. The packing material is 1/4 by 1/4.

Ranger Jeff
 
Hiya Ranger Jeff.... It sure is good to see ya on da site... Yes I agree with you, packing material should not leak... and lasts forever if adjusted properly... We sure don't want to loose track of you, at C-Dory you were one of the "Good Guys" that made the boat so special....

I have a Sea Horse 21 tug... much like the Ranger, maybe a bit wider but along the same lines.... it originally came with a Yanmar 2 cylinder and I replaced it with a Yanmar 3 cylinder 30hp diesel... great boats...

Joel
SEA3PO
KEA (the tug)
 
Happy Tugging,

Jeff'a message gave you the needed info to purchase packing material. It is not expensive so get some from your boat store. I too like the teflon type after I repacked my Monk it lasted for over two years and was still OK when I sold her.

I was told that a little dripping while you are running helps to keep things cool so adjust accordingly. If you keep your boat in the water over the winter and not using her just take a turn and stop the dripping. Be sure to loosen the gland on the spring. The advise about cutting circles was right on.

Have Fun!
 
When cutting the circles, we make the cut oblique with a razor at 45 degrees. Usually three rings of packing are correct--and stager the rings.

I also like the teflon impregnated gortex packing, and put in moderate amount of teflon grease as I pack. Doing this I had my stuffing boxes so that they were virtually leak free and yet ran cool. Definately a gallon an hour is way too much.

It will be hard to check to see if the rings were put in correctly (not spiraled) at this point. I probably would put in some teflon grease (Syntef) and then tighten the nut on the shaft until there is no leakage. Check the shaft when running. It should be slightly warm to the hand, but not hot. If it is hot, then you may need to repack.
 
Thanks to all for the info, I think I'm going to repack it just so I can learn how and have a known starting point on the wear and adjustment.

Joel, what part of Texas are you crossing? There's a saying about motoring across Texas........."The sun has riz and the sun has set, and here I is...........in Texas yet." Stop by, if you're down this way.
Dave
 
If you crank down too hard, you can prevent all water from coming through. With
normal non-teflon packing, at least, you can score the shaft with dry packing.
Once you score the shaft, it will not stop leaking. At that point, you can either
resurface the shaft or put in a dripless. A dripless will only work if it happens
to attach in a location that is not scored.

Mike
 
I was thinking....I assumed that you were talking about your rudder packing box...and not your shaft seal.... I use the teflon packing material on my rudder box, but changed to the Packless Sealing System for my shaft seal....it uses a carbon ring and a spring to keep tension on the sealing surface....and works super... but it's kinda expensive...$220 ...it's one of those things you set and forget... I see it every time I fill my tanks as my fuel gauge is close to it, but never have seen a drip ....probably been on there for 8 to 10 years... never touched it... fairly easy to install...I bought mine from West Marine.

I will be riding through Texas about the 20th...(hopefully) on Interstate 10
if you will be home I will give ya a call...we can do lunch....

Joel
SEA3PO
 
Dave:
As Jeff has noted, you should not have to change the stuffing at 50 hours.

1. Make sure that your engine alignment is correct and that your engine is seated firmly. An engine that is even slightly mis-aligned or is vibrating from being loose will cause the stuffing box to drip like crazy. Don't ask me how I know.

2. If your stuffing box is anything like the one I had in my trawler: hand-tighten the first nut and then back the second nut TIGHT against it, otherwise the first nut can work loose when you are under way. You do not want this to happen unless you want to find out how good your bilge pump is.

3. With standard packing, the stuffing box should drip a little bit while the shaft is turning- perhaps 1 drop a minute. This shows that the stuffing is not too tight. If it is not dripping at all, you run the risk of having the stuffing too tight and scoring the shaft. I have never used dripless packing, so I cannot comment on that.

After adjusting the stuffing box I used to leave a small pan under it. As long as I had a little water in the pan, I knew that the packing was correct.
 
Alok":1z27tvq3 said:
Dave:
....
I have never used dripless packing, so I cannot comment on that.
Click to expand...

I don't think there is any such thing as dripless packing. There are
mechanical shaft seals that can be installed in place of a stuffing
box that are dripless. I used to have a boat with PSS shaft seals.
They worked pretty well. I need to install them because the previous
owner had tightened the packing down to the point where the
shafts were heavily scored and leaked quite a bit. The PSS happened
to sit on the shaft in a different location and so were able to get a
good seal.

Mike
 
After getting my boat back last Saturday after 9 weeks, I discovered that the stuffing box leaks at about 2 drops per second. I've read this post throughly, in addition to the link which was presented earlier, but still need some help in trying to fix this.
I spoke with John, and he stated that the smaller nut in the rear is the lock nut, and I would need to loosen that then finger tighten the bigger nut which contains the flax.

I tried to loosen the lock nut, tried both clockwise and counterclockwise, using a pack nut wrench which I just picked up yesterday. It wouldn't budge. Besides being in a location which is very difficult to get to, therefore I couldn't apply alot of pressure, in addition to the fact that I didn't want to put too much torque on it and break something.

So, I wanted to get your expertise.

Which nut is the locknut?
Which direction do I turn the lock nut, as I'm facing the stern? Clockwise? Counterclockwise
Which direction should the nut with the flax be turned to tighten?

Here is the link to the stuffing box. I've got it listed in my album.

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _album.php
 
Kimshack.........I haven't tackled mine yet, so I'm not the right person to answer your questions. Maybe Ranger Jeff will give us some info. What in the world did you have done to Kimshack that took 9 weeks :?: Sounds expensive :!:
 
I had a sailboat with packing. Tried adjusting it, either too tight or too loose, and there always was water in the bilge. When I hauled it to paint the bottom, I installed a PSS Shaft Seal. Its a carbon/stainless rotating joint, loaded by the bellows used to seal the shaft. It's also used on rocket engines on the propellant pumps. That was the end of the problem, and I kept the boat for another 10 years. They only cost ~250 bucks, and with what they get for a boat these days, and the pain in the rear stuffing boxes are, I don't understand why the factory doesn't use them.

Install it yourself next time the boat is on a trailer. It's easy to put on, and well worth the effort. In addition, you'll have a dry bilge.

Boris
 
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