DRY PACKING!

[zeida]

Now that my transmission is out for 4 days, I am using the time and all that SPACE available back there to change the oil, oil and fuel filters, clean thoroughly all that area back there, etc. To take the tranny out, we removed the muffler, heat exchanger and all their hoses. However, we did not have to move the engine at all.

I am also replacing the regular packing by the newer DRY Non-Drip Green goo packing. I have read before somewhere in this board that somebody had tried it and was having a good experience with it. I'm tired of the drip... and if it really works, I will love it. Anyone else with good recommendations for the DRY packing? Anxiously awaiting reply. Thanks.
Zeida



zcecil@attglobal.net

[Ryan Turner]

I heard somewhere that the dry packings tend to score the prop shaft. The drip is annoying but it may be worth putting up with if it keeps the shaft healthy.



rturnertec@aol.com

[Ken Coit]

I am one proponent of the green goop teflon-based drip less packing material. However, I don't have a lot of operating hours on mine - maybe 5, so I am not full of experience, except in doing one installation. Five operating hours and many slip weeks later, mine has not leaked.

I did resell some material to another board member, but I didn't hear how it worked out. I think Bob Pence may use it as well.

There is not a lot of room in the packing gland. If you can get one stick of the material between the two rounds of standard flax you will be doing well. I can't imagine how the packing material could score the shaft since it is much softer than the flax and is heavily loaded with the teflon-based goop; it is not dry, it is without water and dripless; it ran cool to the touch, but I will continue to watch it. I have thought about putting a remote reading digital thermometer on it, so I could monitor the running temperature more closely, but I haven't.

Clean the shaft carefully, nothing will seal a rough shaft and still let it turn.

Good luck!

Ken Coit
S/V Parfait
CD-36 #84
Raleigh, NC

I heard somewhere that the dry packings tend to score the prop shaft. The drip is annoying but it may be worth putting up with if it keeps the shaft healthy.

parfait@nc.rr.com

[Lee H. Hodsdon]

Zeida,

I installed the green goo last winter. I am replacing the stuffing box hose this year (no, I don't have a good reason for not doing it last year!). The disassembly may occur this weekend interspersed with three hockey games, the Maine Boatbuilders Show and Frosty racing. I will let you know the state of the prop shaft after removal.

Sincerely,

Lee



lhodsdon@nh.ultranet.com

[Tom C.]

I am one proponent of the green goop teflon-based drip less packing material. However, I don't have a lot of operating hours on mine - maybe 5, so I am not full of experience, except in doing one installation. Five operating hours and many slip weeks later, mine has not leaked.

I did resell some material to another board member, but I didn't hear how it worked out. I think Bob Pence may use it as well.

There is not a lot of room in the packing gland. If you can get one stick of the material between the two rounds of standard flax you will be doing well. I can't imagine how the packing material could score the shaft since it is much softer than the flax and is heavily loaded with the teflon-based goop; it is not dry, it is without water and dripless; it ran cool to the touch, but I will continue to watch it. I have thought about putting a remote reading digital thermometer on it, so I could monitor the running temperature more closely, but I haven't.

Clean the shaft carefully, nothing will seal a rough shaft and still let it turn.

Good luck!

Ken Coit
S/V Parfait
CD-36 #84
Raleigh, NC

I heard somewhere that the dry packings tend to score the prop shaft. The drip is annoying but it may be worth putting up with if it keeps the shaft healthy.

Ken, I've had my greem goop in for over five years. It's never leaked and after 24 hours of rumming it is still absolutely cold to the touch. I agree it's less likely to score the shaft than the standard flax packing. There have been a lot of posts to our BB praising dripless packing systems and I don't recall anyone having a problem with scoring or any other problem.



TomCambria@mindspring.com

[zeida]

fyi: Today we removed the coupling from the shaft even if it was refusing to let go. It finally did come out. Then we removed the packing nut, then the second holding nut. We took out the old packing (in shreds and pieces) no wonder it was leaking... and installed one ring of standard packing, then the green goop in the middle, and another ring of standard packing to sandwich the green in. I cleaned the shaft meticulously with wet sandpaper and WD40 until it looked like gold, and found a thin scored line on it. We put lots of the Syntec lubricant on the shaft itself, replaced the two Spartan packing nuts and replaced the coupling, now immaculately clean. It took my friend Terry and me 3 hours to do the whole thing. If this really works, it will be well worth it. It was quite an experience.
Zeida



zcecil@attglobal.net

[Ken Coit]

Zeida,

Good show! How in the world do two people work on the stuffing box? Once I got into the engine compartment, I could hardly move. I finally opted to work from the quarter berth and really bruised my chest. I guess if you were able to work on it from inside the engine compartment, then it would be handy to have someone else to go fer stuff, cut flax to length, etc. Did you use a fish hook or something else to remove the old flax? Mine was so hard packed, I thought I'd never get it out. I had to modify the smallest corkscrew tool I could find; it was too large for the packing gland.

Congratulations on the 3-hour job!

Ken Coit

fyi: Today we removed the coupling from the shaft even if it was refusing to let go. It finally did come out. Then we removed the packing nut, then the second holding nut. We took out the old packing (in shreds and pieces) no wonder it was leaking... and installed one ring of standard packing, then the green goop in the middle, and another ring of standard packing to sandwich the green in. I cleaned the shaft meticulously with wet sandpaper and WD40 until it looked like gold, and found a thin scored line on it. We put lots of the Syntec lubricant on the shaft itself, replaced the two Spartan packing nuts and replaced the coupling, now immaculately clean. It took my friend Terry and me 3 hours to do the whole thing. If this really works, it will be well worth it. It was quite an experience.
Zeida

parfait@nc.rr.com

[D. Stump, Hanalei]

Zeida,

Does your Cape Dory have a 1" shaft, and did you use 1/4" packing? I'm getting ready to install the "Green Goop" in Hanalei, but don't know what size packing to use. Hanalei is a CD-30. Thanks for your help...

Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei CD-30

[Ken Coit]

Dave,

I think that all CDs use one inch shafts and 1/4 inch flax, but I don't guarantee that. Does anyone know better?

Ken

Zeida,

Does your Cape Dory have a 1" shaft, and did you use 1/4" packing? I'm getting ready to install the "Green Goop" in Hanalei, but don't know what size packing to use. Hanalei is a CD-30. Thanks for your help...

Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei CD-30

parfait@nc.rr.com

[zeida]

Dave: Bandolera is a CD-33 and yes, she has a 1" bronze shaft, which as of today, glows like gold (because I cleaned it and sanded down) prior to putting on the dry packing. With it you must use one ring of standard 1/4" packing, fill in the middle with the Green dry packing -one size fits all- you have to reshape the green stick or break it in pieces so that it fills the middle area, and then add another ring of standard packing on the outside. The green is sandwiched in between the two rings of regular packing. They must be smeared with the Syntex lubricant that comes with it. Also add this lubricant to the area in the shaft where the packing nuts go. We removed the coupling entirely in order to pull the packing nut out, remove the old packing from the inside of it, followed the instructions on the Drip-less packing and then placed it on the shaft again. It was not too bad, because I have my transmission, muffler and heat exchanger out of there, so I had the extra room to work with. Today my sump was totally dry, no more drips. Tomorrow, the born-again transmission goes back in, together with muffler, brand new stainless steel riser, heat exchanger, hoses et al. Good luck with your new packing. you will love it.
Zeida



zcecil@attglobal.net

[zeida]

Ken: FYI, I can go into the back of the engine area through the port cockpit locker, which has an opening that lets you slide in there. I fit (just barely) behind the engine and in front of the steering quadrant. From there I do lots of work on the engine. My friend Terry sort of lies over the engine -we put a piece of carpet that I have just for that- and he does all the hard pulling and tightening of nuts, etc. I do everything else from where I sit. I have the CD-33 which has a little more room for working. Cheers,
Zeida



zcecil@attglobal.net

[Ken Coit]

Zeida,

I am jealous! If I get my 220#s into the engine compartment and get positioned facing forward, I can reach the packing gland, it is between my feet. However, working on the packing material without removing the gland from the shaft, is just about impossible. As I said earlier, I ended up going at it from the quarter berth. My guess is that Parfait's port locker might have provided access at one point, but there is now a battery shelf that is definitely in the way. The shelf also makes getting to the port seacock for the cockpit drain a real bummer. I hope to work that out somehow.

Ken

Ken: FYI, I can go into the back of the engine area through the port cockpit locker, which has an opening that lets you slide in there. I fit (just barely) behind the engine and in front of the steering quadrant. From there I do lots of work on the engine. My friend Terry sort of lies over the engine -we put a piece of carpet that I have just for that- and he does all the hard pulling and tightening of nuts, etc. I do everything else from where I sit. I have the CD-33 which has a little more room for working. Cheers,
Zeida

parfait@nc.rr.com