Yep, our stuffing box leaks. But wait…it’s supposed to. We have a traditional stuffing box (also known as a stuffing gland, packing gland, and other variations). In general, it’s “an assembly which is used to house a gland seal. It is used to prevent leakage of fluid, such as water, between sliding or turning parts.” – Wikipedia. For our application, the stuffing box is where the propeller shaft enters the boat. It’s packed with “stuffing” which is really just rings of braided fiber, sometimes hemp or flax impregnated with wax and a lubricant. Basically the this is what prevents water from entering the boat.
Ideally, the compression on the packing is just enough to make the seal both watertight when the shaft is stationary and drip slightly when the shaft is turning. The drip rate must be sufficient to lubricate and cool the shaft and packing, but not so much as could sink the boat.
Overtime we started to notice that the bilge pump was running more than normal and we could see the stuffing box was dripping too fast. Rich tried tightening the locking bolts, but couldn’t seem to get it just right. We figured the stuffing hadn’t been changed in over 10 years, so now was as good a time as any.
I could drone on about what worked and what went wrong, but it’s more interesting to just watch the videos. Disclaimer: This is not a “how-to repack your stuffing box” post. I suggest you go to Marine How To. He has very detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to do this.
