Bertram31.com General Bulletin Board

Re: GFO Packing

Posted By: Sean Burlingham
Date: Thursday, 13 April 2006, at 12:29 p.m.

In Response To: Re: GFO Packing (Capt. Dave Kosh)

Thanks Doug, I was curious what your problem with the GFO was. I'm surprised you had problems with all four packing glands, shafts and rudders, that is odd. Maybe you ran into a bad batch of GFO. Your experience seems to be atypical.

In my rudders, which took 6 rings, we did one ring of normal flax packing first, then 4 GFO, then another flax ring on the top. The idea being that the GFO was so soft it might squeeze out the bottom, so between the flax rings it should compress and do it's job. These have performed very well. I guess I didn't need the flax ring on the top though.

My shafts are a different matter. One is aligned correctly and is absolutely fine. As for the other, the engine/shaft/strut is about maybe 1/4" out of alignment with the shaft log. Seemingly a factory defect, that I can't fix without moving the strut, and won't fix unless/until I upgrade shaft sizes, another future Project.

So anyway, that side's stuffing box has to make a little jog to the side, and that one eats packing. I have to tighten that one every few weeks to keep it drip-free, about twice as often as the other, and when I do I have to crank it down more too. It received six rings of GFO about 18 months ago, and I'm out of room to tighten any more, it's all been consumed.

So I have to add more there, and I'll admit I'm a little nervous about removing the top of the gland to re-pack while in the water. A buddy of mine swears it's safe to do if you're careful but I'll still be sweating. Obviously I'm not removing the old stuff this way, just going to add more GFO for now.

But I'm still glad for the GFO, I think the flax would be scoring that shaft that is out of alignment with the log. I'm not convinced about the dripless ones, I know they work great but I don't like the idea that a plumbing problem (cooling water line) has the potential to sink the boat. But that discussion is a can of worms here...

Messages In This Thread

Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
John F. -- Thursday, 2 February 2006, at 2:09 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
Vic Roy -- Thursday, 2 February 2006, at 3:06 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
JP Miller -- Thursday, 2 February 2006, at 3:51 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
Vic Roy -- Thursday, 2 February 2006, at 4:32 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
JohnD -- Thursday, 2 February 2006, at 5:10 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
Doug Crowther -- Thursday, 2 February 2006, at 5:15 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
Dan -- Thursday, 2 February 2006, at 5:23 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
John F. -- Thursday, 2 February 2006, at 6:12 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
Doug Crowther -- Thursday, 2 February 2006, at 7:40 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
andre fourrier-Louisiana -- Thursday, 2 February 2006, at 8:37 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
John F. -- Thursday, 2 February 2006, at 8:39 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
John D -- Thursday, 2 February 2006, at 9:26 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
Dan -- Friday, 3 February 2006, at 6:37 a.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
Mack -- Friday, 3 February 2006, at 9:13 a.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
John F. -- Friday, 3 February 2006, at 9:48 a.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
Doug Crowther -- Friday, 3 February 2006, at 1:01 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
cwj -- Friday, 3 February 2006, at 1:14 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
Doug Crowther -- Friday, 3 February 2006, at 4:36 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
cwj -- Saturday, 4 February 2006, at 5:47 a.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
randall -- Friday, 3 February 2006, at 2:18 p.m.

Re: Install of Capt. Pat's rudders
Dan -- Friday, 3 February 2006, at 6:44 p.m.

GFO Packing
Sean Burlingham -- Thursday, 13 April 2006, at 1:24 a.m.

Re: GFO Packing
Doug Crowther -- Thursday, 13 April 2006, at 9:49 a.m.

Re: GFO Packing
Doug LeBlanc -- Thursday, 13 April 2006, at 10:14 a.m.

Re: GFO Packing
Capt. Dave Kosh -- Thursday, 13 April 2006, at 10:57 a.m.

Re: GFO Packing
Sean Burlingham -- Thursday, 13 April 2006, at 12:29 p.m.

Re: GFO Packing
Doug Crowther -- Thursday, 13 April 2006, at 2:31 p.m.

Re: GFO Packing
andre fourrier - Louisiana -- Thursday, 13 April 2006, at 9:19 p.m.

Re: GFO Packing
Sean Burlingham -- Friday, 14 April 2006, at 12:05 a.m.

Re: GFO Packing
Tony Meola -- Thursday, 13 April 2006, at 9:26 p.m.