Prop shaft seal question on a CP 27/2

[Gary]

Hello:

I'm seeking information on how to tighten the propshaft seal a wee bit to reduce the amount of water currently being passed/leaked through.   I know this is a conventional type seal (meaning packing type not the newer dripless design).   While I know how to tighten the packing on an older style home faucet for my wifes laundry tubs, I don't see where one would tighten the packing on this prop shaft.   Where the shaft enters the hull there is a round flange (no flats for a wrench) then two hose clamps over the end of the rubber sleeve.   At the other end of the rubber sleeve are two more hose clamps then what appears to be a joint of some type or other.  This is where I presume the packing material would reside??   These two flanges have flats (hollow nuts) I presume for tightening.  However, they appear to be fairly tightly together at the moment.   After this assembly, the prop shaft continues into the transmission.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.  I do know that the packing "nut" should be tightened for in water winter storage to minimize the water drip rate.  I'll need to also do that in another couple of months, but first I need to figure out just where to tighten it a bit for now.

                                                                                            Thanks,

                                                                                             Gary

[Craig Weis]

I'm kind of thinking that...well I'll just ramble a bit.

1~A very careful 'LOOK~SEE' be made so as to see exactly where the drip is from and just how much drip there is, and if a drip occurs when the shaft is not turning or only if the shaft turns, or both when the shaft is still and in motsion.

2~Once you know what your dealing with and feel everything else is up to snuff...

3~I would wonder why the two nuts were so close together...is this where the packing resides? Would more packing open the distance between the two nuts?

4~Then I would think back on my 1930 Model "A" at it's water pump and packing and packing nut [that has flats to turn]. It's suppose to drip a bit to save the greased packing. You might go on line and look at water pump packing from Bratton's Antique Auto Parts.

4a~Grease that packing with any type of grease. Pack that packing. Nut her down. Disconnect the shaft from the motor/coupling and/or somehow turn the shaft to be certain that the packing has not bound the shaft. A little resistance is good, too much is not as this will heat things up.

5~It was once that a little drip kept the packing cool. Now a days I don't know.

6~If some typical impregnated string packing is used that the Ace Hardware sells for faucets...be aware that the 'string' may groove the shaft when used for this continuous operation of driving the prop.

7~I guess I would 'Goggle' around and find an exploded view of the type of shaft seal used on this boat.

Sorry I can't be of more help. Maybe others know about this. skip.

[Gary]

Hi Skip:

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'll take a closer look this coming weekend and ascertain if I might figure how to tighten it up a bit.  After looking around on goggle, this older style packing type seal makes more sense than the newer type dripless seals, especially for a sailboat.

Once I figure it out, should hopefully not be a problem.   Thanks again.

                                                                                            Gary

[kchunk]

Hi there Gary. I'll try to recall what I can from my Catalina 27. I had the Universal diesel. The stuffing box is between the shaft log and the transmission, and from what I can remember, the adjustment was a large gland nut facing the shaft log (on the transmission side of the rubber hose). A normal adjustment was a few drips per minute while rotating and no drips while not rotating. Obviously, tightening or loosening the gland nut would decrease or increase the flow. The easiest way to tell everything is OK is by feeling the stuffing box. It should not be warm and certainly not hot.

If your stuffing box requires frequent adjustment, it's probably time to repack it (usually every two years, but up to five years is not uncommon). The C27 requires one to stand on one's head and wiggle into places full grown adult males shouldn't have to wiggle into. And believe it or not, a stuffing box can be repacked with the boat in the water...I've done it. Just be prepared with the necessary materials and tools, and have a backup plan "just in case". If something breaks or won't go back together, you'll have to haul the boat.

Before you back off the gland nut get your flax ready. Flax is a waxed roped that forms the seal when pressed under the gland nut. You probably need 3/16" flax, but buy a size bigger and a size smaller just in case. You'll need maybe 2'. Cut the flax to size by wrapping it once around your prop shaft and cutting it into three or five pieces of this length (the circumference of your shaft). Some folks will say you can just wrap one length of flax around the shaft 3 or 4 times to form the seal, but I say you have to cut the flax to form 3 or 4 individual rings of the right size.

As for tools, you'll need a wrench to back off the gland nut and some sort of seal pick to remove the old flax smashed into the gland nut.

The process is really quite simple:

1. Completely back off the gland nut. Obviously it will still be on the prop shaft, but the threads need to be completely disengaged from the stuffing box. ***You ARE inviting the sea into your boat, but it's in a controlled situation and your sump pump should have no problem keeping up. Don't freak out!***

2. Slide the nut up the prop shaft a few inches in order to dig out the old flax which will be packed under the gland nut you just removed.

3. Once you've removed the old flax, use the old pieces to determine the size and number of pieces of new flax you will be installing. You'll want to use the thickest size that will fit. Now wrap your pre-cut flax around the shaft and pack it into the gland nut. If you removed three pieces of old flax, replace it with three pieces of new. One thing to remember is you want to stagger the joints where the flax ends join.

4. After installing the flax, reinstall the gland nut and tighten until the water stops flowing. Don't over tighten! Initially, hand tightening will probably be enough. If the water has stopped, proceed to step 6 and N/A step 5.

5. In the unlikely event the water has not stopped and you are unable to get it to stop, you may want to consider that contingency plan and have the boat hauled to evaluate the problem before things get to a panic.

6. Crack a beer, mop the sweat and take relief in the fact you had invited the sea into your boat and were able to secure your hull.

7. Crank up the motor and engage the transmission. Check your newly packed stuffing box for a drip. It should drip a few drops per minute, not a stream. Put the transmission to neutral and check for the dripping to stop. Once you have it adjusted, keep an eye on it for the next few weeks, checking for a drip while running and make sure it's not getting too hot (I realize "too hot" is a vague indication, but this is something you as the boat owner will have to determine over time).

It's a relatively simple job and shouldn't take but an hour or two. Flax should be available in most any marine store, don't forget to pick up a few different sizes unless your confident of the size you need. Plan the job out carefully and take satisfaction you'll be saving quite a few bucks by doing this job yourself.

--Greg