T&T: Advise on Packing

[ReidGantt at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/26/2007 6:52:13 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
f-pelton at mail.vjc.edu writes:

> I have some varying thickness wax covered pieces of rope
> and a few green pieces as well.  I also have some green goop.  It was
> all in a baggy marked "packing".  Can someone walk me through the
> process of repacking this?
> 

Bob:

Unless the wax covered pieces of rope are precut to size, you will need to 
cut three pieces.  

1.  Wrap the rope around the shaft.  Cut the pieces so that when cut they are 
almost touching each end.  
2.  Have a tool ready to remove the old packing.  The tool I have is like a 
thin corkscrew.  If you don't have one, have a small screwdriver ready.
3.  You will need two wrenchs to loosen the nut and lock nut that are on end 
of shaft at point where shaft goes inside hull and then into the water.  Put a 
wrench on the nut closest to back of boat and hold this one while you loosen 
the lock nut; on my boat it is counterclockwise..
4.  As you loosen the lock nut and then the other nut, water will begin 
seeping through faster but your bilge pump should be able to handle this flow.  
5.  Using the extractor tool or a screwdriver, remove the old packing 
material, being careful not to scratch the shaft.  
6.  Take one piece of the new waxed packing and wrap it around the shaft, 
poking it into the space where you removed the old packing.  Note where the two 
pieces meet, as the next section of packing needs to be about 1/3rd of the way 
around the shaft, i.e. you don't want the ends of the packing to be at the 
same place.  Continue with the third piece of packing, again about 1/3rd of the 
way around the shaft, poking it into place.  
7.  Begin to tighten the nut; as you do so, the flow of water will begin to 
slow to a trickle.  Move the locknut into place and tighten.  You will need to 
run the engine in gear awhile to get the new packing to get set.  Once this is 
done, you will need to loosen the locknut and tighten the main nut until 
there is only a few drops per minute.  Tighten the locknut.
8.  As you use the boat, periodically check to see if you need to tighten the 
nut to reduce the flow of water.

I don't know what the green goop is.  It might be teflon but the teflon I had 
was white as I recall.  If you want, you can put a little of the goop on the 
rope sections as you put them in place on the shaft.

Hope this helps,

Reid Gantt
Atlantic 30 "Vouive"
docked at Sneads Ferry NC


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