A stuffing box is far more reliable than the dripless seals because of the
risk of castastrophic failure. However, be careful not to overtighten the
gland because it will wear the shaft very quickly.
Steve


"R.W. Behan" wrote in message
om...
Greetings;

Several years ago we replaced the stuffing box on our Victory Tug with a
packless shaft seal. Since then I've heard of one boat sinking and
another close to it when the stainless rotor loosened, slid forward, and
allowed water to enter the boat. Just today I discovered FAR more salt
water in the bilge than should have been there, and found a lot of
splashes around the packless seal. Evidently it's leaking.

I'm tempted to remove the packless shaft seal and reinstall the stuffing
box, but to use as packing the new hot stuff from the makers of GoreTex.
It is supposed to be so heat resistant you can crank down on the packing
gland until NO water seeps through. You get a dripless seal without all
the fancy mechanical stuff of the packless shaft seal system.

Anybody have comments on this issue?

Thanks,

Dick B.
LNVT "Annie"