Thanks one and all for your knowledgeable comments and judgments.

Yesterday we hauled the boat and found the stainless rotor had indeed
slipped forward about 1/2". That relieved nearly all the pressure the
bellows exerts on the sealing surface. We also found ONE of the bottom
setscrews was loose, so the original installation was faulty in that regard.
The mechanic that did the work assured me the corrected installation was
reliable--and the yard (Seaview North in Bellingham, Washington) charged me
nothing for either the haulout or the repair. So I'll go for now with the
correctly installed Packless Shaft seal.

But I will keep the old stuffing box castubg in "Annie's" junk locker--just
in case.

Thanks again, and smooth seas to all. (Except for the sailors: fair winds
to you.)

Dick B.


"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"