J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Leaking packing seal

My method:

At the dock, start the engine and put it in gear, maybe 1000 RPM forward or so. Loosen/tighten the gland till you get a drip every few seconds or so. When you get it right, go to neutral, then reverse, then forward again and make sure it is still dripping every few seconds.

Go back to neutral and make sure it is NOT dripping. Check it again in a few hours to make sure it is still not dripping.

I'm paranoid so I will generally check again that it is both dripping when turning, and NOT dripping when not turning the next time I visit the boat.

I put a piece of paper towel under the gland so i can easily tell whether it has been dripping or not at a glance...

I've heard varying opinions on this, but thats what works for me.

-dan

Thanks Dan
How do I know if it is supposed dripless or wet type?
Regards

The dripless seal has a flexible bellows and a rotating sealing surface. The only adjustment is how far the bellows is compressed depending on where it is clamped onto the shaft log. Look at the link in my post above for good picture of this.

The standard seal may be a split design that compresses a packing around the shaft. Some have a threaded packing gland nut that slides over the shaft. Key to this is packing that is inserted and compressed to prevent leakage. As pointed out in other posts above, this type seal requires a small amount of leakage to keep it lubricated. Here's a good link on stuffing box type shaft seal packing replacement.

Great site
Thanks