How easy to replace stern gland packing?

[Kurphy]

Minimum would be three, but it depends on the depth of the stuffing box.

3 layers sounds good to me. Stuffing box is just over 10cm. Another question... can packing go off in the packet? The boat came with a huge roll of it but no idea how old it is. It’s brown gummy square fibrous material, sorry it’s my first stuffing.

 

[LadyInBed]

I believe that 3 rings are standard, cut ring at 45 degrees to the centre line of the shaft and the three joints spaced at 120 degrees around the shaft.
Modern packing is normally square in profile and impregnated with PTFE.

 

[NormanS]

3 layers sounds good to me. Stuffing box is just over 10cm. Another question... can packing go off in the packet? The boat came with a huge roll of it but no idea how old it is. It’s brown gummy square fibrous material, sorry it’s my first stuffing.

It'll be fine. You have to put in enough turns so that the gland is (very slightly) compressing the packing. It won't do any harm to smear some grease on the packing before fitting it.

 

[LadyInBed]

It'll be fine. You have to put in enough turns so that the gland is (very slightly) compressing the packing. It won't do any harm to smear some grease on the packing before fitting it.

I don't think that grease is recommended for PTFE impregnated packing.

 

[NormanS]

I don't think that grease is recommended for PTFE impregnated packing.

It will do no harm.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Some peeps have found the PTFE packing tends to overheat. I've reverted to graphite impregnated.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I believe that 3 rings are standard, cut ring at 45 degrees to the centre line of the shaft and the three joints spaced at 120 degrees around the shaft.
Modern packing is normally square in profile and impregnated with PTFE.

On my Mirror Offshore, I could only get two rings in but only normal drip rate.

 

[jim.howes]

Stick with a good old fashioned stuffing box as it is virtually impossible for them to fail. Please do not use graphite packing. Soft tallow packing was the standard we used when changing packing, just use the correct type for the shaft diameter and shaft speed and do not over tighten.