Dripless Packing

[sailfree]

Has anyone used this type of shaft packing?

GFO Fiber Packing
Virtually Dripless marine shaft packing
Pack it and forget it.
www.e-marine-inc.com/products/gfopacking/packing.html

Does it work as advertised? If the ads are true, this seems like a great product.
Also, it’s much cheaper than the Drip-Less moldable packing kit, or the Packless shaft seals.

[Blitz]

I have used it for the packing on the prop shaft and it worked great this past season. Virtually Dripless, just as they claim. I did not use it on the rudder shaft.

[sailfree]

Thanks for the input Neal. I'll try some.

[Rick Sylvester]

It works great. Had it for 5 years now. Not a drop and it runs cool.

Follow the directions carefully, including break in.

I've heard some less than stellar comments about the moldable stuff but I don't have experience with it.

[Stu Jackson]

here's some info maybe you know already, also links to Maine Sail's article.

http://www.c34.org/wiki/index.php?ti...ng_box_packing

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by Rick Sylvester

It works great. Had it for 5 years now. Not a drop and it runs cool.

Rick you really need to be careful running it totally drip free. This photo is crevice corrosion that was caused by a totally sealed shaft where the water in the log became devoid of oxygen. I know everyone always wants totally dripless but it can sometimes come at a cost.

[Blitz]

Has anyone used it on the rudder shaft?

[Ed Schenck]

Shouldn't be necessary on the rudder shaft. You can tighten the rudder stuffing box to stop any drips with the cheapest of packings. There is not the fast rotation that requires any lubrication. But if you wanted to put in something like GFO dripless it would work well. On most boats the stuffing box is above waterline anyway. It might go below on acceleration or when powered with a crew in the cockpit.

[sailfree]

Anyone,

If you've had good luck with the GFO (Gore) packing how did you cut the rings?
I can think of three ways to do it. They could be cut square, at an angle to the
axis of the shaft, or at an angle radially. The web site doesn't say. Are there
instructions with the product?

Originally Posted by Rick Sylvester

It works great. Had it for 5 years now. Not a drop and it runs cool.

Follow the directions carefully, including break in.

I've heard some less than stellar comments about the moldable stuff but I don't have experience with it.

[Ed Schenck]

I use GFO and cut it just like I did the old stuff, at an angle. I wrap a length around the shaft stretched and overlapped. Then with a very sharp blade cut the angle arcoss both. It is pretty pliable so two rings with the joints non-adjacent are not going to leak.

[John T1594]

I have used the GFO packing for a number of years and it seems to work well. I did find that it seemed to compress more than the regular flax packing and I had a tough time tightening the stuffing box enough to keep the drip rate down. I eventually added two extra rings of packing (total of 5) and that works well for me. I am on my fifth year with the packing and wondering if it should be changed.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by sailfree

Anyone,

If you've had good luck with the GFO (Gore) packing how did you cut the rings?
I can think of three ways to do it. They could be cut square, at an angle to the
axis of the shaft, or at an angle radially. The web site doesn't say. Are there
instructions with the product?

Feel free to read this article. It will show you how to cut it;

Re-Packing A Traditional Stuffing Box (LINK)

[NYSail]

Love the GFO. I have used it for 4 years now and just started having a drip. I am going to redo this winter.... Shaft also looks fine.