Ticon-30 Stuffing Box

[Dollar Wine]

Im having some issues with the stuffing box on a new to me Ticon 30. There is limited room available between the coupler and stern tube to accomodate either a dripless seal or traditional stuffing box (Approximately 9"). The boat is fitted with a volvo 2002 deisel with reverse gear and traditional shaft drive.

Does anybody have experience with packing gland set-ups in tight spaces?

Thanks!

[NYSail]

What type is on now? I have a Volvo dripless and love it.

Greg

[Dollar Wine]

Here's a picture of the old stuffing box that was installed when I got the boat. The hose fits over 5/8" flange at both ends (the shaft log and the packing gland). There was only room for one hose clamp at each end. Note the "brace" that was epoxied to the hull that prevented the hose from moving axially along the shaft and also limited travel perpendicular to the shaft as well. Has anyone ever seen something like this?

Greg, the Volvo shaft seal might be a good option for me if my shaft log were the right dimension. My tube is 1 5/8" dia and 5/8" long. I believe the Volvo would require 1 3/4" for a 1" shaft and a length of about 1 1/2". Maybe there is a way to modify the tube?

Thanks!

[skipperpete]

Apart from the hose clamps that looks like a pretty good shaft seal installation. The "brace" is there to stop the shaft seal assembly from rotating and destroying the flexible joiner. In your photo it looks like the propeller shaft has been welded so other things might be happening there too. If you do go for the Volvo seal option make sure the shaft is very smooth and flawless where the seal contacts it. What issues are you having with the original shaft seal?

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Dollar Wine.

[Dollar Wine]

skipperpete,

In hindsight it's not a bad setup, but not easy to service. The hose was very old and cracked it was wire wrapped exhaust hose. To replace it, the brace had to be removed from the hull - not an easy task. To remove the coupler from the shaft, I had to cut and remove the packing nut on the old configuration to make enough room for a puller. My thought was to upgrade the hose and clamps and get a new stuffing box. Here's what it looks like now. While I now have room for two clamps on the stuffing box, there is only 1" flexible hose between the two joining surfaces and still one clamp on the shaft log end. It would be nice to have more retention at the this end.

[Dollar Wine]

Thanks GordMay!