Duramax Shaft Packing

[SVTatia]

..Not Goretex this is about Duramax Ultra X sold by Hamilton Marine..

I have replaced the rudder (bronze) and engine (SS) shafts packing this spring with Duramax Ultra X and after a few uses I noticed black dust around both shafts, near the nut. Is this normal?

Also, the marketing material states that it works cooler than the other types, and it does not need water to lubricate, but the installation instructions calls for hand tight then adjust to drip occasionally – I did not have to adjust and it is not dripping, I tightened lightly just like instructed, but no water is coming thru. I checked the shaft temperature after 30 mins of operation and its warm, not hot – the thermometer shows 80-85F on the nuts.

I called the company but the phone is “not assigned” whatever that means…. so I could not get thru.

The result of my search here revealed a post by Mainesail mentioning his buddy shaft shop owner Dick about dripless packings, http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ing-56985.html and I wonder if I should back out the nut a bit and let it drip to eliminate stagnant water, but I also read that once compressed it should not be “decompressed”…

Should I be concerned?

[a64pilot]

If it's not getting warm I wouldn't worry, but I would keep an eye on it, cause not getting warm without any water just ain't natural.
But, I don't have experience with it.