Dripless or Gore Tex?

[billwilletts]

I have an ever growing to-do list at my next haulout. One thing that needs to be addressed is my current bellows, clamps and stuffing box. If i have to drop the shaft to replace the bellows should i upgrade to a dripless system or install Gore Tex? Who has done both or either?

 

[Walter P]

I like the Gore Tex for several reasons. First of all it doesn't require any changing of the original stuffing box. Another consideration is that it's easy to install and relatively inexpensive and last is that the danger of a catastrophic event is negated.

Walt

 

[SEVEN]

I've had both and liked both equally. I currently have the dripless and love have a dry bilge.

 

[Dan Mapes]

We used Tides and were very happy with them. I didn't have to touch them for years. I tried the high end packing and the boxes were just about hot to the touch at idle in gear at the dock and that was when they were as loose as I could get them. Pulled them out and went with Tides.
Subsequently we tried Lasdrop and well, Tides performed better. By Far. What ever you do, make sure the shafts are properly polished around the seal area.

YMMV.

 

[Reefgeorge]

I've had Tides, the Cabo proprietary Australian set up and old school stuffing boxes. As stated earlier a dry bilge is nice (Tides) and the seals last a long time (have extras installed on the shafts). The only issue that I have had is the housing and shafts starting to fuse together from marine growth when the boat sat for an extended period and was in need of a bottom job - not normal circumstances. The boat needs to be run. The clearance from housing to shaft is quite small. Be sure that you keep up on the cooling water flow connections as well.

George

 

[MikeP]

I have had the Gore packing for 10+ years and our bilges have been essentially dry since that installation. There is a very slight seep when the boat is operating at higher speeds but the amount of water that actually comes in is so small that it normally evaporates overnight. On a 12 hour run down the coast there wasn't more than maybe a couple of ounces of water just below the fitting. It works great and I really like the stuff.

BUT...

From ABYC :
"6.7.4 Graphite impregnated packing material shall not be used because of the possibility of galvanic incompatibility with the shaft material."

From Wikipedia: "The use of graphite is limited by its tendency to facilitate pitting corrosion in some stainless steel,[18][19] and to promote galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals (due to its electrical conductivity)."

I unpacked the stuffing boxes a couple of years ago to "adjust" their position on the hose and, in moving them forward temporarily, the "packing area" of the shaft was visible and had no sign of corrosion.
BUT, it may be worth thinking about...Graphite is one of the most noble materials (I only copied the list down to SS):

"Galvanic series (most noble at top)[edit]
The following is the galvanic series for stagnant (that is, low oxygen content) seawater. The order may change in different environments.

Graphite
Palladium
Platinum
Gold
Silver
Titanium
Stainless steel 316 (passive)
Stainless Steel 304 (passive)"

I didn't know any of the above when I bought installed it in '06. And based on the above 3 references, I would NOT have used Gore (or other graphite-based packing) But based on my actual USE of it on our boat, I think it's great. As they say, YMMV!