Blower Hose Havoc

Well, on the way back to the ramp after a full day on the water I smelt something burning under the doghouse. Slowing down I began to hear a strange sound and see the first indications of smoke coming from under the floor.   I killed the motor and instructed my son and his friend out of the boat. Something was on fire and I had no idea what I was going to find when I lifted the cover.

This is what I found; my blower hose came detached and found its way around the propeller shaft components. The hose wire was so tight around the stuffing box that all water was cut off. The components were so hot that bilge water just sizzled as it splashed against the shaft couplings.




Thoughts and comments from anyone whose been in the stuffing box or has had a shaft get cooked would be appreciated

anyone ever open their stuffing box and find it completely void of stuffing. I have!

yea, im sure its missing. even though i've never been in the box i do now how it fits together and how it works. it always leaked faster than it was supose to, never bothered me since most of our outings are only five or six hours and i trailer it in and out. in fact i always liked the excessive dripping. just really surprised to see it didnt have any at all.

by the way, you were right about how nasty it was to get the wire unwrapped. even with gloves i cut (more like poked) my fingers with the wires. It was so tight and spooled around the shaft that i had to get the demmal after it. the wires snapped as they were cut.

on last thing, 1/4" or 3/8" flax.

i really appreciate your comments. thanks alot.

I used 3/8th for the stuffing box and 1/4 for the rudder in my old 66 and my new 2000. i like the new teflon impregnated flax it's only about a buck more and lasts 4X as long.