My landing gear project is moving along nicely but I do have a few questions:
How much packing goes in the stuffing box? Is it supposed to be stacked so that the spring compresses it and this creates a thight seal so the fluid doesn't leak out? When I took my old ones apart, the packing went around the piston rod twice, so double layers of thickness. I put all the packing from the one pack that I bought from Univair ( I bought 2 packs in case things went wrong) and still it wasn't enough for the packing to get compressed by the spring Any sugestions?
Actually I don't. I have hangar 9 site and David Rude specifies that only one pack of packing is sufficient to do both. http://www.hangar9aeroworks.com/Aeronca ... strut.html
Please forward the site, maybe my answer is there!
Thanks
Hi Hugh, I like to have the packing gland set up about a 1/8" + leaving room for it to compress the packing once the aircraft wt is on the springs. If its too low then the packing gland won't compress the packing enough to seal as needed.
GB MN.Flyer
Flying a Champ 7DC and a HKS Kitfox III
How come Univair sells 1/4" packing, when the original drawing shows 3/8"? I cut it to length like the drawing shows, but it won't seal. I didn't check the thickness until the oil started to run out of it.
Mine also leaked a little a first.
Not sure how much actually leaked out, it was always in my plans to check but hardly flew last year so it is something I need to verify. Initially I never knew how much fluid to put in??? It said to fill them up and put the plug back on but when you put the weight of the aircraft back on, the excess fluid must come out somewhere and the easiest route is through the packing. You may be right, maybe my packing needs to be redone. That will have to wait till after my engine overhaul
7ACDriver wrote:Actually I don't. I have hangar 9 site and David Rude specifies that only one pack of packing is sufficient to do both. http://www.hangar9aeroworks.com/Aeronca ... strut.html
Please forward the site, maybe my answer is there!
Thanks
Hmm,
I just noticed this.
A couple of things 1) one packing p/n 1-2119 does only one oleo 2) I didn't write the section that you mention but regardless it should be corrected.
For information. When I rebuilt my struts, I reassembled them just like they came apart. They leaked. So I redid the job. They still leaked. So I added more packing. They still leaked. Then I talked with a friend who asked about the packing gland. The what? There was not one, the spring was sitting directly on top of the packing.
After installing a packing gland, Glory be, they sealed. After redoing the struts 4 times, I can zap those struts off, repack them, fill with oil and reinstall in a heart beat.
I too tried the small packing that Univair sells. It leaked. I bought the "proper" size from McMaster-Carr, and it worked great. Also, there should be no "excess" fluid to leak out. It should move from one side of the piston to the other, and not out the packing.
Any sugestions?
