Learned a new trick for sand pump packing last week in Port Arthur

I was swapping out the packing on our 12-inch dredge pump and an older operator showed me to soak the rings in oil for 24 hours before installing. Cut my leak-down time by half on the restart. Anyone else got a weird packing trick that worked for them?

2 comments

2 Comments

olivia_rivera8827d agoMost Upvoted

@jesse_fisher I get why you're skeptical lol but honestly it worked for me. The heat from the pump softens the packing fibers a bit on startup and if they're already saturated with oil it makes a way better seal from the get go. I've tried it on two different pumps now and both times the leak down was cut way shorter. Maybe it's like a 30% improvement instead of 50% but still worth doing. The old timers definitely know a few tricks that sound like BS but actually hold up.

jesse_fisher27d ago

Does soaking them overnight really cut leak-down time by half or is that just one of those things that sounds good after a couple beers? Sounds more like luck with tolerances than a magic trick.