Stuffing Box Temperature

[roadrunner449]

I would like to monitor the temperature of my stuffing boxes. Does anyone know of a device where a probe can be strapped to the outside metal of the stuffing box and display the temperature at the helm? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[tobnpr]

Never heard of such a device; and never heard of anyone wanting to monitor the temperature. If they're adjusted to drip at the proper rate, it's a non-issue.

Why do you want to do this?

[roadrunner449]

These stuffing boxes are raw water cooled with a water hose coming off the transmission oil cooler. One time that hose was plugged and the stuffing box was so hot I couldn't touch it. Monitoring the temp would alert me to a recurrence. Just trying to cover all the bases.

[Aliboy]

I have temperature monitor probes in my exhaust system just aft of the mixers. They are connected to gauges on my flybridge and his allows me to look for early indications of bad raw water impellors or blocked mixer holes etc before the engines overheat at some inconvenient moment. I would expect that these probes would be fine for what you are wanting if you could physically couple them to your stuffing box.

[highland61]

your correct your stuffing box shouldn't get so hot you can't touch it. best way to monitor temp is with a hand held temp gun. (you can use it for brakes, hvac, exhaust...)

or

you could install a couple of water pressure gauges that monitor the pressures of the cooling water lines as they would be relative to the temperature of the box (no pressure and too much pressure is a problem). want to run anywhere between 5-20 psi...you'd have to find the sweet spot for your boxes though. then add valves to control the flow to the boxes. Much easier to rig the lines to the gauges.

but,
just about any temp gauge and probe combo would work as long as it reads somewhere between say 100 to 250 degrees. long enough leads will be the problem. depending on the the design you may have to remove the threaded piece with a die grinder and then use some stainless steel clamps to mount against the stuffing box. you will lose accuracy though. try grainger.