Hello*

Does anybody have any experience with rod pump stuffing boxes on this forum? I work in a thermal oil field in Canada* and recently we are starting to see the stuffing box cap (i.e. the top cap which can be tightened to secure the top packing assembly) actually loosen itself on our wells. As a makeshift option* our operators have been securing the stuffing box cap to the stuffing box with wiring to prevent the stuffing box cap from loosening* however this is a temporary option and not an ideal sustainable solution for this problem as operators can forget to re-wire the stuffing box cap following tightening or maintenance* etc. The loosening may be due to increased vibration as a result of a slight carrier bar / bridle cable / polished rod misalignment* or polished rod "hang-up" (aka rod float)* however most of the wells in the field have a slight bit of polished rod misalignment or occasional hang-up which has not been cause for concern as we're still getting decent polished rod* stuffing box and bridle cable run life.

Our packing run lives are not great though; we average ~2-3 months for Woods high-temperature Kevlar/brass upper packing assemblies.

We use the Hercules NACE Big Stuff 2500 psi stuffing box unit* found in NOV's catalog here:

[link Point to another website Only the registered members can access]

If you have any suggestions of how to prevent these stuffing box caps from loosening* or how our vendor can inspect stuffing boxes and stuffing box caps for thread integrity during teardowns* etc. I'd love to hear your suggestions.


Thank you for your time!

-NFR

Alberta* Canada