Adjusting Dripless Stuffing Box After Wearing In A Bit
The dripless stuffing box is not very sensitive to the amount of pressure on the seal. Approximately 1" of compression is normally just about the right amount of compression to provide appropriate pressure. However, if some additional pressure is needed to get a consistent seal there is a bit of adjustment. After about 3 months and 10 hours of seal operation I was getting a small amount of water in the area just under the seal. Probably half a tablespoon before it would seal up completely after engine shutdown. I decided to add a bit more compression and see if that would help the seal to settle in better, I first marked the shaft with a sharpie marker for the original position of the stainless steel rotating donut. Then after backing off the setscrews I moved the donut aft about a quarter of an inch: As noted during installation, at minimum 0.1125 inches of exposed shaft results in 1" of bellows compression. Now with an additional quarter inch we have about 1.25 inches of bellows compression and this has completely stopped any moisture showing up under the shaft.