Hi..I had to replace the pivot ball/rod and retaining nut on my
bathroom sink pop-up stopper. The replacement pieces are not identical
to the original pieces. But they are pretty close.

The problem now is that the seal on the new pieces is not perfect. If
I leave the water running for 5 minutes, a couple drops of water will
begin to leak from beneath the retaining nut.

My question is: is this- in some way that I can't imagine, because I'm
a novice DIY'er- a potentially big problem waiting to happen?

Or, if I can live with a couple drops of water (which presumably will
evaporate soon enough) then this is something that people wouldn't both
with, usually?

Btw, to be precise, I have to have the water running for about 10
minutes before the first drop of water would drip down (although I can
see water building up at the nut after a few minutes). And, in fact,
it would probably be a rare occasion that the water in this sink would
ever be in use for more than a couple minutes at a time.