Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
George E. Cawthon wrote:
Hate to screw up a working project, but I'm really unsure as to exactly
how tight these packing nuts should be. Currently they seem very loose
but do not appear to leak.

Any expertise is appreciated.

You don't want the nut to unscrew, but tight is
just enough to stop leaking at the nut.


Once you tighten them down you can never go back. They will develop a "set"
over time and possibly start to leak. It'd be better to tighten them when they
actually do start leaking rather than now. To do otherwise may guarantee you'll
have to replace the parts again rather than just get by with tightening. Make
sense?



Yep.