The smaller the adjustments you make the better !!
A few thoughts
Ron makes a good point.
This spring I removed the PSS on our boat to do some serious experimentation & study with GFO/GFO knock off packings. I fitted a brand new Buck Algonquin packing box with three rings of Duramax Ultra-X onto a brand new shaft. Best of all worlds, new box, new packing and new shaft.
I then fitted the packing gland nut with a digital repote temp sensor and have been monitoring the temp of the box. I have been trying to find the magic spot where I am drip free and a good temp too.
Here's what I've found:
#1 Packing box temps are anything BUT consistent. They move up and down as your shaft speed changes and your speed through the water changes. I suspect, and have for a long time, that as you go faster cooling water is sucked out of the stern tube and away from the packing nut. This is EXACTLY what I have observed temp wise. A one time hand temp check really tells you very little about the max potential temp of your box and my remote stuffing box temp sensor confirms this.
#2 Once you get to near drip free even the SLIGHTEST adjustment can mean a temp difference of over 100F!!!!
#3 Adjusting GFO type packings to get as near drip free as possible, while maintaining decent temps, takes MANY hours of break in and many very, very small adjustments.
#4 Without a remote temp sensor this information would never be available and this is why I fitted my box with one.
#5 GFO MUST HAVE COOLING WATER. Even the slightest layer of water that evaporates before it drips makes HUGE differences in box temps..
#6 I am now at a low of about 75F (67F water) to a high of about 112F (67F water) and happy with the result. Again these temps are NOT static and don't remain constant...
This MS Paint drawing is an example of what I found when I was pushing the edge of no-drips/still lubricated and no-drips and very, very minimally lubricated.
The red line is how much the nut actually turned to make these temp changes.
