When someone has sealing issues, we’re glad to answer their calls for help. Take this story, for example.
A company was experiencing some unwanted stress with leaky check valves on their process piping. Because the pipes were carrying 95% ethanol, this problem had the potential to be extremely costly.
To make matters worse, the company was asked to supply more of these valves for a new phase of their customer’s project, as well as for a new line of products. With only two weeks to find a solution for the leaks, they turned to Apple Rubber.
Before we could start working on a solution, our experts had a few questions to answer:
1. What type of material are the O-rings made of?
2. What is the compression set?
3. What is the fluid resistance?
They headed to the Apple Lab for some testing:
• FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer): this test helps determine the chemical make-up of rubber compounds both before and after molding. This ensures the consistency of rubber compounds and seals batch to batch, shipment to shipment.
• ASTM D395: This test is used to determine the compression set of rubber products.
• ASTM D471: This test determines how chemicals affect an elastomer (fluid resistance).
After these tests were performed, our experts discovered that there were three different o-ring materials being used in the faulty check valves even though the customer believed they were only getting one.
We were then able to provide the company with the correct size and material – along with a big sigh of relief when the leaking stopped!
Do you have a problem you need solved? Turn to the experience and expertise of Apple for more information or to get help for your sealing woes: Ask our experts or email [email protected]