Blog

1. CAF stands for Compressed Asbestos Fibre

In most countries, usage of Asbestos is banned, and many industries are trying to switch to other eco-friendly alternatives. However, many are unaware that CAF stands for Compressed Asbestos Fibre or Carcinogenic Asbestos Fibre.

2. Operating conditions of Gaskets

An engineer should consider Continuous Operating Conditions instead of Max Operating conditions while selecting a gasket for their sealing joints.

3. Lesser the thickness better the sealing

It is always recommended to use Less Thick sealing material when the equipment is new for the efficient performance of a system. However, after the ageing of equipment and inevitable wear and tear, the thickness can be increased to fill the abrupt surface finish.

4. Bolt Torquing

Always ask for Both Torquing values from the gasket supplier and make sure the maintenance engineer adapts the same values for minimizing the leak chance.

5. Certifications

Most of the gasket materials are certified by third parties for their applications. For example, WRAS certified products are safe for water application, and the supplier must provide the same with the material.

6. Material Test Report

As per standard, the supplier should only produce the Material Test Report of Jointing sheets of 2mm thick, whereas many suppliers get the material tested on 3mm thick to improve their numerical specification.

7. Cut Gaskets are cheap than buying Jointing Sheets

Most of the suppliers have in-house cutting facilities; it is always recommended to buy Gaskets as per your design, which is time-saving and cost-effective from a procurement point of view.

8. Avoid material comparison by only considering numbers.

Buyers should ask for certified products before comparing one to one characteristics of the sealing material as the specifications can be manipulated by misinterpreting the standards.

9. Metal Inserted Gasket.

As per standard, soft gaskets should not be used with wire or metal inserts, as it is more vulnerable for leaks, except for graphite-based material.

10.  Graphite Sheet and Graphite Coated Sheet.

Graphite Sheet is pure graphite material with more than 99% purity; on the other hand, Graphite Coated is just a tiny negligible layer of graphite on the material.