groundhogIs it Groundhog Day? You may feel like it if your life is a never-ending saga of blown gaskets. At some point, it’s time to say enough is enough and figure out what you need to change in order to prevent this problem from occurring again.

Your first instinct when a gasket is blown should not be to immediately try a different gasket. There are many things that could be the root cause of your issue, and unless you understand why the gaskets are failing, you are probably going to wake up tomorrow and have the same problem.

So What Next?

Ok, so you’re now staring at an application that isn’t running, and you are holding a blown gasket in your hand. How should you be troubleshooting this? There could be any number of issues. Here are some of the more common problems and why they can cause a blowout. Hopefully at least one of these will get you pointed in the right direction.

1. Temperature

How hot is your application running? One of the most common culprits of gasket issues is heat and the reality that your application is running hotter than you think. Do some additional testing, consider the peak exposure, and select a material that is designed to survive those conditions.

2. Pressure

Are you expecting your gasket to seal a high-pressure joint? If so, is your gasket reinforced? Metal-reinforced gaskets can provide enough radial strength to hold up to the high pressure.

3. Assembly

Ensure that your joint is properly assembled. There are recommended torque values as well as a sequence that should be followed. If you are using a compressible gasket, a final torque once the operating temperature has been achieved is helpful to maintain load over long-term service.

4. Flange Loading

This is one of the most critical pieces of the bolted joint. Without the proper loading, no gasket will seal. Be sure that the flanges are in good shape and have adequate flatness and surface finish. Loading needs to be sufficient to establish an initial seal but also maintain load to seal the joint over the long term, after the initial heat cycles.

5. Thickness

How thick is your gasket? In most cases, the thinnest gasket you can use is the best choice. There are a few instances where you would want to increase the thickness (ex. compensating for flange conditions). Thinner gaskets have less chance for blowout since the load is concentrated over less volume, which provides higher shear strength.

6. Material Type

If you’re sealing fluids, be sure that the gasket material is compatible with the fluid and will not degrade over exposure time. Think of using a plastic bag to hold water vs a paper bag. Both will hold water, but the paper bag has a clock ticking.

Moving On

Sometimes, none of the above gives you an insight into your problem. These are the difficult ones to fix. Unfortunately at this point, it tends to boil down to a less than ideal joint design and the difficulties associated with finding a gasket material to compensate for these issues. Obviously, if you have gotten this far in the process, changing the design probably isn’t going to be an option (unless it is really bad). It is up to you and your trusted gasket material supplier to find a material that is going to work. In most cases, you’ll find something that’ll seal. However, you may be in a situation where you find that you need to design a material to meet your specific needs. If your gasket material supplier isn’t willing to help walk you through your options, be sure to find someone that is.

What causes most of your blown gaskets? If you are interested in subscribing to Sealed-In’s blog posts, email sales@mtigasket.com.

7 Ways to Protect Against Gasket Blowouts
Too many times, gaskets tend to be an afterthought in the design process, BUT the gasket (or the material) is the first to be blamed if there are ever any problems in the application. If you are currently designing (or may ever design) an application that has gasketed joints, or are currently in the middle of troubleshooting (or may ever troubleshoot) because of a leak in a joint, this week’s post is for you!
Uneven Temperature Exposure – Is There A Solution?
We have recently been looking at applications that have uneven temperature exposure around the perimeter of gaskets. In some cases, one side sees more heat than the other. From the material manufacturing side, there are a number of things we can do...
How Thick Does Your Gasket Need to Be? Here Are 4 Ways to Know For Sure.
Have you ever been sitting around in a meeting room talking about how thick a gasket should be for your application? To help you dial in on where you need to be for your application, we put together a short list of considerations to aid in your decision making process.
The Most Commonly Used Gasket Materials & Why You Need Them All
The most commonly used gasket materials are fiber, rubber, metal, and composite laminates. These gasket materials all have their strengths and weaknesses. The first question you need to answer is – What are you trying to seal?
Is There A Fluid Leak In Your Joint? Here’s What You Need To Know.
If you work with applications that require a gasket, four words you never want to hear are: “We’ve got a leak”. (We know there are others, but we’ll just focus on gaskets since that’s what we can help with.) Today, we’re going to take a deep dive into some of the potential causes of your fluid leak. As you’ll see, you can’t always just blame your gasket. Below are a few reasons why your joint may be leaking fluid, and what you can do about it.
Losing Load in a Gasketed Joint? Here’s What You Can Do About It.
There are many reasons why load can be lost in a gasketed joint. Maintaining the desired load can be a challenge at times for a variety of reasons. Today we’re going to cover some of these reasons.
6 Ways to Ensure You Have a Tight Seal in Your Gasketed Joint
The lack of a tight seal in a gasketed joint is a ticking time bomb. The timing of the issue presenting itself may vary, but unfortunately, you will have issues. The good news is we put together a short list of things that you should consider when it comes time to design or troubleshoot your gasketed joint.

groundhog

Is it Groundhog Day? You may feel like it if your life is a never-ending saga of blown gaskets. At some point, it’s time to say enough is enough and figure out what you need to change in order to prevent this problem from occurring again.

Your first instinct when a gasket is blown should not be to immediately try a different gasket. There are many things that could be the root cause of your issue, and unless you understand why the gaskets are failing, you are probably going to wake up tomorrow and have the same problem.

So What Next?

Ok, so you’re now staring at an application that isn’t running, and you are holding a blown gasket in your hand. How should you be troubleshooting this? There could be any number of issues. Here are some of the more common problems and why they can cause a blowout. Hopefully at least one of these will get you pointed in the right direction.

1. Temperature

How hot is your application running? One of the most common culprits of gasket issues is heat and the reality that your application is running hotter than you think. Do some additional testing, consider the peak exposure, and select a material that is designed to survive those conditions.

2. Pressure

Are you expecting your gasket to seal a high-pressure joint? If so, is your gasket reinforced? Metal-reinforced gaskets can provide enough radial strength to hold up to the high pressure.

3. Assembly

Ensure that your joint is properly assembled. There are recommended torque values as well as a sequence that should be followed. If you are using a compressible gasket, a final torque once the operating temperature has been achieved is helpful to maintain load over long-term service.

4. Flange Loading

This is one of the most critical pieces of the bolted joint. Without the proper loading, no gasket will seal. Be sure that the flanges are in good shape and have adequate flatness and surface finish. Loading needs to be sufficient to establish an initial seal but also maintain load to seal the joint over the long term, after the initial heat cycles.

5. Thickness

How thick is your gasket? In most cases, the thinnest gasket you can use is the best choice. There are a few instances where you would want to increase the thickness (ex. compensating for flange conditions). Thinner gaskets have less chance for blowout since the load is concentrated over less volume, which provides higher shear strength.

6. Material Type

If you’re sealing fluids, be sure that the gasket material is compatible with the fluid and will not degrade over exposure time. Think of using a plastic bag to hold water vs a paper bag. Both will hold water, but the paper bag has a clock ticking.

Moving On

Sometimes, none of the above gives you an insight into your problem. These are the difficult ones to fix. Unfortunately at this point, it tends to boil down to a less than ideal joint design and the difficulties associated with finding a gasket material to compensate for these issues. Obviously, if you have gotten this far in the process, changing the design probably isn’t going to be an option (unless it is really bad). It is up to you and your trusted gasket material supplier to find a material that is going to work. In most cases, you’ll find something that’ll seal. However, you may be in a situation where you find that you need to design a material to meet your specific needs. If your gasket material supplier isn’t willing to help walk you through your options, be sure to find someone that is.

What causes most of your blown gaskets? If you are interested in subscribing to Sealed-In’s blog posts, email sales@mtigasket.com.

7 Ways to Protect Against Gasket Blowouts
Too many times, gaskets tend to be an afterthought in the design process, BUT the gasket (or the material) is the first to be blamed if there are ever any problems in the application. If you are currently designing (or may ever design) an application that has gasketed joints, or are currently in the middle of troubleshooting (or may ever troubleshoot) because of a leak in a joint, this week’s post is for you!
Uneven Temperature Exposure – Is There A Solution?
We have recently been looking at applications that have uneven temperature exposure around the perimeter of gaskets. In some cases, one side sees more heat than the other. From the material manufacturing side, there are a number of things we can do...
How Thick Does Your Gasket Need to Be? Here Are 4 Ways to Know For Sure.
Have you ever been sitting around in a meeting room talking about how thick a gasket should be for your application? To help you dial in on where you need to be for your application, we put together a short list of considerations to aid in your decision making process.
The Most Commonly Used Gasket Materials & Why You Need Them All
The most commonly used gasket materials are fiber, rubber, metal, and composite laminates. These gasket materials all have their strengths and weaknesses. The first question you need to answer is – What are you trying to seal?
Is There A Fluid Leak In Your Joint? Here’s What You Need To Know.
If you work with applications that require a gasket, four words you never want to hear are: “We’ve got a leak”. (We know there are others, but we’ll just focus on gaskets since that’s what we can help with.) Today, we’re going to take a deep dive into some of the potential causes of your fluid leak. As you’ll see, you can’t always just blame your gasket. Below are a few reasons why your joint may be leaking fluid, and what you can do about it.
Losing Load in a Gasketed Joint? Here’s What You Can Do About It.
There are many reasons why load can be lost in a gasketed joint. Maintaining the desired load can be a challenge at times for a variety of reasons. Today we’re going to cover some of these reasons.
6 Ways to Ensure You Have a Tight Seal in Your Gasketed Joint
The lack of a tight seal in a gasketed joint is a ticking time bomb. The timing of the issue presenting itself may vary, but unfortunately, you will have issues. The good news is we put together a short list of things that you should consider when it comes time to design or troubleshoot your gasketed joint.

groundhog

Is it Groundhog Day? You may feel like it if your life is a never-ending saga of blown gaskets. At some point, it’s time to say enough is enough and figure out what you need to change in order to prevent this problem from occurring again.

Your first instinct when a gasket is blown should not be to immediately try a different gasket. There are many things that could be the root cause of your issue, and unless you understand why the gaskets are failing, you are probably going to wake up tomorrow and have the same problem.

So What Next?

Ok, so you’re now staring at an application that isn’t running, and you are holding a blown gasket in your hand. How should you be troubleshooting this? There could be any number of issues. Here are some of the more common problems and why they can cause a blowout. Hopefully at least one of these will get you pointed in the right direction.

1. Temperature

How hot is your application running? One of the most common culprits of gasket issues is heat and the reality that your application is running hotter than you think. Do some additional testing, consider the peak exposure, and select a material that is designed to survive those conditions.

2. Pressure

Are you expecting your gasket to seal a high-pressure joint? If so, is your gasket reinforced? Metal-reinforced gaskets can provide enough radial strength to hold up to the high pressure.

3. Assembly

Ensure that your joint is properly assembled. There are recommended torque values as well as a sequence that should be followed. If you are using a compressible gasket, a final torque once the operating temperature has been achieved is helpful to maintain load over long-term service.

4. Flange Loading

This is one of the most critical pieces of the bolted joint. Without the proper loading, no gasket will seal. Be sure that the flanges are in good shape and have adequate flatness and surface finish. Loading needs to be sufficient to establish an initial seal but also maintain load to seal the joint over the long term, after the initial heat cycles.

5. Thickness

How thick is your gasket? In most cases, the thinnest gasket you can use is the best choice. There are a few instances where you would want to increase the thickness (ex. compensating for flange conditions). Thinner gaskets have less chance for blowout since the load is concentrated over less volume, which provides higher shear strength.

6. Material Type

If you’re sealing fluids, be sure that the gasket material is compatible with the fluid and will not degrade over exposure time. Think of using a plastic bag to hold water vs a paper bag. Both will hold water, but the paper bag has a clock ticking.

Moving On

Sometimes, none of the above gives you an insight into your problem. These are the difficult ones to fix. Unfortunately at this point, it tends to boil down to a less than ideal joint design and the difficulties associated with finding a gasket material to compensate for these issues. Obviously, if you have gotten this far in the process, changing the design probably isn’t going to be an option (unless it is really bad). It is up to you and your trusted gasket material supplier to find a material that is going to work. In most cases, you’ll find something that’ll seal. However, you may be in a situation where you find that you need to design a material to meet your specific needs. If your gasket material supplier isn’t willing to help walk you through your options, be sure to find someone that is.

What causes most of your blown gaskets? If you are interested in subscribing to Sealed-In’s blog posts, email sales@mtigasket.com.

7 Ways to Protect Against Gasket Blowouts
Too many times, gaskets tend to be an afterthought in the design process, BUT the gasket (or the material) is the first to be blamed if there are ever any problems in the application. If you are currently designing (or may ever design) an application that has gasketed joints, or are currently in the middle of troubleshooting (or may ever troubleshoot) because of a leak in a joint, this week’s post is for you!
Uneven Temperature Exposure – Is There A Solution?
We have recently been looking at applications that have uneven temperature exposure around the perimeter of gaskets. In some cases, one side sees more heat than the other. From the material manufacturing side, there are a number of things we can do...
How Thick Does Your Gasket Need to Be? Here Are 4 Ways to Know For Sure.
Have you ever been sitting around in a meeting room talking about how thick a gasket should be for your application? To help you dial in on where you need to be for your application, we put together a short list of considerations to aid in your decision making process.
The Most Commonly Used Gasket Materials & Why You Need Them All
The most commonly used gasket materials are fiber, rubber, metal, and composite laminates. These gasket materials all have their strengths and weaknesses. The first question you need to answer is – What are you trying to seal?
Is There A Fluid Leak In Your Joint? Here’s What You Need To Know.
If you work with applications that require a gasket, four words you never want to hear are: “We’ve got a leak”. (We know there are others, but we’ll just focus on gaskets since that’s what we can help with.) Today, we’re going to take a deep dive into some of the potential causes of your fluid leak. As you’ll see, you can’t always just blame your gasket. Below are a few reasons why your joint may be leaking fluid, and what you can do about it.
Losing Load in a Gasketed Joint? Here’s What You Can Do About It.
There are many reasons why load can be lost in a gasketed joint. Maintaining the desired load can be a challenge at times for a variety of reasons. Today we’re going to cover some of these reasons.
6 Ways to Ensure You Have a Tight Seal in Your Gasketed Joint
The lack of a tight seal in a gasketed joint is a ticking time bomb. The timing of the issue presenting itself may vary, but unfortunately, you will have issues. The good news is we put together a short list of things that you should consider when it comes time to design or troubleshoot your gasketed joint.