Six Steps to Mechanical Seal Repair

Six Steps to Mechanical Seal Repair

Many heavy industries in and around South Africa have come to rely on the integrity of their machinery when maintaining productivity. Yet machinery is made up of such an assortment of components, seals, valves and pumps that damaged components can often be difficult to spot until they cause your company unnecessary downtime. Because of this, it is important for business owners to connect with repair services, and one important way of doing that is by understanding their repair process on such items. In this article we will discuss mechanical seal repair in particular, to help you understand a little bit more about what goes into restoring them.

Step 1: Inspecting the Seal
Before repairs can begin, the mechanical seal needs to be inspected to determine the magnitude of the damage that it has suffered. In this way, a visual inspection must be done on the external and internal parts of the seal, including its faces, set screws, springs and various other related components.

Step 2: Water Blasting the Seal
Throughout their operation, mechanical seals will take on outside matter, either from the environment under which it works, or from the materials used in the equipment. This can make the seal ineffective after a time. Because of this, heated water from high-pressure jets are used to remove soft contaminants from the seal’s surface in preparation for repairs.

Step 3: Blass Bead Blasting
Even after water blasting, certain contaminants may be too hard to remove, in these cases glass bead blasting removes hard contaminants from the metal surface of the seal, leaving it pristine.

Step 4: Re-Lapping Seal Faces
With extensive use, seal faces will eventually become textured from being ground which undermines their effectiveness. Because of this, a face lapping process is necessary to keep their surfaces smooth. This can either be done with course, ground or fine face lapping.

Step 5: Making Orders on Repair Parts
Even though the seal is so much closer to being ready for repurposing, there may still be some associated component which have suffered too much damage to be restored properly. At this point in the repair process, any associated spares and replacements are sourced or manufactured, and fitted to the seal.

Step 6: Assembling the Final Product
After spare parts have been replaced, the seal needs to be completely assembled and thoroughly tested to ensure the effectiveness of the repair process. From this point it is ready to be passed on to the customer or fitted to their machinery to ensure economic operations.

Contact First Seal for Details
If you would like to know more about how you can source services related to manufacturing and importing mechanical seals, contact a representative from First Seal now, or visit our website for further details on our products and services.

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