Had a 3-inch steam line flange gasket blow out on a Tuesday morning job

It was a 400 psi system and we had to shut down the whole boiler for 8 hours. What's your go-to method for seating those high-pressure gaskets to avoid a repeat?

3 comments

3 Comments

quinn60614h ago

Man, a 3-inch blowout at 400 psi sounds like a terrible Tuesday. I used to just clean the flange faces and slap a new gasket in. After a similar leak, an old timer showed me his trick. He uses a thin, even layer of high temp anti-seize on the gasket faces, not to seal, but to let it settle into the grooves without binding. It made a huge difference for me on hot systems. What kind of gasket material are you working with?

the_claire13h ago

Let it settle without binding" is the key part I always mess up. I usually crank everything down so tight the gasket just squirts out the side. My version of anti-seize is just a lot of hope and a bigger wrench.

jakel2514h ago

Sounds like your Tuesday was a real blast. My go-to is just a lot of swearing and hoping for the best.