Split a gasket on a header flange job yesterday and had to redo the whole seal

Was working on a boiler at a chemical plant outside Houston. Had the flange torqued down and felt the gasket let go. Spent an extra 2 hours grinding the surface clean and fitting a new one. My foreman just shook his head. Anyone else had a gasket fail on a tight deadline like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

richardknight19d ago

Yeah @ryang77 hit it, cheap gaskets ALWAYS let go at the worst time.

ryang7719d ago

Man that stinks. I had the exact same thing happen on a steam line at a paper mill a few years back. Was torquing it down by the book and the gasket just split right in half. Had to pull the whole flange apart and grind it down too because there was old gasket material stuck in the grooves. Took me almost three hours extra and the plant manager was breathing down my neck the whole time. Nothing worse than doing a job twice because a cheap gasket gave out on you. Makes you want to buy stock in the company that makes the good ones.