Page 14 - My FlipBook

PAGE 14 / NATIONAL CLOTHESLINE / JANUARY, 2021

WRENCH WORKS

BY BRUCE GROSSMAN

Stop those expensive solvent leaks

n a bygone era of cheap you’d be surprised at how When you see a leak like

solvent, transfer machin- few operators take the time this you need to take action PROPER GASKET MAINTENANCE
Iery and Per Combo filters to go behind the machine at the end of the load that’s

and cooker stills, a drip was with a good flashlight and currently being processed or
generally no big deal. How- observe the still door during the case of a still, the next
ever, the increasing costs of heavy distillation. time the still is cold. Not to
solvent and energy, coupled In many cases, a grungy worry, chances are good a
with environmental regula- still waste container sits simple fix will get you back
tions, should markedly under the still door and the on track.

sharpen our maintenance surrounding area is often When the door can be ACCUMULATED
LINT
and housekeeping practices. caked with old still residue. safely opened, look at the
I’m dedicating the next few Because of this, even large surface of the gasket. Gener- GROOVE FORMED BY

articles to the selection leaks can go undetected if the ally, there will be a slight THE GASKET PRESSING

of/and techniques involved, timing and lighting are not groove in the gasket caused AGAINST SEATING RIM
OF DOOR.

with maintaining and replac- right (the price of solvent by the pressure against the
ing that ubiquitous device being what it is, these liquid raised rim portion on the
often taken for granted, the type leaks cost you big time). drycleaning machine that the
“lowly gasket.” Also, this will happen because door seals against (see figure
Stills have them, dryclean- the heat and chemistry sight 1).
ing machines have them, glasses in stills have a high Often lint accumulates in
dryers have them, pumps rate of failure and when this groove and prevents the

have them — everywhere faulty will leak lots of sol- pr FIGURE 1
oper mating of the gasket
you look in a drycleaning vent. against the machine front. It
plant you find them. They’re Lint and button trap leaks is vital to routinely clean this
everywhere. Gaskets — that’s are usually of the vapor vari- groove, keeping it free from

what I’m talking about! ety and harder to locate be- lint. RAISED
With this in mind, begin- cause the escaping vapor Also, the surface of the RIM
ning with the drycleaning doesn’t usually leave behind raised rim (see figure 2) that
machine we find what are a visible residue. the gasket seats on must be

probably the four most recog- Now that you are aware of kept lint-free. On newer ma-
nizable gaskets you deal with the problem areas, let’s ex- chines the rubber of this gas-

on a daily basis: the loading plore them one by one and ket is a solid robust type and
door, button trap door, lint see how you can isolate the can be cleaned easily with a
trap door (on many dryclean- leaking area and stop the small wire brush (if the gas-
ing machines the lint and fluid loss. ket is a type of foam use
button trap are enclosed in When you notice a solvent something more delicate like
the same housing) and still leak at a door it will almost a spotting bone).

door. always appear to be located The photographs accom-
These doors are opened at the bottom area of the door panying this article show the

and closed on a regular basis gasket. cleaning of the still door gas- FIGURE 2

causing wear and failure of That’s because gravity ket. The same procedure
the gaskets designed to seal being what it is, the liquid holds true for all the doors on tles may be too soft to re- Operate the machine and

them shut. Even the most un- solvent leaking past the gas- the machine. move caked-on lint. Brushes see if the leak has stopped. If

aware operator cannot long ket rolls down the surface of A spotting brush is shown with brass or stainless bris- after cleaning the gasket the
ignore a solvent leak at the the door and drips off of the being used to clean the gas- tles can be used on solid rub- door still leaks, you have a
loading door. However, bottom center. ket. In many cases the bris- ber gaskets. choice to make.

Do you want to order a
new gasket for replacement
or spend the time and effort

to attempt an adjustment to
the door and/or gasket in
order to effect a repair?
Hate to leave you hanging,
but that’s it for this issue.

Next issue I’ll be covering
how to adjust and/or replace
these door gaskets.
Bruce Grossman is the chief of
R&D for EZtimers Manufactur-
ing, the manufacturer of the Tat-
tler steam trap tester; Drop In
The Bucket and Sahara line of
high purity separator water mis-
ter/evaporators and the new EZ
Level line of return tank level
and temperature controllers. The
EZ Level replaces the problem-
atic ball-float valve in your boil-
ers’ return tank, helping to
eliminate boiler damage and lost
production caused by boiler
down time. See our ad in this
issue and for further information
on the EZtimers product line or
visit www.eztimers.com. Ad-
dress any questions or com-
ments to [email protected]
or call (702) 376-6693.
To learn more, visit www.nationalclothesline.com/ads