Finally got a stubborn flange to seal on a boiler in Akron last Tuesday

We were buttoning up a firetube unit and the gasket just would not seat, even after three tries with a new one. I ended up using a light coat of high-temp anti-seize on the bolt threads and torquing them in a star pattern, which did the trick. Anyone have a better method for those finicky old flanges?

3 comments

3 Comments

juliashah12d ago

Have you checked the flange faces for warping? On old units, they can get heat warped over time. I would never use anti-seize on a gasket job, that can create a false torque reading and lead to a leak later. A proper cleaning and a new, lightly oiled gasket should seat if the surfaces are true.

emmag2211d ago

My '98 Civic needed the head machined flat before it would seal.

jordan90310d ago

Heard some guys swear by a thin layer of copper spray on the gasket for those old warped surfaces.