When is a gasket, not a gasket?
…..when it is a Steel Trap gasket. It’s not often you get excited about a gasket. Well quite frankly, never, but on this occasion I have had to make an exception. I don’t know why this product isn’t huge; it seems to be a bit of a best kept secret. It really shouldn’t be as it actually lives up to its claims.
In the past when we would have used a Spiral Wound or Camprofile gasket we now use the Steel Trap. What I really like about it is that it will continue to seal effectively until you need to remove it to repair or service the equipment, effectively it’s a permanent fix. Not only do we cut down on maintenance and downtime but we can use the same size gasket for most applications because of its unique self locating design.
It has also got an interesting history. Necessity really was the mother of invention as the original gasket was invented for the F15 Fighter for its fuel lines. Apparently traditional gaskets could not manage the stresses the plane put on them under and an innovative solution was required to keep the plane flying – and out came the steel trap gasket. It has developed a lot since then but the principle remains the same.
We use it because it is a truly leak free system and as the advertising blurb says it really is as good as a weld. And the thing I like most about it, once installed you really can forget about it.
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