Spent 6 hours chasing a leak on a 3-inch steam line flange

I was replacing a gasket on a 3-inch steam line flange at the old paper mill downtown. The new gasket kept weeping after I torqued it down, even after I cleaned the faces three times. Turns out the flange face had a tiny, almost invisible gouge from a previous repair. I had to pull it all apart again and use a thicker, softer gasket material to seal it. Anyone have a good trick for spotting damaged flange faces before you start the job?

2 comments

2 Comments

avery38910d ago

Been there, a little machinist's blue on the flange face shows those defects right away.

the_evan9d ago

What if the blue just smears it?