Back in the day, we used to fight with every stubborn flange on a 30-year-old boiler.

About 6 months ago on a job in Philly, we had this one flange that just would not seal, no matter how we torqued it. An old timer I used to work with told me to try heating the gasket with a torch for a few seconds before putting it in, just enough to make it soft. I was sure it would burn, but we tried it. It formed a perfect seal on the first pressure test and held at 150 psi. Anyone else have a weird old trick for sealing flanges that actually works?

3 comments

3 Comments

aliceshah23d ago

Heating the gasket? That's insane.

xena37316d ago

Seen it work too, not even that crazy. Lilys82 is right about old Fords. You just warm the cork gasket with a heat gun until it's soft, then bolt it down. Seals up fine for a cheap fix.

lilys8222d ago

My cousin did it on his old Ford. It actually worked.