Shoutout to the old-timer who insisted on using a copper gasket on a high-pressure steam line

I thought it was overkill compared to graphite, but after it held through a 3-day pressure test at the plant, I'm convinced. What's a piece of old-school advice that's actually held up for you?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_alex1d ago

Overkill compared to graphite" is exactly what they'd say before the graphite fails. Old guys with their copper gaskets are just built different, they've seen what happens when the new stuff doesn't work. Sometimes the old way is just the right way because it's boring and reliable. I'll take a boring win over a cool failure any day.

lily_cooper1d ago

Old guys with their copper gaskets" is a bit of a myth, they fail too if the flange face isn't perfect. Graphite works great in a lot of modern applications where things are actually flat.

green.noah1d ago

Exactly. Had a coolant line on an old press that kept weeping with the fancy seals. Swapped in a simple copper crush gasket and torqued it to the old manual spec. That was five years ago. Not a single drop since. Sometimes the new thing just adds points of failure.