How to maintain mechanical seals? 

Differentmechanical seals require different maintenance steps and while it is best toleave the maintenance to professionals, it pays to know about propermaintenance tips so that you will be able to know if your mechanical seals needmaintenance or not.

-         Learn the different symptoms of sealfailure: You needto know the different symptoms of a seal failure before you implement themaintenance. The tell-tale sign of a seal failure is the presence of someleakage. The leakage can occur as a small tight spray outside the seal or acontinual drip to a full spray. Do not wait for the seal to produce a continualdrip to undergo maintenance.

-         Lock the mechanical seals: When performing a shaft axialdisplacement adjustment, make sure that the collar screws are locked to preventthe seal faces from getting damaged due to exposure to environmental factors.

-         Keep the ports on the gland plantplugged: When themechanical seal is installed on the shaft, make sure that the ports on the glandplate are plugged before you connect the ports to the external seal piping.

-         Use a hydraulic cylinder: For faster detachment andattachment of parts, use a hydraulic cylinder so that you not only save on timein these processes, but you also ensure that the parts are properly aligned andsecure.

-         Remove the shaft deflection: Eliminate shaft deflection as muchas possible during maintenance as this can cause a lot of strain to themechanical seals leading to eventual failure in the future. To remove shaft deflection,use a C or D frame adapter or a pump centre line to lessen the strain problems.

-         Reduce the vibrations: Too much vibration can also causea lot of damage to mechanical seals. Make sure that you reduce them bybalancing the rotating components.

-         Keep the pressure of the stuffingbox within the seal limits: The pressure of the stuffing box should be or suction recirculation tobalance the pressure within the stuffing box.

Theintegrity of your pump relies heavily on the health of your mechanical seals.Make sure that you conduct proper maintenance as this is a more cost-efficientoption than replacing damaged ones.