Spent half a day chasing a leak that turned out to be a bad gasket on a 2-inch steam valve

I was doing a pressure test on a new section of boiler feed line we installed at the old paper mill downtown. Kept losing pressure, so I started soaping every joint... nothing. Checked all the welds twice. Finally, after about four hours, I noticed a tiny, steady hiss from the valve body itself. The brand new gasket had a hairline crack you could barely see. Has anyone else had a new part fail like that right out of the box?

3 comments

3 Comments

noah38715d ago

Was it from a known brand or some cheap off brand?

cameronrivera15d ago

Brand names are just a tax on being gullible.

victor_hall15d ago

Cameron's got a point about brand hype, but @noah387 is asking the right question. Even good brands have bad batches sometimes, especially with molded gaskets. A tiny flaw in the rubber compound can cause that hairline crack.