Leaking bubbler seals

[Joycy]

Hey guys, have ran my bubbler a few times now and have stopped most of the leaks however I have a bad in between the stainless 3" ferulle of the boiler lid and 3"-4" copper reducer. I have tried taping the gasket, taping the flanges and tightening the clamp with a shifter but I'm still getting bad leaking. Do you guys have any other tricks for stopping leaks on homemade flanges?

[bluc]

I have read people use a cement block like a paver as "sandpaper" and do figure eights with the modules till dead flat..what sort of seals are you using?
edit does the milkcan only have a 3" ferrule :think:

[Joycy]

Using custom EPDM seals from fsd. I obviously didn't take enough care when making the flanges because a lot of them leaked originally without PTFE tape around them.
Yes, it only has a 3" ferrule, it was what Andrew had when I popped in so just made an adaptor to suit it

[bluc]

So they still have a lip on the seals? You tried shaving the lip off with a Stanley knife? :-B

[Joycy]

No lip, I have taken all of the lips off too

[RuddyCrazy]

I use pfte home made gaskets on my easy flanges and everytime they make a purfect seal. I cut some 1.6mm gasket paper the size of the seal then wind a full roll of pfte tape on it. After each run when the flange is pulled apart before i reuse the seal I put 2 more layer of tape on. These seals I've made have been in service since I made my still and they will just keep sealing with new tape put on each time.

[The Stig]

No lip, I have taken all of the lips off too

Could it be because you have shaved highs and lows into the seal ?
Come grab a couple of the custom seals see if that helps ??
And bring that big long drill with ya :laughing-rolling:

[Lowie]

Try using 2 seals (ridges removed). I have found this to work well for me. The other trick I use is 1 standard seal (with the ridges removed) and a home made one from food grade silicone sheet which I bought on ebay. It's about half the thickness of the edpm ones.

[woodduck]

Are your clamps bottoming out/ running out of thread? If so your flanges may be too thin? If they are you may have to make another rig to put behind the easy flange or cut a flat ring out and solder to the bottom of the flange to give the flange more thickness. If the clamps still have thread left and could be tightened more you need to flatten and face your flanges by putting them back on your anvil and gently tapping them all round then like bluc said find a flat paver, section of concrete or steel bench with sand paper on it and hold the flanges flat while doing figure 8's. After a lap or two you will be able to see where the flanges are being worn off, these are your high spots. Keep going until you have wear marks on the whole face of the flange, that means you have a nice flat surface :handgestures-thumbupleft:

With those black epdm seals I find I will only get 4 or 5 refits before the seal won't seal properly so make sure you have new seals. When cutting the lips off make sure you don't cut into the flat face of the seal. Use a brand new stanley knife blade and hold the seal on a flat surface. The rib should separate quite easily when done right. The first side is the worst because the rib won't allow the seal to lay flat but take your time and you'll be fine :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[scythe]

If you have a commercial triclamp ferrule sit it in that you cut the first rib off then it will sit nicely.