Types of mechanical seals
- 1. Types of Mechanical Seals Mechanical seals are the devices which help to join parts together in a mechanism preventing leakage of fluid. Basically they are used in plumbing system and they stop water leakage by maintaining pressure they poses. Obviously there are lots of plumbing mechanisms requiring different types of joints. Various types of seals are available in the market. A buyer must know their configuration to understand which design will meet his requirements. Types of mechanical seals and their characteristics are given below for your ease to choose the right one for you: 1. Conventional seal 2. Pusher Seal 3. Non-pusher Seal 4. Unbalanced Seal 5. Balanced Seal 6. Cartridge Pusher seal basically is installed with moving secondary seal. As its name shows, it moves on the sleeve or shaft maintaining the contact over seal’s face. It assists to lodge wear properly and to help the incorporated shaft alignment. The major advantage of this sort of seal is that they are easily available in market. They are quite cheap and widely ranged. The disadvantage of pusher seal is that it depends upon secondary seal. The hang-up of sleeve or shaft can always be hazardous to this seal. So if you are expecting that the secondary seal will create any issues specially bearing weight, don’t choose pusher seal. Unlike pusher seal, non pusher seal doesn’t require secondary seal which is moving along on shaft. In its installation, secondary seal is still all the time, even if the machine is working. The secondary sealing device is not compulsory to accommodate rotary movement. Its plus point is that it can bear very low and high temperature and it is not leveled to another seal (secondary). Such seals are installed to water applications commonly. Cartridge seal is having the mechanical seal which is pre-mounted on a shaft (gland included). They directly fit on shaft sleeve or sleeve. Cartridge seal is available in single or double configuration. Pump users mostly recommend and use cartridge seal for the best and long life performance. The primary advantage of this seal is that the user can get rid of measuring the setting to install this. Maintenance cost really reduces if you are using cartridge seal plus it lessens the chances of seal setting faults. Main negative characteristic of this seal is that it is very expensive so mostly user cannot afford to buy this. It sometimes doesn’t fit in the setting preinstalled.
- 2. The buyers can only choose the right seal if they know the proper setting and the sort of liquid it is going to handle. Seals are available in a wide cost range, metal and quality. A wise buyer will not prefer price over quality for sure.