SEPCO Sealing Equipment Products Co

10/30/2026

Friday Featured Product: SEPCO 500 Graphite Sheet. It’s 98% pure graphite on a thin 316 stainless insert that keeps it from creasing in handling, with no binders to cook out at temperature. Rated to 932°F and 5,000 psi. Install it with a star pattern in three passes, then circular passes at full torque until nothing moves.

https://bit.ly/4e6lLdw

10/28/2026

New bearing isolator leaking oil? Before you pull it, check the expulsion port. It has to point down at 6 o’clock. Then check that the oil level isn’t above the isolator drain, and that the rotor O-ring didn’t get cut on the keyway.

Those three cause most new-install leaks. Our updated EXP article covers how it works, which version fits your equipment, and when an isolator won’t fix the problem.

https://bit.ly/4i7QERh

10/27/2026

Single-spring seals only work in one direction.

With the right rotation, the spring tightens onto the shaft and drives the seal face. Run it backward and the spring unwinds, loses grip, and the face slips. It leaks, and the parts don’t tell you why.

Check shaft rotation before you order the seal, not after it fails.

10/26/2026

Some seal problems aren’t seal problems.

Run a centrifugal pump far from its best efficiency point and the shaft starts to deflect. The seal faces feel it every revolution. A choked discharge valve or an oversized pump will put you there.

Check where the pump is running before you replace another seal.

10/23/2026

Friday Featured Product: SEPCO CGS Cartridge Grease Seal

Some pumps run double seals only because a single seal leaked. That means a barrier system to maintain or flush water running all day. The CGS is a single cartridge seal with a grease barrier cavity behind the faces, so product that gets past the faces meets grease instead of open air. No flush water and no barrier system.

It isn’t for toxic or flammable fluids, which still need a pressurized dual seal. For everything else, it’s a simpler option.

The SEPCO Cartridge Grease Seal is a single cartridge-mounted mechanical seal that can replace double seals without a water flush.

10/22/2026

Wireless vibration sensors on pumps are great at catching bearing problems weeks ahead. Mechanical seals usually don’t give that warning. They fail when conditions change: the pump runs dry, runs far from its best efficiency point, or loses its flush.

If seals are your problem, watch the conditions that cause the failures. Check flush flow, temperature at the gland, and where the pump is running on its curve. The sensors on the bearing housing tell you about the pump. These tell you about the seal.

10/20/2026

Tuesday Tip: Check for soft foot before you align a pump.

Put a dial indicator on one foot and loosen only that bolt. If the foot rises more than 0.002 http://in., you have soft foot. Retighten it and repeat on every foot of the motor and the pump.

If the gap under the foot is even, flat shims will fix it. If it tapers, the foot is bent or the base is uneven, and you’ll need a step shim, a tapered shim, or machining. Keep shim packs to three or four clean stainless shims. And if the reading disappears with the piping disconnected, the pipe is the problem, not the shims.

Recheck every foot after shimming and after final torque. Otherwise the alignment shifts every time a bolt gets retorqued, and the seal and bearings wear out early.

10/19/2026

A mechanical seal doesn't control pump pressure. It sees whatever pressure is in the seal chamber, and that pressure changes as wear rings open up, throat bushings wear and flush settings get adjusted.

Balance ratio decides how much of it reaches the seal faces. At 150 psi, an unbalanced seal can carry nearly three times the face load of a balanced one.

Put a gauge on the seal chamber before you blame the seal. The full article explains why: https://bit.ly/4s75r1O

10/16/2026

Friday Featured Product: the SEPCO HydraLoad System.

A bearing-grade bushing sits in the stuffing box and steadies the shaft, so the packing isn't worn down by deflection and runout. The lantern ring is a separate part, so if it cracks or clogs you replace the ring, not the whole assembly.

Carbon, expanded PTFE and FDA-compliant PEEK versions, in solid or split designs:

https://bit.ly/3Vzgwg5

The HydraLoad System is a shaft-stabilizing, bearing-grade bushing system with a removable lantern ring that provides reliable protection while being easy to repair and maintain.

10/15/2026

The seal usually isn't the root cause of its own failure.

Setting clips left on after installation. Gland nuts tightened unevenly. Seal faces handled with bare fingers. These are installation and maintenance errors, and they get logged as "seal failure" every day.

Checklists help. Hands-on training on the seals in your plant helps more. Our article on human factors in seal failure explains why: https://bit.ly/4jUDHLE