Quality checks on boot connector’s always occur at Press-Seal before a gasket or “boot” ever leaves our building. But to ensure that our customers are always getting the best possible product, we’ve invited our Quality Manager, Brad Carpenter onto our show to discuss some of these key inspections you can complete yourself.
Press-Seal’s Mission
As Brad mention’s at the start of the video, it’s our mission and our responsibility to provide the highest quality product possible each and every time. Our company foundation is built around quality and service.
Whether it’s the inspection of product after assembly or clear back at the beginning with our rubber mixing, our standards of quality are unsurpassed in the marketplace.
Inspecting a PSX: Direct Drive Boot Connector
It goes without saying that the inspection of any boot begins with ensuring you received the correct boot and quantities before looking at the finer details.
As Brad demonstrates in the video, some of the first things we look for when inspecting the PSX: Direct Drive boot are:
· Stainless steel oversleeve – its purpose is an extension of the sealing surface. Without the sleeve, it leaves a gap in the sealing surface which could cause leaks in the field
· Looking at the adjuster nut from the large end of the boot, we should see the right nut with a molded horizontal groove. A nut installed backwards causes the expansion band to, well, install backwards
Inspecting a PSX: Nylo Drive Boot Connector
The similarities between the Direct Drive and Nylo Drive are almost transparent, but there are subtle differences when inspecting.
· The glass filled nylo band has an oversleeve that is a black thermoplastic material and needs closer inspection than the Direct Drive
· Stainless steel adjuster nut should be visible within the expansion mechanism area
Boot Connector Markings
When you want to determine if you’ve received the properly sized boot, an easy way to do this is to look for the molded text embedded right into the rubber. On these boots you should find:
· Our company name
· The O.D. pipe range
· And the size of the boot
Other Inspections of the Boot
Our engineering department has taken into consideration during the design phase of the tooling for the molds that are used to make these boots. And manufacturing our boots per ASTM requirements allows for a certain amount of allowable flashing. Additionally we’ve designed the molds so that any of the acceptable flashing is not found on the sealing surface itself.
The final tip we use for boot inspection is one simple fact – the boot must be round.
We take measures to ensure the packaging of our boots minimizes possible damage or causes ovality in the boot, but we cannot prevent shipping damage or the carelessness of someone handling the boot. So if you’re using the boot in a cored or cast hole, the shape of the boot is crucial as well.
Do you have a quality inspection process of rubber boot connectors?