lip seals

When it comes to maintaining a high-functioning rotary shaft, you need to select the appropriate lip seal.

The shaft seal protects the rotary shaft from contaminants such as dust and dirt, and it keeps water out and lubricant in.

A rotary seal, also known as a radial shaft seal, typically sits between a rotary shaft and a fixed housing — such as a cylinder wall — to stop fluid leaking along the shaft. The rotary seal’s outside surface is fixed to the housing, while the seal’s inner lip presses against the rotating shaft.

Common applications for shaft seals include motors, gear boxes, pumps and axles. They’re also increasingly used for food and chemical processing, as well in pressurized gas applications.

Three of the most important considerations when the choosing the best lip seal for a rotary shaft are:

1. The material the seal is made of,
2. the hardness of the shaft’s surface, and
3. the roughness of the shaft’s surface.

Here’s your quick go-to guide on how to achieve optimum performance and longevity for your seals and shafts, ultimately minimizing the risk of seal failure. Presented by our partners at Eclipse Engineering:

In the world of sealing, it seems as though there are as many varieties of pump applications as there are sealing solutions.

Many breakthroughs in technology have aided the evolution from braided packing to advanced mechanical seals, leading to remarkable gains in pump performance, efficiency and safety. Although mechanical seals are certainly a fitting solution for an array of pump and rotary applications, advances in polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) rotary lip seals can also solve these challenging radial sealing solutions.

Radial lip seals can retain lubricants and excluded unwanted contaminants for a fraction of the cost of a mechanical seal, while providing many of the same benefits in terms of performance and seal life.