RTJ Gaskets

Raised Face Flange (RF), Ring Type Joint Flange (RTJ), Spiral ...

Don't know if this will help, or not.

Surely its because the gasket could "slip out" if lubricated and under pressure........this is a common failure produced by many people when reassembling car engines.......

I personally have always used a lubricant like anti-seize when assembling most any gasketed joint.

Exceptions are cylinder head gaskets, etc.

There are special sealing/gluing stuff (gasket goo!), the one I used was red and quite difficult to remove a few years later if used properly!!!

The engine needed to be run up to temperature at a low/tickover revs, then switched off and left to cool. It sealed well if treated right, but I have completely forgotten the name......sorry.

Hello,

I think that there are two entirely different issues at play here:

• lubrication of the gasket / flange faces
  

• lubrication of the studbolts / nut faces
  

Based on the question, this is clearly not an automotive application but rather and likely, an application in hydrocarbon service.

Gaskets and the sealing faces are often smeared with lubricant to make it easier for their future removal. This should not be done. Long term sealing ability may be compromised simply because somebody wants to make it easier to remove the gasket (which in a sense, I suppose, is probably a good idea since such joints will be opened and closed much more frequently in effort to staunch leakage

Studbolts, on the other hand, should always be lubricated. The trick is applying the amount of lubricant which results in the K Factor that the designer had guessed would be the case when he calculated the necessary torque value. A difficult thing to do indeed unless one is a prescient fortune teller

In any event, RTJ "gaskets" are actually solid metal rings that deform under bolt load to provide sealing. Thus, the use of lubricant on the ring and flange face would not only be incorrect, it would be moot.

I have never had a problem with putting antisieze on my gaskets and always on my bolts. Yes in some cases lubercants are not needed. I always lub on both sides and have never had a problem. In fact it holds the gasket in place for installation. I have never had one leak either and I have had them on pressures up to 10,000 PSI. Some of my colleges recommend putting lube on one side but I prefer to put on both. It really helps if you have to tear things down every 5 years or so to inspect.

Couldn't agree more... I realize this is not directed toward engines, but when I'm doing a major overhaul on an EMD I always look ahead at component replacement and glue the gasket to the engine and grease the component side so a quick replacement can be made.

I've never seen where lubricant (rather grease or anti-seize) has ever done anything but helped in the sealing process.

One thing that contributes to a gasket's effectiveness is its ability to "bite" into the flange surface. This is why flange faces are often rough, in a relative sense. If it doesn't bite into flange, the gasket may extrude. Adding lubricant to the gasket or flange faces decreases the coefficient of friction between the three components and could thus contribute to such gasket creep - and hence, lead to loss of joint integrity.

Smearing the goop onto gaskets is a left-over from the old asbestos gasket days. Today's gaskets in these services are often made of materials which easily release from the flange face regardless of whether or not lubricant has been applied.

Indeed, many joints haven't leaked when the gaskets were gooped. However, many have. If the only benefit of this relic procedure is to make it a bit easier on the next guy to remove an old gasket, why take the risk?

Save the goop for the bolts and nut faces where they're actually needed