Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi Stillers, i have broken down my 4" Neutralizer after a few years faitful service. i have noticed the black EPDM triclamp seals are sticking to the copper bubbleplate and is peeling bits off if you try to separate it. so the question is do i need to replace the seals? and if so, which seal do you recommend? or can i seal with ptfe tape over old EPDM seal to get by with. I am tending towards new seals pure silicon, any opinions welcome.
Thanks

I have all three types, I like the the white ptfe ones, they dont stick and dont deform much, also easier to twist joints around if your adjusting things

Hi Boardy, that's a very good question. I only use the silicone ones made from a baking mat, mainly because I have not quite perfect flange faces. Sometimes I need to put two gaskets in to get a seal.
I remember reading here where someone did testing on different types of gasket materials to check on contamination risks. Was a good read and worth looking for.
RC AL, how do you get a seal with the PTFE gaskets? I've only ever used these on machined flanges with success before.

Only SS ferrules for me, I appreciate the simplicity of easy flanges as a cost cutting measure, but after reading how much time and mucking around people have getting them to seal, they are not cost effective if you are time poor. The SS ferules are more durable and you can order the seals easily, much less worries about leaks too, only ever had escaping vapour once when I forgot to tighten the clamps after reassembly.

If you had easy flanges then the edpm or silicon would be a better choice because they deform more to take up any irregularities. If you were planning to do a build with them, I would still recommend only using them places that dont get pulled apart often ie sight glasses - but they seem to be a big bugbear for easy flanges too, glass likes it really flat.

Sitting a 10-30kg still with a terrible centre of gravity on a boiler will destroy a soft gasket pretty quickly, even with additional bracing and supports, there is a fair bit of weight leveraging on there

Thanks for your replys, i only asked as having moved home its the first complete pulldown i have done in three years and 50 runs probably. and the EPDM black seals supplied from Mac were throughout, the seals on most flanges were good (other than the Copper Bubbleplates that stuck to the copper ) so for sealing the copper bubble plates i think i will try the silicon when i can refit them and see how they go. :-B
Thanks for your advice!
Long Live FFV the best Nuetral

I was told that the black ones “give” a bit more when they heat up and form a slightly better seal.
Use them for the sections you don’t take a part regularly as they don’t like being moved.
Use the silicon ones where you are going to regularly take it apart, eg bubbler sections to clean your copper with citric.
There may be/are different sealing rings too.
My Neutraliser is set up with a P cross sectioned sealing ring.
Some have a flange on either side of the “bump”.
They are cheap, buy a couple of sets and they will cost you less than a bottle of bundy. ;)