Oil Tank Seal Redesign Means Savings & Flexibility

Why switch from molded to extruded rubber seals?

In search of a cost-effective way to produce oil tank lid rubber seals that would meet their size needs, a manufacturing company looked to Aero Rubber Company®, Inc. for assistance. While their molded rubber seals were functionally satisfactory, they could not easily and economically produce additional rubber gasket sizes from that mold. Each new rubber gasket size required a new mold. Molds take time to produce and each can be a costly option.

When switching from molded rubber parts, there are two options – extruding or die cutting. Knowing die cut was not a viable option due to the cross-section, Aero presented the option of a custom extrusion, cut to length, and then spliced to the customer requested diameter. With samples in hand, the customer experimented with cold bonded splices, without much success. The cold bond process they experimented with employed a chemical bonding agent to seal the bond, which couldn’t hold up to their functional demand. Aero presented another option the customer hadn’t considered – hot vulcanized seals which would produce a much stronger splice than the cold bond method.

What the company learned changed everything.

Tests went well and new vulcanized spliced seals quickly replaced the original molded style. The customer realized they gained more than just cost savings. Without dependence on the molds, they could adjust the developed diameter of the rubber gasket with ease. No longer at the mercy of one seal size per mold, the customer began producing other seal sizes with the extruded and vulcanized splice method.

Every rubber gasket or seal can have its own challenges. Not all seal sizes and cross-sectional designs can be extruded and vulcanize spliced. Molding may be required based on need.

Let Aero Rubber help you meet these challenges. We believe in helping companies get quality advice and rubber parts to meet your needs. We care about your success and we work with you to make sure your needs are met. Explore all of our gasket & seal capabilities. Or, call one of our knowledgeable Consultative Sales Engineers at 800-662-1009 to find out how we can help with your project.