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V-Seals Technical Information
Parts of the V-seal
The V-seal is comprised of three basic parts. The body of the seal holds it into place on the shaft or mounting surface. The cone shaped flexible lip rides in light contact with the countersurface and does the sealing. The resilient hinge joins the other two parts together and provides the force which keeps the lip against the countersurface. It is these three parts, working together, which allows simple one piece seal to do what no other seal system can do.
Installation
The V-seal can be completely assembled without the need of tools. Being all rubber, it can stretch up to 250% of its molded I.D., so it can be easily stretched over flanges, collars, and entire bearing housings during assembly. This same resilience holds the seal in place without the need for springs or clamps. To assemble the seal, it is stretched onto the shaft by hand and then pushed up against the counterface to a pre-determined width.
Seal Function
One V-seal functions as three different seals. The simple V-seal lip keeps dirt and water out, grease in and acts as a slinger. The V-seal can be used alone to seal lubrication in and/or contamination out, or it can supplement an oil seal, mechanical seal or labyrinth, keeping contamination away from the primary seal.
Speed
In most applications, the V-seal rotates with the shaft to provide a slinging action. As such, it is subject to centrifugal force. At speeds below 1600 surface feet per minute (FPM), the stretch tension of the V-seal is sufficient to hold it onto the shaft.
*Above 1600 FPM, axial back up is required in the form of a step in the shaft or a snap-ring or lock collar.
Above 2400 FPM, radial back up is required in the form of a mounting pocket or clamp around the V-seal body. Above 3000 FPM, the lip of the V-seal lifts away from the counterface resulting in a clearance seal and eliminating drag and wear. The V-seal can also be mounted stationary and run against a rotating counterface. In this case, centrifugal force has no effect on the V-seal.
* The V-seal should always have axial back up in oil applications.
Finishes
Since the V-seal mounts in the shaft instead of running against it, there are no stringent requirements for shaft finish or hardness. The shaft can be soft metal or even plastic. It can be rough or have tool marks without any effect on the seal. Also, since the sealing pressure of the V-seal is so light, the counterface surface on which the seal rides does not require a fine finish.
The recommended finish for the counterface is 32-63 microinch rms. The seal can even run on a finish as rough as 125 rms, if the surface is buffed with emery cloth to remove any sharp edges. The hardness of the counterface can be soft as 32 RC, and can be of any type of metal. Plastics are generally not recommended.
Tolerances
Because the V-seal is all rubber, it is very forgiving with regard to tolerances. For example, the same size V-seal made to fit a 1” diameter shaft (V 25A) will fit any shaft, inch or metric, between .95” and 1.07”.
The recommended fitted width (B1) of this same seal is .24”, but the tolerance on this dimension is +/- .03”. The V-seal can accept mis-aligned and even out-of-round shafts. It can accept shaft wobble within limits.
Seal Dimensions
The basic dimensions of the V-seals are as follows: (i.e for a V-25 A)
- d - The molded inside diameter of the V-seal = .087”
- d1 - The shaft range the V-seal is made to fit = .095-1.07
- d2 - The maximum I.D. of the counterface = d1 + 0.08
- d3 - The minimum O.D. of the counterface = d1 + 0.45
- A - I.D. width of the V-seal = .018
- B - O.D. width of the V-seal = 0.30
- C - V-seal cross section = 0.1
- B1 – V-seal fitted width = 0.24+/-0.03
Materials
The V-seal is available in a variety of different rubber materials for various operating conditions. Nitrile, Neoprene, HNBR, EPDM and Silicone V-seals can all be supplied. Our proprietary anti-friction treatment (AFT) reduces the already low friction of the V-seal even further.
Food grade materials are available including FDA and NSF approved rubbers. In addition, our compounding lab can develop specialty materials for particular applications. For additional information, see our materials section or contact our technical department.
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