Why Colour Matters When Choosing Gaskets?

Gasket manufacturers have turned to colour coding gaskets to make the selection and categorisation of the product more accessible.  

It is possible to identify the winding and filler materials that were used for fabrication by the colouring of the outer top side of the centre gasket ring; the colour stripes placed at intervals on the outside designate what non-metallic winding filler materials were used.  

These not only help to identify and choose products, but they also set an industry standard so that the correct gasket is selected for an application. 

A limited colour selection can no longer satisfy consumers who seek more diversity to match the multitudes of applications. The colours range from standard grey all the way to the most vibrant hues. Thus, it is possible to match the colour of the seals and gaskets to doors and windows where they will hide in plain sight. 

Any queries about the use of gaskets, gasket colours or seal colours, can be expertly answered by the technicians at Specialist Sealing Products. The training and long-term association with seals and gaskets guarantees the staff can swiftly understand any application requirements and solutions.  

How a Spiral Wound Gasket Colours Will Look 

The standard used for the fabrication of spiral wound gaskets is called ASME B-16.20. It requires an inner ring to be placed on all PTFE manufactured gaskets in all available classes. 

These colours denote the materials used, the temperatures they have been manufactured to withstand, and will have an abbreviation of the material stamped on the ring. 

When looking at the gasket from a transverse section so that it looks like the rings around the planet Saturn and starting from the innermost centre (otter) ring, there is a stamp with numbers and letters that indicate the materials used to make the gasket. 

Looking at the outer ring, there will be a gasket manufacturer’s stamp with their registered name. This will help anyone looking for a particular brand. 

There are four other stamps on the outer ring that help identify the gasket properties and specs.  

• Stamps with plain numbers and a letter indicate the material when it is something other than carbon steel. 
• A Stamp that looks the same as the one listed above but with a forward stroke / followed by letters indicates the gasket filler material. 
• Stamps also have the standard manufacturing rating such as ASME B-16.20. 
• A stamp with measurements indicates the nominated pipe size and pressure rating.

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Gasket Identification Using Colour Guide 

For even better ways of being able to tell the materials used in a gasket, there are colours to guide the buyer. There is sure to be a colour coded chart that will assist in choice, as even seasoned engineers sometimes struggle to remember the properties of the many different colours and what they denote.  

Some gaskets have no colour. This is not deliberate; the defining properties of the gasket will be able to be understood from reading the stamps as demonstrated in the previous section. Staff at Specialist Sealing Products will be on hand to assist any colour or stamp queries.

Read the next article: Spiral wound gasket and sheet gasket