Blue Oak (HDPE) barrel closed head new seals

[wyatt s]

Hi all-

I'm seeking advice on what to use to make new gaskets for a batch of 85 liter HDPE open-head barrels I just purchased for cider.

I'm trying to make these airtight (gas permeability of HDPE notwithstanding).

The seals that came with are open or closed cell foam, and were not doing a very good job.

[Denis France]

I have considered this but not tried it. Cover the lip of the drum and the groove where the gasket fits with Vaseline, fill the hole the gasket sits in with silicone sealant and screw the lid down gently till you think you have contact with the mating surfaces, leave 24 hrs and then check it. If you have got it wrong, pull out the bead of silicone and try again.

Denis

--
--
Visit our website: http://www.ciderworkshop.com
 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "Cider Workshop" Google Group.
By joining the Cider Workshop, you agree to abide by our principles. Please see http://www.ciderworkshop.com/resources_principles.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cider Workshop" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cider-workshop+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to cider-workshop@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Tom Bugs]

I found in the archive the suggestion to remove old seals and soak in hot water - seems to have done the trick with an old one which wasn't sealing properly.

[Ray Blockley]

Remove, wash well, soak in very hot water so it regains it's shape & section (plastic memory), dry well & store separately in a dry place. 

Ray.   

On Mon, Oct 16, 2017 at 7:41 AM, Tom Bugs <bugb...@gmail.com> wrote:

I found in the archive the suggestion to remove old seals and soak in hot water - seems to have done the trick with an old one which wasn't sealing properly.

--

[Max Nowell ( Steilhead Cider)]

Now, this is a matter that I think about quite a lot.  It really irritates me that there doesn't seem to be a source of replacement seals - I use numerous blue oak barrels of all sizes, and inevitably some seals are lost or damaged over time. I like to carefully remove the seals whenever I empty and clean the barrels, then do as Ray says; in fact, I boil them to sterilise.  Sometimes the join gives way - I find that superglue is good to repair it, once it's dry. I did find a company on-line (R H Nuttall)  that I thought could supply coils of silicone cord with which I could make my own replacement seals, but I think they deal in much larger quantities than I need, and it was not cheap either.

On Monday, 16 October 2017 09:48:56 UTC+1, Ray wrote:

Remove, wash well, soak in very hot water so it regains it's shape & section (plastic memory), dry well & store separately in a dry place. 

Ray.   

On Mon, Oct 16, 2017 at 7:41 AM, Tom Bugs <bugb...@gmail.com> wrote:

I found in the archive the suggestion to remove old seals and soak in hot water - seems to have done the trick with an old one which wasn't sealing properly.

--
--
Visit our website: http://www.ciderworkshop.com
 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "Cider Workshop" Google Group.
By joining the Cider Workshop, you agree to abide by our principles. Please see http://www.ciderworkshop.com/resources_principles.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cider Workshop" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cider-worksho...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to cider-w...@googlegroups.com.

[Ray Blockley]

Agreed! But after 10 yrs+ the seals are still going strong with a bit/lot of TLC... I am more in need of replacement galvanised ring clamps.

Ray. 

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cider-workshop+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to cider-workshop@googlegroups.com.

[Wes Cherry]

i think some of these will fit blue oak.

http://www.ibcparts.com/Lid-Gaskets_c_86.html

US vendor...

-'//es Cherry

Dragon's Head Cider

Vashon Island, Wa US

www.dragonsheadcider.com

[wyatt s]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I decided to buy a tube of food grade silicone and have a go at making gaskets.