What is the limit of refurbishment mechanical seal.?

[zen2000]

Hi All;
I am going to set the specification of seal face lapping.
Do someone can tell me the specification of lapping mechanical seal as below
1). What is the min. thickness of seal face be lapping?
2). Do we can lap mech seal as often as we want?
3). How to ensure the quality of refurbishment mechanical seal?

Thank you in adavnce for your help.

 

[longeron]

I can only really answer the last two. The first depends upon the particular seal face you want to refurbish.

You can't lap a face as many times as you want, the condition of the seal face after service may be so poor that you can't lap and finish it so that it is within the dimensional tolerances of the part. The face might be broken, severely chipped, or scored so that it is not reusable.

I'm a little biased about the answer to the third question. If I were serious about using repaired seals, I'd send my seals back to the vendor. Who would be better able to determine the worthiness of a part or to manufacture a new part quickly than the vendor? I know of a few plants that repair their own seals. It seems that the hassle of carrying a decent parts inventory and having someone qualified to lap faces is hardly worth it.