Our present article aims to explain the concept of rubber o-rings. By reading the current entry, you will also learn about other technical seals operating on our Polish market.
When answering the above question, it is worth quoting the available definition of o-rings:
O-ring, also called O-ring.
A type of ring-shaped gasket.
Practical part: O-rings
So let’s go back to more useful information about o-rings than defining them.
As is commonly known, o-rings are the most popular technical seals.
In order to answer this question, we will break it down into the following components:
If we have already had contact with rubber O-rings, we know that their installation is one of the simplest activities. This is largely due to their flexibility, which is much appreciated nowadays.
A wide range of O-ring sizes
The wide availability of sizes, from any internal diameter to the cross-section (commonly known as the O-ring thickness), allows you to quickly find the right size, according to our needs.
Here it is also worth adding about the wide range of rubber compounds available, which allow to increase the service life of these basic technical seals, although we will write about this part in one of the next sections.
Due to the fact that we are Poles, the price does matter for us. Also in the case of O-rings valuations – the price has a positive effect on their demand. The cheapest gaskets can be purchased from PLN 0.39 (in words: thirty-nine groszy) per piece in retail sales. The prices at the POWER Rubber O-ring wholesaler are even lower! It is worth sending inquiries by e-mail: power@powerrubber.com
In this section, we will devote time to providing, or rather recalling the basic information, features related to rubber O-rings.
O-rings and their markings
There are several ways of marking O-rings on the market. One of the easiest for the user is the designation we use (POWER Rubber – the Editor reminds us).
What is the marking for o-rings?
The o-rings in POWER are marked as follows:
Inner Diameter to Thickness (be it, as we mentioned earlier, the section or the height).
Would it be nice to see an example of the marking for the o-ring on POWER Rubber?
Of course it is! Here is a simple example of an O-ring with an inner diameter of 5 and a height of 2. With us, such an O-ring has the following designation:
Here you can buy Rubber O-rings – manufacturer
Following the markings and the dimensioning of O-rings, the best source of knowledge on this subject is our dedicated technical article:
How to dimension O-rings We invite you to read
What other basic information about the O-ring should be known? What will be useful for most Users?
What we should pay attention to are the compounds of which the O-rings are available.
Here we have two options:
Rubber O-rings – Everything you need to know
The NBR O-ring is a technical seal made of synthetic rubber, officially acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber, intended for contact with hydraulic oils.
Temperature range: -20 ° C to + 90 ° C
Example of use: common places of the cheapest O-rings, e.g. seals for oil containers.
Attention! POWER Rubber does not recommend the use of NBR O-rings on the inside of motors. For this type of application, it is worth choosing Viton® o-rings – details can be found in the next section of this article.
An example of a fluorine blend which is a superior model of NBR blend. It has greater chemical resistance and a higher temperature range than NBR. Recommended for contact with mineral oils.
Temperature range: -14 ° C to + 250 ° C
Application example: Seals inside motors.
O-rings made of hydrated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber, HNBR for short. The material is designed to work with oils and greases or ozone.
It is worth mentioning here that the material has a higher resistance, especially to abrasion, than NBR.
Temperature range: -21 ° C to + 150 ° C
Example of use: O-rings in contact with oil, requiring frequent disassembly.
EPDM O-rings are gaskets made of a mixture of ethylene-propylene-diene rubber. Seals made of this material are intended for operation in conditions related to weather, contact with water, exposed to solar radiation.
Temperature range: -41 ° C to + 125 ° C
Temperature range for the supernatant mixture:-50 ° C + 150 ° C
Example of use: sealing in steam boilers and compressors, or in contact with ozone.
Neoprene o-rings are one of the newest technologies on the market. They show a combination of EPDM and NBR blend features.
What does it mean?
This means that they can be exposed to UV radiation while maintaining their resistance to contact with oils.
Temperature range: -40 ° C to + 100 ° C
Resistant to contact with freon and ammonia.
O-rings made of a silicone compound have two markings:
VMQ O-rings with working environment:-55 ° C to + 225 ° C and
FVMQ flurosilicone O-rings, the scope of which is from -20 ° C and up to + 300 ° C
Silicone O-rings can have FDA certification, i.e. certification that allows the use of O-rings in the food industry.
Application example: food line seals with liquid application, silicone rubber seal for contact with drinking water.
The silicone oring is usually a FDA (Food and Drug Administration) certified seal – approval for the contact of rubber products with food
(in accordance with EU directives https://ec.europa.eu/food/)
O-rings made of FFKM or FFPM compound. Officially Perfluorinated rubber known as Kalrez®
FFKMrings are characterized by very high chemical resistance and a wide temperature range. Depending on the model, the temperature range is from -42 ° C to + 325 ° C
Basic models are marked as: 0040, 0090, 1050LF, 3018, 4079, 6221, 6375, 6380, 7075, 7090, 9100. You can read about everything here: Kalrez
PTFE o-rings are gaskets made of a rubber mixture most closely related to plastic due to the fact that they are made of Teflon®. This allows to obtain O-rings resistant to heat, cold, corrosive chemicals and to be used in places where a low coefficient of friction is required. Certified for contact with food.
Temperature range: -200 ° C to + 260 ° C
Compression and friction resistant.
These are O-rings covered with a Teflon layer to increase chemical resistance.
Temperature range: -60 ° C to 260 ° C
Example of use:
As you can see, we have presented the basic rubber compounds from which technical seals are produced. Now let’s ask ourselves:
Is there anything else he should know about seals?
We answer: Yes, there is one key topic worth mentioning, namely:
O-ring hardness is one of the most overlooked aspects of these flat seals. Many specialists forget about the consequences of incorrect selection of the correct hardness of O-rings.
O-rings, and more precisely their hardness, is determined on the Shore A scale.
Example?
O-ring 5×2 70 Shore A means: O-ring which has a reading of 70 on the Shore A scale (abbreviation: ShA).
The standard O-ring value is 70 ShA. It is a universal value. Below this value, O-rings or other seals are softer: e.g. 50 ShA, and above 70 ShA, e.g. O-rings 80ShA or O-rings 90ShA are harder variants.
And the whole thing: hardness affects the pressure resistance.
What does it mean?
This means that with increasing pressure in the equipment where the seal is to be installed, the seal should have a higher hardness.
Are these all the topics? Due to our vast knowledge, we will be happy to share information about colored O-rings.
Each of us gets used to the colors, be it the color of clothes or accessories in everyday life. We know that for outfits where we want to look elegant, we put on a white shirt, and for casual outings, we can allow ourselves a little deviation from this rule. Despite the hard rules, there are soft rules in life, especially about colors.
Best example:
Red is always faster
Why is it so accepted? – we will ask
This is because most sports cars in the previous years had just such a color, a color that at the same time made us aware of the vehicle brand.
Is it not possible to have a fast car nowadays, but a color other than red?
After a moment of reflection, each of us will answer: you can have a fast car in a different color. The current development of technology allows for all sorts of variety, including the possibility of choosing any color from the RAL palette (international color chart). It all depends on the cost.
The same is true for O-rings and other seals. In fact, we are able to offer any color of o-rings for any purpose, but it is worth considering whether we can use standard colors such as black or green for o-rings, which are the common color for each of the mixtures. Additional advantages are the lower target price due to the use of standard color.
So what is the purpose of using colored O-rings?
Here we can give you some examples from our experience in consulting technical seals.
In Poland, we have assumed that each color is a different material. As it was explained above, we can use seals of any color and its properties, although the Oldest Highlanders have the following applications remembered for each color of the o-rings. And so we can assign:
Black o-rings – any of the available mixtures can be hidden under this name. The most common are NBR rings or Viton® seals, but also EPDM O-rings.
In most common places where O-rings are used. At the battery sink, on the bike, or in basic functions, where rubber seals perform sealing functions.
The brown color for O-rings is the color used in rings made of a mixture of Viton®, FPM and FKM.
Red o-rings are commonly used silicone o-rings made of the VMQ compound.
Green O-rings are the color assigned to a mixture of EPDM and HNBR. O-rings for use in air conditioning.
The White O-rings are silicone rings. They come in two versions as standard: transparent and milk white. This color is also assigned to Teflon products, the abbreviation of which is often marked PTFE.
Blue o-rings are a rarer sight. However, such non-standard gaskets are also available in our offer.
Another, still rare, color for technical seals is Yellow. However, we also offer a Professional Approach here as a manufacturer of rubber products.
Advice for people looking for yellow O-rings: please contact us to agree on dimensions and use.
Even less common seals are those in silver, but the most important thing is to satisfy the customer.
Back then, we had the opportunity to deliver silver-colored gaskets.
It must be admitted that it is a very unusual color for rubber products. Much more related to steel alloys, therefore the use of this color was needed: Reducing the visibility of the use of O-rings in the outer layer of the device.
We are glad that another production company joined the group of satisfied customers of POWER Rubber.
However, there will always be a Person who will ask:
When we want to explain the differences between green and black O-rings, then we can help others:
As you can see, the colors of the O-rings are optional according to the customer’s needs. The manufacturer of rubber O-rings and products can advise on the use of appropriate mixtures. You can choose from the following types of rubber: NBR, FKM, FPM, EPDM, HNBR, Silikon or FFKM, and o-rings in a seamless cover, most often known as FEP o-rings.
Check here: norms and standards adopted for O-rings
Due to our experience and contact with customers, we will present the most common places of use for seals. Our extensive experience helps us in this, which consists not only in selling gaskets as a rubber shop with o-rings, but also as professionals who select technical seals for their machines and devices. We adjust rubber seals to the grooves we already have, but we also design grooves thanks to our knowledge of how to choose the O-ring for the groove. So let’s check where we can most often find our rubber gaskets with a cross-section of
Computer keyboard – an element of equipment in almost every house, apartment or office. Both acting as an external keyboard, but also as a keyboard that is included in our laptop. Of course, we are not talking about touch models here, but those with keys.
As it turns out, the rubber rings are just below the keys. It is worth noting that you should carefully disassemble the keyboard buttons to install the O-rings.
Here it is worth using a special tool for extracting the keys. It is easy to damage them. For this purpose:
And this is the correct O-ring assembly instruction for a computer keyboard.
What is the function of o-rings in the keyboard? We answer this simple question with the example of a short story:
Imagine that you come to your home after a hard day at work at your computer. A house with peace and quiet. Imagine that, right after leaving your stuff at the door, you take off your shoes and rush to the chair just to relax. You sit down and relax, and then suddenly: in all the silence, you hear a gentle tap on the keyboard. Initially soft sound, turns into a bothersome sound, and so the moments of relaxation passed.
What was missing in the given situation?
There are no O-rings for the keyboard.
As you can see in the story description above, the o-rings on the keyboard mute the sound of the keys. They increase the comfort of work by reducing the noise occurring when writing and using a laptop and a desktop computer. Thus, it is worth investing in for inner peace.
As it turns out, there are plenty of uses for these gaskets. This allows you to discover them in various places. And so we can meet them both in passenger cars, water vehicles and even airships.
Let us ask ourselves: what does this result from?
This is due to:
green
,red
,blue
or transparentFollowing this lead, our rubber seals can be found in many places of these vehicles and ships:
Our list is growing! Feel free to submit your ideas in the comments!
Who among us does not remember a situation when our faucet – whether it’s the kitchen faucet or the one in the bathroom – started to leak? Drop by drop, until complete damage and a steady stream of water.
What is the cause of a leak in the bathroom faucet?
What causes the seals on the washbasin faucet to leak?
Most often, the cause is damage to the battery seal.
To stop repairing a battery leak, just make the following action plan:
If, after our replacement, unfortunately, the battery continues to leak, we have two options:
For the second case, we have two solutions:
We invite you to take advantage of the opportunities available online in our online store with mail order sale. Usually with delivery by courier on the next working day.
Our high inventory levels allow us to provide express deliveries. They also allow wide access to metric and inch O-rings.
Where to buy rubber O-rings?> POWER Rubber <-
For the convenience of our customers, we have launched a stationary store in Pruszków – close to the capital of Poland Warsaw – at ul. Domaniewska 5A. The store is located close to the S8 A2 junction, Pruszków exit. It is equipped with the most common sizes and rubber products such as:
Best regards,
Team POWERRubber.com
I remember this debate from years ago. There are some that believe that the green O-rings are superior and those that believe that the black O-rings are superior. I can tell you that we never had an O-ring failure on either as a replacement.
I also remember the endless rants about Nylog which I never used. Never had a problem.
The O-ring is probably good for 20 years. When I pulled apart my then 15 year old 85 Suburban in 2000, it had factory O-rings and no signs of leaks. I retrofit the system and installed new parts including O-rings, the black ones, and also the green ones, depending upon the part. Some parts came with green, others with black.
Not one drop of Nylog was ever used and the system ran fine, no leaks, until I sold it in 2019.
So, you can believe all of the stories about Nylog, green O-rings and Marvels Mystery Oil, or take the simple route. Use what comes supplied in the parts and move on to something else.