Seal stuff in and seal stuff out

By Jackie Hackett, director of global sales & marketing, APM Hexseal

Industrial electronic and mechanical equipment must reliably perform essential tasks, even while operating in challenging conditions. The slightest error or malfunction can lead to time-consuming and costly maintenance or repairs.

Alack of appropriate or complete sealing can cause failure in critical and expensive machinery, so using appropriate sealing solutions, and checking them regularly during maintenance operations, can help to avoid unexpected downtime.

Improper sealing of critical elements, such as switches, circuit breakers, and control panels, can leave them vulnerable to adverse environmental conditions. Corrosion, contamination build-up, as well as electrical malfunction, can arise from unwanted indoor or outdoor environmental exposure.

Sealing boots and bushings are employed by numerous industries to preserve the reliability and longevity of various tools, equipment and their components. These elements act as barriers to protect sensitive components by sealing them from the external environment. Sealing boots are elastomer-based, specially moulded covers that are placed over various types of switch configurations, while bushings are specially designed to protect the mounting holes. They are available in a wide array of elastomers, and configurations, depending on the application and the types of contaminants needed to guard against.

Eliminating the risk of contamination

Sealing products can be used in a broad range of industrial applications to form an impenetrable seal that either keeps contaminants in or locks them out. Boots and bushings are typically used to protect equipment against numerous indoor and outdoor contaminants, including:

Extreme temperatures: Extremely high, or low, temperatures can damage sensitive electrical components in switches and cause a system malfunction.

Oil and chemicals: These fluids can travel down mounting holes and negatively affect internal circuitry. Sealing solutions, such as boots and bushings, are designed to form a 360° airtight seal around the switch, base, and mounting hole, to prevent the intrusion of unwanted fluids. This form of protection also applies to spilled food and beverage items. Environmental contaminants: Contamination from the environment occurs as a result of both indoor and outdoor exposure. Rain, snow, dust and sand are just some of the environmental elements that can seep into the vulnerable areas of electrical equipment and cause a multitude of problems. The presence of salt in the environment can also be especially damaging to various mechanical equipment and components.

Common industrial applications

As technology continues to advance, so does the reliance on electronic and automated mechanisms. These sophisticated systems, however, are highly sensitive to adverse external conditions and prone to frequent malfunction and failure.

Some electrical components also have interdependent systems where the malfunction of one element can impact the entire system. Sealing boots and bushings may be used to protect numerous interdependent mechanical and electrical systems – including HVAC systems, security systems, circuit breakers, communication switches, vehicular components, instrumentation panels, aircraft control panels, emergency systems – fire, ambulance and EMS, utility systems – electricity, gas and water, as well as drilling systems and drilling monitoring systems.

Types of sealing boots

APM Hexseal offers a broad range of sealing products to help protect almost any mechanical or electrical device. The boots are specially designed to extend the life of a wide array of switch configurations in the most demanding environmental conditions. Some of the sealing solutions offered by APM Hexseal include:

Toggle boots: These seals are ideal for switches that are actuated in a back and forth motion.

Pushbutton boots: The pushbutton boots are engineered to protect switches that are operated by a push or press motion. Rotary boots: These boots are designed to accommodate the rotational motion of rotary switches and can also withstand friction without impeding actuation movement.

Circuit breaker boots: Circuit breaker boots help to seal and protect breaker switches, preventing short circuits and potential fire hazards.