FAQ

Where are your seals manufactured?

Our seal manufacturing plant and design engineering are located in Oakdale, Pennsylvania, which is a suburb of Pittsburgh.  The vast majority of our seals are made here in the USA.

Do you offer your products through seal distributors? 

Our main approach is to deal directly with our customers, engineers and end users. You can buy direct from us and benefit from dealing directly with seal experts. We supply products to seal distributors as well, but this is not our primary route to market.

Why don’t you have an online catalogue for standard seal sizes?

You can find our standard inch and metric seal sizes by clicking on the seal profile image on the relevant seal category page. Click the Seal-Size-Selector, select inch or metric seal size, enter the rod, shaft or bore diameter of your seal housing, and you will be offered a standard seal size, including hardware design information.

Also available are custom-made seals and special size seals made to order with very low minimum order requirements. Most of our seals can be shipped within 2-4 days.

Are your materials REACH and RoHS compliant?

Yes, we have an ongoing compliance program and our seals are REACH and RoHS compliant.

Do your products contain Conflict Minerals?

No, our products do not contain conflict minerals.

Can I speak directly to an engineer?

Yes, our engineers have many years of experience within the seal industry, and you can call them at 800-283-7140 or email engineering@ahpseals.com.

Where can I find seal sizes?

You can find our standard inch and metric seal sizes by clicking on the seal profile image on the relevant seal category page you are looking for.

I want to design around a standard seal – what do you have in stock?

You can find our standard inch and metric seal sizes by clicking on the seal profile image on the relevant seal category page. Just select inch or metric seal size, enter the rod, shaft or bore diameter of your seal housing and you will be offered a standard seal size, including hardware design information. Most of our seals can be shipped within 2-4 days.

There are so many profiles – how do I choose one?

Selecting the right seal for your application can be a challenging task; unless you have experience in selecting seals, we suggest that you contact one of our experienced seal engineers for advice. engineering@ahpseals.com.

Do you have seals on the shelf?

Yes, most of our seals can be shipped within 2-4days.

Are all of your seals custom?

We offer a wide range of standard rotary shaft seals, hydraulic rod seals, and piston seals for single seals in inch and metric sizes, as well as custom seals and special seals and sizes. What many customers consider to be custom-made seals, we think of as standard.

Do you offer custom made seals and non-standard seal sizes?

Yes, we manufacture custom made seals and non-standard seal sizes in inch and metric sizes in a wide variety of materials, including polyurethane, high-performance polyurethane, high-temperature seal material, Nbr, Nitrile, Viton, Fluoropolymer, Aflas, EPDM, FDA-compliant seal materials, PTFE, PTFE, and more. For more details about custom made seals, check out our Application-Specific Seal Design page.

What is estimated seal life?

The seal life of a dynamic seal is influenced by many factors such as operating pressure, surface speed, operating temperature, fluid or media to be sealed, dynamic contact sealing surface finish, operating cycle length and frequency, shaft material, seal material, seal type, seal size, heat sink and working environment. Therefore, it is almost impossible to predict the functional service life of a rotary shaft seal, hydraulic rod or piston seal.

How do I select the best material for my application?

When selecting the best suitable seal material for your application, you need to take into consideration fluid compatibility, thermal compatibility, abrasion resistance and friction, among other factors. We strongly suggest that you discuss your application with our engineering department to help find the solution best for you and your application.

Where do I find a catalog cut sheet for your profiles?

You can find a Seal Data Sheet for inch and metric seal sizes by clicking on the seal profile image on the relevant seal category page you are looking for. You can print or save the Seal Data Sheet, which includes seal housing sizes, manufacturing tolerances and guidelines for dynamic and static seal housing surface finish and lead-in chamfers to protect your seals from damage during seal installation and assembly. Go to our Products page as a place to start finding the seal that is the right one for you.

Do you distribute seals for other seal manufacturers like Parker Seals, Freudenberg Seals, SKF Seals, Hallite Seals, Merkel Seals, Trelleborg Seals, BalSeal or Chesterton Seals?

We are a seal manufacturer offering engineered sealing solutions; and, as such, we offer our own sealing products which we stand behind. However, some of our high-performance rod seals, piston seals, rotary seals, lip seals and oil seals are interchangeable and retrofit–Parker seals, Freudenberg seals, SKF seals, Hallite seals, Merkel seals, Trelleborg seals, BalSeal, Chesterton seals, NOK oil seals, NAK seals, Simrit seals and others.

Can someone come visit us to review a project or issues?

Engineering frequently meets with customers and prospective customers and their engineers to discuss their challenging sealing applications, including hardware design or modifications for optimum seal performance.

Can I get a sample seal to test?

We offer sample seals and prototype seals for testing and evaluation. We always recommend testing seals in the customer’s application before ordering production quantities.

Given shaft, rod or bore size, what is the recommended housing diameter?

You can find the recommended inch or metric seal housing size or diameter and groove width by clicking on the seal profile image on the relevant seal category page. Just enter one size, either your rod, shaft or bore diameter size in inch or metric, and you will be offered a standard seal size, including hardware.

Are your seals FDA compliant?

Yes, we have many seals that conform to FDA CFR 21, as well as EC No 1935/2004 and EC No 10/2011. Many of these designs are also suitable for CIP, SIP and COP service. Check out our FDA-Compliant Seals page for more details.

Do you have designs suitable for Sour Gas Service?

Yes, we have seal designs and materials including Norsok compliant, suitable for high pressure gas service and have been qualified as Rapid Gas Decompression (RGD) service.

My application requires full traceability, is this available?

Yes, please let us know your traceability requirements and these will be incorporated into the quality requirements for your part(s).

What is our policy on signing NDAs?

We are quite happy to sign NDAs; in fact, we welcome them to protect the information and make communication easier and simpler. We do, however, require that all NDAs are mutual.

Are all your seal designs shown on the website?

No, we have many seal designs that are very application specific that we do not list, as their sealing advantages are very specific to the application for which they were designed.

The equipment we operate was not really designed for the purpose we use it, are you able to help us improve its performance in our application?

Yes, the requirement for an application-specific sealing solution for currently operating equipment is presented to us almost every day.