Paper gaskets necessary?

[Peregrine1983]

I'm changing my salt water pump impeller and yet again I have to buy these expensive paper gaskets. I can't find them less than $20. I know I'm being cheap, but it just seems crazy. Is there another alternative to buying these things?

I would imagine RTV silicone might work, but if you're not careful or apply too much some sealant runs the risk of getting inside and clogging the heat exchanger, right?

My pump is a Sherwood 10077 on a Westerbeke 58.

Thoughts appreciated.

[meridian28]

Make your own gasket from a paper bag

[travellerw]

There is nothing special about a paper gasket. Sure the OEM ones are thin and nice.. However there is no reason you can't make them from a "cardstock" (AKA a cereal box). There is better gasket material if you want to "splurge".. but standard cereal box is fine, even better if you use some RTV with it.

All my impellers came with gaskets, so that is what I usually use. However, I have made a gasket when I needed to check an impellor and it was still good (blockage elsewhere).

(As a funny aside.. I think the factories making the impellers are literally finding any paper they can to make gaskets. The last impeller I bought had some strange writing on the gaskets and I'm pretty sure it was magazine paper that had been repurposed.)

[Jim Cate]

In such situations, I've always just made my own gaskets. For water pump covers, I use the paper from the cover from a glossy type magazine (really hi-tek!). One can either trace the outlines of the gasket and use scissors or a small ball pein hammer and tap around the sharp edges of the pump body. Then one can use a hole punch to make the screw holes.

I must say, twenty bucks for a small paper gasket is kinda off scale, even for "marine quality"!

Jim

[Jim Cate]

However there is no reason you can't make them from a "cardstock" (AKA a cereal box).

I don't agree with this. The clearance between the cover and the impeller is somewhat critical, and cardboard would be too thick.

Jim

[IslandHopper]

For the price i keep a roll of this on board, for less than $11 aussie dollars its a no-brainer and it will last you for years.....

Oil Jointing Gasket Sheet - 0.4 x 230 x 1000mm - Supercheap Auto

[alctel]

Ypu can also buy sheets of gasket material really cheap

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

I don't agree with this. The clearance between the cover and the impeller is somewhat critical, and cardboard would be too thick.

Jim

This ^^ although I might replace "somewhat" with "very"...

This is the reason the shop bought ones are so thin; any added thickness allows water to pass back form the outlet side to the inlet side of the chamber. The edges of the impeller should be just brushing against the cover.

But Jim is certainly more high tech than me, I use once used A4 (or Letterhead for the USA folk) paper and a smear of grease.

[model 10]

Never again will I return to Florida and I have waterproof charts for about the whole east coast, this paper is the perfect thickness for pump cover gaskets. I have a spare pump body that I use to make a gasket on.

[Peregrine1983]

Awesome. Really appreciate the info.

[GordMay]

Can anyone comment on the use of waxed paper, for emergency gasketing?

[a64pilot]

I have never had a gasket as thin as waxed paper that I can remember.
In truth I can’t remember a gasket as thin as a magazine cover, but my pump has an O ring and not a gasket.
I learned decades ago to put a thin layer of grease on a paper gasket, that softens it slightly helping it seal and helps hold it in place for assembly, and makes it easy to remove later as it doesn’t glue itself to anything. I’d think wax would work as well, maybe better.
Some will glue one side of the gasket to the part, great for holding it on place, and makes removal and clean up a bear, not so bad if you have a wire wheel on a grinder, but how many off us have one on our boat?

[hellosailor]

Any REAL auto parts shop (NAPA would be my first bet for a chain) will sell you 'gasket paper' by the foot, in different thicknesses. You can also buy "kraft paper" or the heavier red paper in craft stores and hardware stores.

But if you get a couple of the larger Priority Mail or Fedex envelopes, those are made of Tyvek, spun-bonded polypropylene, and that cuts neatly with a clean edge, resists a lot of chemicals, and makes a nifty gasket paper. Tends to peel off again as one piece, instead of leaving paper scraps. And seals well as it compresses and deforms.

(Great way to recycle those envelopes when you get stuff arriving in them.)

A good sharp X-Acto knife with the standard #11 blades makes it easy to custom cut any of them, working on a piece of poly cutting board to keep the blade sharp.

[pilott]

I think if you convert to a Speedseal, it doesn't require a gasket because there's an O ring in the replacement cover.
It doesn't take many $20 gaskets to justify the cost of a Speedseal!

[Lepke]

It's not hard to make a gasket. Material and punches are on ebay. Punches come in sets or as individual punches. Most small sets are about $10. Gasket material comes in many thicknesses. And you can make an impeller gasket out of small o-ring material.