“I have to get these gaskets in place today and you guys sent me the wrong ones. I ordered the Viton Orifice Plate Gasket from your website. Today I received an orifice plate gasket, however, the color of the gasket is black. Black is Buna material.”
My heart sank and feelings of frustration surfaced. Those guys in shipping picked the wrong gaskets for this order, I thought to myself.
And that’s when I remembered the dots. Yes, the dots!!! You see, every gasket from Sanitary Fittings comes with a small colored dot or dots painted on the side. These dots are an identifier as to which material the gasket is made of.
I quickly thumbed through my reference charts to look up the color indicators of gaskets.
“Sir, I apologize for the confusion. Would you mind taking a look at the gaskets we sent you? If there is a single red dot on the side of your gasket that would indicate Buna material. If however there are two dots, one yellow and one white, that indicates Viton.”
The pause on the other end of the line seemed like an eternity.
“Ah, okay. I see two dots one yellow and one white. I guess that means I have Viton gaskets in my hand.”
TOUCHDOWN!!!
While tri-clamp gaskets come in a variety of different materials, they most often come in only a handful of colors. The most common colors being black and white. Materials like Buna and EPDM are more common in black whereas Viton and Teflon typically come in white.
To aid in the identification of gasket material, manufacturers have started applying small dots to the sides of gaskets.
Please consult the table below for gasket material and dot(s) color indicators:
| Gasket Material | Dot Indicator |
|---|---|
| Buna | One Red Dot |
| Sulfur Cured EPDM | One Green Dot |
| Peroxide Cured EPDM | Three Green Dot |
| Viton (FKM) | One White and One Yellow Dot |
| Peroxide Cured Silicone | One Pink Dot |
| PTFE (Teflon) | No Dot |
| PTFE Envelope Gasket with EPDM Core | Three Green Dots |
| PTFE Envelope Gasket with FKM Core | One White and One Yellow Dot |
For additional questions related to gaskets or any of the products we offer, please contact us.