When rotary shaft seals leak, they drain more than product: They hemorrhage profits. That’s what happened to a major Wisconsin cookie and cracker manufacturer to the tune of $150,000 a year. Fortunately, they discovered CinchSeal’s 9700 Series split rotary shaft seals.
The bakery’s tilt-bowl dough mixer faced persistent leakage issues that went beyond product loss. This problem was causing:
- Sanitary concerns, compromising the cleanliness of the production area
- Safety hazards, putting workers at risk of slips and falls
- Equipment damage, with lip seals causing excessive wear on the shaft
- Rising costs, as scored shafts required frequent repairs or replacements
- Productivity slowdowns, with unscheduled maintenance disrupting operations
The installation of CinchSeal’s 9700 Series rotary shaft seals:
- Eliminated costly shaft wear, extending equipment lifespan
- Stopped product loss, reducing waste and boosting efficiency
- Enhanced employee safety with no leaks to slip on
- Prevented unscheduled maintenance downtime, ensuring consistent production
- Streamlined cleaning processes, meeting stringent sanitation requirements faster and more effectively
Most notably, these improvements saved the bakery an impressive $150,000.
Why CinchSeal Split Rotary Shaft Seals Outperform Traditional Seals
The cookie and cracker manufacturer initially relied on lip seals to prevent leakage in its tilt-bowl dough mixers—a common choice across many industries. So why the switch to the CinchSeal 9700 Series?
While lip seals are inexpensive upfront and easy to replace, they require frequent replacements due to wear and tear. CinchSeal rotary shaft seals, by contrast, offer:
- A long operating life with minimal maintenance
- A split design for quick, hassle-free replacement when needed
This combination makes CinchSeal seals a smarter investment over time, delivering better value than lip seals.
The key difference is in how they work. Lip seals use a lubricant layer between the seal’s lip and the rotating shaft. As the shaft turns, it creates a pump-like action to maintain the seal. However, this design also generates friction, which wears down both the seal and the shaft, leading to costly damage and downtime.
CinchSeal rotary shaft seals take a different approach. Their innovative design includes an elastomer that spins with the shaft, completely eliminating shaft damage. This action also drives two PTFE rotor cups, which are compressed with optimal force against stationary faces to effectively seal potential leak paths.
With this superior design, CinchSeal mixer seals deliver unmatched durability, efficiency, and peace of mind for manufacturers.
More reasons to choose CinchSeal 9700 series seals
Lip seals have other drawbacks, such as:
• They don’t work well with a high internal pressure
• A tendency to wear out fairly quickly, especially under harsh conditions, so they lose much of the benefit of their initial low cost and low replacement cost.
In addition to the advantages mentioned earlier, CinchSeal 9700 series rotary shaft seals offer:
- A seal interface with a significantly larger than a shaft interface. which greatly reduces the potential for leakage
- Air, nitrogen or silicone grease purging that:
- Creates pressure, pushing the rotor against the stator, shutting down the interface to prevent material migration into and out of processing equipment
- Establishes a barrier that stops product from entering the seal
- Reduces heat created by friction and keeps the seal faces cool, resulting in a longer seal life
- Rotor cups that are boot-mounted to let the rotary assembly float with the shaft with the ¼” misalignment that commonly occurs with bulk-handling equipment
- Fast and easy cleaning without the need to disassemble the whole equipment and self-lubrication, allowing dry operation
- USDA certification in poultry and dairy, making the seals ideal for use in virtually all food-processing applications
Sealing the argument for CinchSeal rotary shaft seals
The reasons for bakery companies to opt for CinchSeal 9700 series 304 stainless steel rotary shaft seals can be boiled down to three points:
- They save time and money by eliminating product loss, shaft damage, bearing failure, and unscheduled maintenance.
- Their split design makes them easy to install and maintain, and they can be made like new with an economical kit that simply replaces the rotor cups and elastomer.
- They are constructed of highly durable, easily maintained 316 stainless steel and are USDA-certified.
Food Processing Seals from CinchSeal
Since 1994, CinchSeal has been a major manufacturer of rotary shaft seals for screw conveyors, ribbon blenders and industrial bakery processing and blending equipment. CinchSeal products serve as replacements and major upgrades that make the need for machine replacement less likely.
More information on all of our types of seals is available by contacting CinchSeal. Quotes and drawings are guaranteed to be available in 24 hours. Custom engineering usually takes 10 days.