Two ways to fit a manway gasket, and one of them cost my crew 6 hours last Tuesday

Wesley Bell · 2026-10-17T16:30:04.864435+00:00

I want to flag something before someone else eats the same lunch I did at the Shell turnaround in Toledo last Tuesday. We had a manway on a vertical vessel that would not seal after two tries, so we did it the way we always do, which is torque it down hard and chase the leak around the bolts until it stops. Six hours gone and still weeping at the 4 o'clock mark. Then the old fitter on our crew had us pull the gasket back out, wipe the seat with a scraper and a rag, and set the gasket dry with no lube on the seat face while keeping the cover dead level on two guide pins the whole slide in. We had the studs snugged by hand before any wrench touched it and it held first try on the hydro. The difference was not torque or muscle, it was keeping that gasket from dragging out of the groove on the way in and not putting anything on the seat that lets it walk. If your gasket is coming back pinched on one side, you already know the cover is cocking on you. What is everyone using to keep the cover square on big vertical manways, guide pins, a sling, or just two guys and a lot of yelling?

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Two ways to fit a manway gasket, and one of them cost my crew 6 hours last Tuesday | Boilermakers - Thought Shares