Silicone gaskets for 1/2" camlock QD's - Home Depot find!

EDIT: before you read further, know that I've determined that these gaskets are NOT silicone. So if you want to know what NOT to buy, read on...

As I was looking for a hose valve at Home Depot I stumbled on a pack of gaskets that are made for hose fittings. They came in packs of 12, with 6 flat gaskets that are reddish-orange color and 6 that are round, black o-rings. I'm guessing the flat gaskets are silicone and the black ones are Buna-N but haven't found any information one way or another. The 12 gaskets together were about $1.15, so even if you discarded the black o-rings you still end up paying less than $0.20 each for the silicone gaskets.

I compared the gaskets to the standard Buna-N gaskets which came with my 1/2" camlocks and the OD was identical, the ID was slightly larger on the silicone gaskets, and the silicone gaskets were slightly thinner than the Buna-N ones. I ordered size -210 silicone o-rings from oringsandmore.com and they seal well, but these are a more readily-available and cost-effective solution. Plus I would prefer a flat faced gasket to a round profile o-ring when dealing with face-to-face sealing surfaces.

I'll post pictures of the package, side-by-side comparison etc. later when I'm at home. I would definitely like to confirm the material they are made from before further advocating their use.

* subscribed*

can't wait to see photos and part number

-=Jason=-

High Temp and Food Grade?

Boil a couple of them in a cup of water for 10 minutes or so, then taste the water. (After it cools obviously.) This will let you know if they leech any off-tastes in to your beer.

Put them on a piece of foil in your oven at 325F and see if they melt.

Bobby_M said:

Put them on a piece of foil in your oven at 325F and see if they melt.

Click to expand...

Nice! That'll tell you if they are silicone for sure!

Bobby_M said:

Put them on a piece of foil in your oven at 325F and see if they melt.

Click to expand...

Hahaha I'll try that if I have to, but I'll do some more research first. Those couldn't smell pleasant if they end up melting...

What, you mean you don't have a toaster oven in the garage dedicated to mad science? I thought everyone did.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 here's the HD URL for the product.

Here's some pics of comparisons:

On the left is the original gasket that came with the camlocks. The other two are the washers that came with the pack, and that's the label with them.


Back of the label, in case anyone wants to do some deeper digging...


Thickness comparison, as stated before the red washers are slightly thinner. The original gaskets were pretty tough to lock the camlocks with, though, so these might make it slightly easier.


Lastly, a diameter comparison. With the wider ID, you can be sure the red gaskets won't restrict flow.

I don't actually have the desire to go digging on the internet but I'm just gonna take Bobby's advice and try to stink up the house by baking these at 325F for a few minutes. I'll post later tonight on how it goes.

EDIT: Just tried baking these. Definitely NOT silicone. They became putty-like after just a couple of minutes at 300F. Bummer, they looked like silicone and were cheap. Just too good to be true.