August 14, 2014

Fiber Washers: Installation tips to help prevent leaking

Ever have trouble getting a fiber washer to seal completely or stay in place while you are installing it?  Our Ask Caleffi team takes a lot of calls in this regard.  Letting the fiber gasket soak in water is a super simple technique to optimize the seal in order to prevent leaking.  Watch as "Hot Rod" demonstrates:

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Blog post comments
A. Rhyne
December 04, 2018

Great tip. I wish I would have seen that sooner.

Bob Schneider
August 26, 2019

I have tried this tip of soaking washer. It still leaks. This is a on a backflow preventer. Leak is very slight. Size of a quarter overnight. What do I do now? running out of washers. Very frustrated. Can

tech_support
September 16, 2019

Bob,
Are you over-tightening? These fiber washers will seal properly when nice and snug but you don't want to crush them. Also, make sure the metal surfaces on the valve body and tailpiece are clean.