Heater L gasket

[anne]

Hello- hoping for a little expert advice.

I'm replacing "pump #1" in my Arctic tub. Reinstalling the suction side was easy as pie. The other side fits up to the heater assembly itself, and for the life of me, I cannot get the L gasket to fit in anyway that makes sense. This is a split-nut joint with a metal heater assembly pipe meeting up with the plastic pump pipe. The L gasket "lip" will not fit into the interior dimension of the pipes, but I cannot otherwise imagine how it can create a seal. I am using a new L gasket, as the old one is brittle, but it is exactly the same size at the old one. Since I waited 2+ weeks for parts, I dont remember exactly how the gasket was oriented when I removed it, but it seems to me it was just sitting there in the joint when I took it apart!

Anyone? Thanks!

Anne

[Chas]

Doesn't one of the parts of the union have a groove? If I am thinking of the right type of gasket, the "L" part should fit into a groove which looks a lot like it would be there for a simple o-ring.

I may be thinking of a completely different type of seal here - More of a 'rib' than an 'L.'



Sorry, not much help here...

 

[anne]

Thanks Chas. No, that is what is odd. There is no groove for the lip/L to fit into. it seems like the lip should fit into the inner diameter of the pipe, but it is too large for that. The outer dimension of the gasket is exactly the same as the outer dimension of the pipes, and the replacement gasket is EXACTLY like I removed.......I just dont know what I'm missing. Its almost as if the gasket would work better if it were flat, like a washer- it could maybe be squished between the ends of the two pipes.

http://www.arcticspasdepot.com/heaterlgasket.aspx