Valve Surface Preparation & Refinishing

Surface Preparation and Refinishing

Seetru Engineering Services provide high-quality surface preparation and refinishing. These services will ensure your valves are suitably protected against rust and wear as well as being easily identifiable and well presented. We have many methods to provide you with the surface finish you require from simple surface cleaning to shot blasting and chemical bathing.

Surface cleaning and lapping comes as part of every standard valve refurbishment, all other surface preparation and refinishing services come as additional extras. We will always try to advise you which services will benefit your valve, alternatively if you feel your valve needs one of these services specifically such as de-greasing for oxygen usage we can do that for you at your request.

SES Service Types

Surface Cleaning

Manual surface cleaning can be used for small to medium amounts of rust, substance build-up and dirt. Chemical cleaner, abrasive pads and air powered wire brush tools produce a clean metal finish. This method is mainly used on smaller components such as spindles, small springs and valve bodies that are fragile or require high accuracy, and therefore cannot be shot blasted.

Lapping

For valves with metal-to-metal sealing faces we offer lapping services, whether hand lapped or machine lapped we ensure the valve seals perfectly. We use different grades of paste which gradually get finer and finer to produce a polished flat surface. Using our optical flats and monochromatic light we can see the light bands across the surface which lets us measure the optical flatness of the metal with high accuracy.

Shot Blasting

For large amounts of rust, substance build-up and dirt, valve parts and large components can be placed into our shot blasting machines which will completely strip away loose layers to leave a clean surface. This process is used on larger more robust components such as the body and bonnet as they can withstand the forces of the shot blasting and don’t need to be to a precise tolerance.

Painting

We offer painting as an option for all our refurbishments and can supply a full range of colours and finishes. We have dedicated ventilated spray booths that allow us to paint valves immediately after refurbishment reducing turnaround times and costs. There are many reasons to get your valve painted, non-stainless-steel valves require at least a coat of paint to protect their surfaces from rust and exposure to the elements.

Chemical Bath

For components that have large amounts of rust, substance build-up and dirt, but are not robust enough to be shot blasted, we use chemical baths. Components are left to soak, which gradually removes the layers of built up dirt and deposit. This is especially useful to clean more intricate components that are hard to clean with other methods, such as level gauge guard tubes.

Degreasing

For valves that are to be used in a hygienic environment or on a medium such as pure oxygen we provide a degreasing service. This ensures that no grease is present internally or externally, which could lead to hazardous combustion. It is vital that grease is completely eliminated. To ensure that is the case, we use UV light to indicate if any substance is still present.