Chromatography Forum

Hi all,
I'm trying to replace the oil seals at the back of the pump heads in a Waters 1525 Binary pump. They are made of metal incased in rubber and are stuck beyond belief. Waters indicated how to remove them but the protocol doesn't work at all. They recommend inserting a small flathead screwdriver in between the rubber and the piston and torquing the driver and allow the piston to "pull" the seal out for you, but this doesn't work at all. I had a tool that I could fit under the back of the metal part to pull out, but the tool handle broke off from all the force I was pulling with. I also tried using a scalpel to release the outer rubber seal. But all to no avail. If you have any advice please let me know. Thanks in advance!!!

Hi,

You need to break the inner most seal. You need a hammer and flathead screw driver. A couple of well placed hits should be sufficient to break the inner metal seal. You then need to have the drive mechanism to the rear. Wedge the screwdriver in place and move the mechanism forward. You should after a few tries be able to move the seal forward and off the piston.
It is ackward to say the least but it can be done.

If you have not damaged the existing seal in an attempt to remove it, you can just place the new seal on top of the old one. You can only do this once - i.,e. you can not stack 3 seals.