Smalley owes our stature as a global leader in wave spring and retaining ring technology to our dedicated staff of Sales Engineers.
Unlike salespeople, Sales Engineers are engineers first. Smalley Sales Engineers use their technical expertise to steer you in the direction of the products that will best suit your needs instead of the ones that are simply more expensive.
We decided to make that expert knowledge available directly to you in our Ask the Expert series.
In this installment, the expert fields some questions about retaining and Laminar Seal rings. He discusses installation and specific uses of rings, and the availability of Smalley Sales Engineers to discuss your project specifics.
Smalley retaining rings are manufactured by edge coiling uniform cross-section flat oil-rolled wire. This process results in a ring with no “wrong side,” like there is on a stamped snap ring. Therefore, the orientation of the ring in relation to the direction of loading does not affect performance. Visit the Installation & Removal page for more information.
Some Smalley clients have successfully utilized Laminar Seal Rings in reciprocating applications. However, because Laminar Seal Rings are not designed for such use, the axial movement in reciprocating applications can have adverse effects on the rings. Therefore, we generally advise against doing so.
Contact a Smalley Sales Engineer today to discuss our applications and the feasibility of using Laminar Seal Rings for them.
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