Improvements in and relating to shaft seal testing apparatus

995,110. Testing shaft seals. GEORGE ANGUS & CO. Ltd. May 14, 1964 [May 15, 1963], No. 19257/63. Heading F2B. In a shaft seal testing apparatus comprising a drum 10 for mounting an opposed pair of shaft seals 15 and having an annular chamber 17 opening between the seals, a stub shaft 8 for the seals to bear against and means for driving the shaft, the drum is slidably mounted on slide bars 9 which are symmetrically arranged on opposite sides of, parallel to and substantially coplanar with the drum axis X-X. The stub shaft 8, which is the same diameter as a shaft to be sealed, is mounted on a spindle 6 drivable by a belt 5 from an electric motor 2. The seals 15 are press-fitted in rings 13 secured in the drum by spacers 11 and locking rings 12. The chamber 17 is filled with oil through a standpipe 20 which provides a static head for the oil which may be heated by an electrical heater band 23 strapped around the drum and insulated by a jacket 24 or cooled by circulating cooling water through a coil 26 in the chamber. To test a pair of seals 15 they are first mounted in the drum when it is empty of oil and axially clear of the stub shaft, the drum is then moved to the test position shown in Fig. 1 where it is locked by a bolt 29 engaging one of the bars 9 and the chamber 17 filled with oil which is brought to the desired temperature. The stub shaft 8 is then rotated by the motor 2 at a required speed and for a given time, the seals being observed visually for oil leakage or in a prolonged test, total leakage may be measured by an oil gauge fitted to the chamber.