Genuine Viton™ fluoroelastomer—Insist on the Best
Viton™ was introduced in 1958. Ever since scientists and engineers have relied on Viton™ for its superior performance and unique properties. However, Chemours is not the only company that manufactures FKM products. Many people in the industry incorrectly refer to any and all FKM elastomers as Viton™. Products that are not made from 100% virgin Viton™ may fall short of the expected performance levels afforded by the stringent quality standards set for Viton™, which is manufactured at ISO 9002 registered facilities worldwide.
To ensure that you always receive the highest quality FKM products available, insist on 100% virgin Viton™ and look for the "Made With Genuine Viton™" seal.
Viton™ is Specified for its Outstanding Performance
> Outstanding resistance to heat, oxidation, weathering, ozone.
> Outstanding resistance to a broad variety of fluids, including: aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, halogenated fluids, strong acids.
> Outstanding resistance to compression set, providing sealing performance and longevity unmatched by any non-fluorinated elastomer.
These characteristics make Viton™ fluoroelastomer the perfect choice for demanding sealing applications. Unfortunately, there are several low-cost "fluoroelastomer imposters" on the market that may put your operations at risk of seal failure. A number of manufacturers of finished goods offer products which are being described as "commercial" or "industrial grades" of fluoroelastomer at reduced prices. These so-called "fluoroelastomers" can be offered at lower cost simply because they are not 100% virgin fluoroelastomer. Instead, some of these products are blends of FKM with hydrocarbon elastomers, such as ethylene-propylene, chloroprene or acrylic rubbers.
Many hydrocarbon rubbers can be blended to take advantage of specific features inherent in the individual rubbers. Fluoroelastomers in general can't be blended with hydrocarbon rubber without significantly degrading the resistance of the resulting vulcanizates to heat, fluids and compression set.
Because Viton™ performs better than hydrocarbon rubbers in fluid resistance, blends of other rubbers with Viton™ typically perform significantly poorer than 100% FKM. Blends of Viton™ with hydrocarbon rubbers do not perform "almost like FKM" or anything close to it. Beware of the "good deal." Rather than being a "low-cost fluoroelastomer" the blend instead performs like an over-priced hydrocarbon rubber. If your sealing application is one that is best handled by a fluoroelastomer, make sure you are getting 100% Viton™ FKM, and not a "low cost" blend of FKM and hydrocarbon rubber. Insist on parts made with Genuine Viton™. Our Genuine Viton™ License Program guarantees the end-user that the elastomer portion of finished goods which bear the Genuine Viton™ Label consist only of 100% virgin Viton™ fluoroelastomer.
Make Detailed Specifications
Specifications that are insufficient, inaccurate or that allow substitutions may lead to quality and performance problems. However, a well-written specification that identifies the type of material and quantifies the critical performance parameters of the desired seal will communicate to your supplier the most cost-effective FKM for your application. When Viton™ is specified, product performance may be enhanced since the correct type of Viton™ has been tailored for your application needs.
These types or "families" of Viton™ enable selection of the most cost-effective elastomer. Each family affords a tailored balance of mechanical properties, as well as specific resistance to various types of process fluids.
