During chalk testing, if you notice the gasket line is not continuous and there is a break at the corner, what should you do?

• A. Replace the gasket entirely
• B. Tighten all fasteners and retest
• C. Ignore the break and continue
• D. Adjust the dog where the break is and try chalk test again

Answer: (D)

Chalk testing checks that the gasket is seated evenly around the joint. A noncontinuous chalk line with a break at a corner means the gasket isn’t contacting properly in that spot, so you need to fix the seating rather than replace parts or ignore it.

The right move is to adjust the dog at the location of the break to pull the gasket into proper seating, then re-run the chalk test. If the chalk line becomes continuous, the seal is achieved without further action. This approach targets the misalignment causing the break.

Replacing the gasket entirely is unnecessary when the issue is seating, tightening all fasteners won’t fix a localized misalignment and can risk over-compressing or deforming the joint, and ignoring the break would leave a leak.