Effectiveness of penetrating oils/lubricants

Saw this on another site and thought some folks here might find it useful and/or interesting:


Machinist's Workshop Mag recently published some information on various penetrating oils that was very interesting. Some of you might appreciate this. The magazine reports they tested penetrates for break out torque on rusted nuts. They are below, as forwarded by an former student and professional machinist. They arranged a subjective test of all the popular penetrates with the control being the torque required to remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" environment.
*Penetrating oils .......... Average torque load to loosen*
No Oil used ................... 516 pounds
WD-40 .......................... 238 pounds
PB Blaster ..................... 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ...............127 pounds
Kano Kroil .................... 106 pounds
ATF*-Acetone mix...........53 pounds

The ATF-Acetone mix is a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note this "home brew" released bolts better than any commercial product in this one particular test. Our local machinist group mixed up a batch and we all now use it with equally good results. Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is almost as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price. Steve from Godwin-Singer says that ATF-Acetone mix is best, but you can also use ATF and lacquer thinner in a 50-50 mix. *ATF=Automatic Transmission Fluid

 

Great post.
Thanks, I'm going to try the ATF.

 

Great info, Thanks.

Did they happen to mention which type of ATF they used? I know the lubricating properties of the different types of ATF can vary.

 

Mac, type in Kroil and you will hit several more threads discussing this (with slightly different results)

 

forgot candle wax and heat....

 

This was discussed not too long ago on here. The ATF-Acetone was deemed a winner, but evaporation rate of the acetone/thinners needed to be considered. Shelve/store in an air-tight container.

Thx for the post

 

Don't know. I just saw this on another site and thought some folks here would benefit. I don't have any extra info.

What you do on the weekends is nobody's business....

 

I think this was covered last week !!!! But it is still good info.

 

known and done this for years,( didnt have the statistics to back it up other than the ease of the fasteners coming apart) I dont waste my money on any of those commercial junk in a can deals..

I took apart a 28 A tudor years ago with ATF/Acetone blend, and I live in the rust belt, I still have some of Henrys old bolts in a can, they came apart so easy

 

My grandfather worked at a foundry and he swore that acetone was the best thing to loosen stuck nuts and bolts.

I never heard him mention transmission fluid mixed with acetone. HRP

 

Make sure you store your mixture is something like the original metal Acetone can.

 

Make sure to check the bottom of the can once and a while, if your going to store the mixture for any length of time.

I had a batch of the mix, corrode through the bottom of the can.

 

It's weird- this is going around the internet like a meme but I can't find the original article. I was very curious to see what their 'scientifically rusted bolts' were.

Anyone have a link to the ACTUAL article, and not a cut-paste-nigerian-prince style post?

 

That has been circulating around the internet for quite a while. Long before that happened I had used solvent ATF. Although it does work, the ratings are based on a test that is faulty. I read the original posting where this came from. The way the test was done does not reflect how well each fluid actually frees frozen fasteners.

 

I've known ATF works since tearing apart a car with an auto trans leak. Everything covered in ATF looked like new. On the other hand any of the oils listed would have worked as well having coated the underside for as long as the ATF did. I suspect the Acetone is used as a penetrant to get the ATF into the small places.

Nowdays my time is more important than saving a few bucks. Mixing up a batch of penetrating oil and putting it in a spray bottle that can handle acetone vs having cans of Kroil around the shop does not make sense to me.

Liquid Wrench smells worse than dog shit by the way, Kroil does not.

 

I heard about acetone from my granddad long before anyone ever heard of the internet,,heck this was back in the early 1960's. HRP

 

No foolin'

 

Per my previous post, I did read the original test. There were no scientifically rusted bolts. The bolts weren't rusted at all! I don't remember the details, but as I remember what was being measured was breakaway torque, not overcoming rust.

 

Did they mention soak times?

 

Hell if ATF and acetone mix worked best don't you think some company would be mixing and selling it?
I use Kroil.
(Hmmm.... what is that made of....?)

 

....do any of those products actually 'eat' the rust to release the bolt or do they just lube the bolt to reduce tension for removal? Curious minds....

 

Here's the MSDS Sheet for Kroil. Page 2 has the ingredients:
http://www.schmeling.com/msds/kroil_liquid_penetrating_oil_kano_labs.pdf

 

Anyone use Seafoam's Deep Creep? Seems to me it displaces rust, best I have found

 

Exactly! How long from application to attempted removal? None of this stuff is instant.

Heat with a oxygen/acetylene torch then cool with water is instant in most cases.

 

Some products are acidic. That can eliminate the bond between the rust and base metal. Gibbs claims to be non-acidic, yet a lot of people like the way it removes rust. Apparently they rely on some other form of magic.

 

At work I use kroil (this what we have). On some of the old jet engines a cast aluminum peice was prone to braking the ears off, and the bolts would freeze in place and the heli coil would finally come out at the same time. If I could, I would spray/douse the kroil on a very hot engine. I would have smoke pouring out from under the cowlings, but the bolts always came out.

I would rather have a can of kroil than try and apply some mixture to remove a stuck bolt.

Mark

 

ive never heard of kroil where do you get it?

i got a 9 inch center section from an old friend that he left laying out in his backyard for over 10 years (unprotected) i brought it home soaked in it a 5 gallon bucket of straight new ATF for about 5 months and its still as locked up today as the day i got it ..soo your saying if i would of tossed in acetone it maybe freed up today?

i traded a single ohio 1972 licences plate for the complete 9 inch by the way

 

This exact matter was the subject of a thread just before Xmas, and even then, half the posters complained about how many times this has been discussed before.
Ah well, acetone and atf wins.
Cheers.

 

I wonder if this topic has ever been discussed on the HAMB before?

 

Wow that's awesome!


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