SS Anti Galling lubricant

[jhulmer]

I use this stuff or Tef-Gel for dissimilar metals. This works good for me.

https://www.amazon.com/MARINE-44018-...016887900&th=1

[thinwater]

Two good comments:
* Cleanliness. Any corrosion or dirt greatly increases risk. Always clean the threads.
* Avoid SS to SS. If you must, pair 316 bolt with 304 nuts, not 316. Less galling.


And finally, tighten SLOWLY. if the nuts are getting warm, it's way to fast. Once there is real tension, each turn should take 20 seconds or more. Again, the problem is friction and heat.

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by coopec43

Thanks for that but both damned expensive. I was hoping someone will say "just use XXX that's as good as anything".

My son (and others) use kitchen Canola Oil spray to lubricate their MIG welders and they say it's as good as the recommended lubricant costing X4 times as much.

That MIG experience has absolutely no relevance to dissimilar metal corrosion. Other than the porosity created by the Canola oil.

Lanacote or TefGel are readily available and not that expensive.

Lanacote is mostly mutton fat, an excellent flexible sea water resistant barrier. If you don't like the price you could use the cold fat from a lamb roast.

Me I prefer the convenience of using my long lasting jar of Lanacote. I get to watch dissimilar metal corrosion not occur and dissassembly is a breeze.

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by coopec43

I am about to install some SS through-hull fittings but I am hesitating because I can't find my Permatec(?) so I'll have to buy some more and everything I look at is so hideously expensive.


Can anyone reccomend a good product?

Stainless Steel is not a great choice for through hull fittings if its going to be below the waterline, but having said that Just use sikaflex to bed it and a bit on the backing nut should be fine.

[coastalexplorer]

I use Permatex Anti-Seize Lubricant. I paid $42 CDN + tax for a large tub. Good insurance against pain and grief. I destroyed two #304 SS 3/8 NC screws while installing drogue chain plates. removing them took hours.



I Bought the new replacement screws and Lubricant to complete the Job had it done in Half and hour a side after using the grease, As Gord May always write's
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"

[AiniA]

When you buy a tube of Tea-Gel it seems expensive but you use such a little amount it lasts for a very, very long time.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by leftbrainstuff

That MIG experience has absolutely no relevance to dissimilar metal corrosion. Other than the porosity created by the Canola oil.

Lanacote or TefGel are readily available and not that expensive.

Lanacote is mostly mutton fat, an excellent flexible sea water resistant barrier. If you don't like the price you could use the cold fat from a lamb roast.

Me I prefer the convenience of using my long lasting jar of Lanacote. I get to watch dissimilar metal corrosion not occur and dissassembly is a breeze.

An SS nut galling on an SS bolt is not dissimilar metals corrosion, it’s not any king of corrosion, it occurs immediately on installation, and less often on disassembly.

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by leftbrainstuff

That MIG experience has absolutely no relevance to dissimilar metal corrosion. Other than the porosity created by the Canola oil.

.

When I posted

My son (and others) use kitchen Canola Oil spray to lubricate their MIG welders and they say it's as good as the recommended lubricant costing X4 times as much.

I was just making the point that sometimes a cheap everyday product can be used instead of an expensive Trade-Name product.

Sorry you misconstrued my point.

No more new threads!!!

[transmitterdan]

Galling is a process where the lack of lubrication causes microscopic abrasions in the metal. These abrasions increase the coefficient of friction to the point that the threads appear to be locked. The lubricant prevents the abrasions and thus the threads do not lock up.

Anti-sieze is not really needed since corrosion isn’t the problem. All you need is lubrication that lasts until the threads are tight. Any SS threaded fastener such as nut and bolt should be considered a one time use and discarded if it is removed. I know that is a harsh thing but it is the only way to fully avoid the galling problem.

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

An SS nut galling on an SS bolt is not dissimilar metals corrosion, it’s not any king of corrosion, it occurs immediately on installation, and less often on disassembly.

Thanks for making that point as there does seem to be confusion in some people's minds.

My Molytec arrived today. It states on the side of the tin
....anti-seize compound based on molybdenum disulphide and nickel powder in a bentone base which provides low friction coating.....

Once I use the Molytec up I think I'll switch to a Teflon® PTFE anti seize as the researchers seem to think that comes out on top. (I have had to use a hack saw to loosen a ss nut and I don't want a repeat of that performance on hull fittings)

[Jim Cate]

Any SS threaded fastener such as nut and bolt should be considered a one time use and discarded if it is removed.

Perhaps NASA does this, perhaps even aircraft folks, but I've not encountered this practice amongst yotties anywhere, any time. For instance, it would mean that one can not reuse Sta Lok or other mechanical terminals for rigging, and that re-use is their big selling point.

With proper lubrication at each assembly, why would the chances of galling keep increasing with repeated usage? At least, to any measurable degree...

Meanwhile, please keep a bucket for collecting all your once-used s/s fasteners... I'll come by and pick them up now and then!

Jim

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Meanwhile, please keep a bucket for collecting all your once-used s/s fasteners... I'll come by and pick them up now and then!
Jim

I used to make a list of nuts and bolts I needed and front-up to the distributor. That was an expensive way to buy even though he gave me a 70% discount.


I now buy all my fasteners on eBay but the trouble is if If need 12 I find the cost is not much more to buy 20 so I buy 20. Now I can hardly move in the yacht for SS fasteners!

[faragaki]

On mission critical assemblies, just about everything on a boat, I'll clean all threads with a tap&die, spray clean with brake clean, no residue, and apply Loctite Marine Grade Anti-Seize. Also carry pipe thread tap&die up to 1-1/2". (not cheap) Never have I ever experienced galling on or off.

[hellosailor]

Never Seize only looks expensive when you are buying it. As roverhi said...same can or bottle may be with you for 40 years, and halfway through that you realize that what you paid wasn't very expensive after all--especially considered how much work and how many replacement parts it has saved you!

Lanolin is basically sheep grease. Similar to having a "greasy scalp" or lots of soft ear wax, it is just a WATER SOLUBLE "grease". So it is extremely unlikely to harm anything, very easy to clean up or remove, and...not as good at protecting anything, as a more engineered product.

Antiseize products typically are loaded with nickel, copper, graphite, or other particles which prevent galvanic corrosion, they ain't just grease. I think I paid $20? for my last pint bottle of Never Seize. I'm sure it is twice that price by now. And the first time I had to change exhaust parts without cutting off any of the old ones? Yeah, I saved that $20 at least twice.

As my friend's "dust bowl" and depression raised mother used to say, "Bought cheap, paid dearly". Sometimes, it pays to just ante up and never look back.

[transmitterdan]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Perhaps NASA does this, perhaps even aircraft folks, but I've not encountered this practice amongst yotties anywhere, any time. For instance, it would mean that one can not reuse Sta Lok or other mechanical terminals for rigging, and that re-use is their big selling point.

With proper lubrication at each assembly, why would the chances of galling keep increasing with repeated usage? At least, to any measurable degree...

Meanwhile, please keep a bucket for collecting all your once-used s/s fasteners... I'll come by and pick them up now and then!

Jim

Jim,

I understand that wasting hardware isn’t a good thing for the environment or the pocketbook. I should have added to my post that when reusing SS-SS fasteners the risk of locking increases exponentially each time you reuse it. The hardest fasteners probably can be reused more often than softer grade SS.

But one locked up fastener in a difficult to access place will make you think about reusing hardware. Take for instance a through bolted prop shaft flange. It’s a hard place to access if a bolt gets locked up. About the only solution is to apply enough torque to break the bolt.

Lubrication is only part of the problem. Another part is that often bolts get over torqued and that can cause a lockup not unlike galling. I admit that my background is NASA and the network broadcast industry. And I have seen some really expensive problems related to galled bolts. Not least of which is a bolt that appears to be tight but in fact is not. That’s a very insidious problem.

In some (lots actually) applications lubrication is not allowed because it makes the torque specification hard to set accurately.