Penetrating oils

[Soundguy]

I like PB Blaster but like acetone it melts many plastics. I remember an old concrete plant manager that used to spray the phone with WD-40 to counter the effects of the cement dust. A sale guy gave him a can of PB as a sample. He sprayed the phone with excellent results......for a while, then the buttons started to stick and seize up as the plastic began to attack and weld together.

I can remember old store displays where they would demonstrate wd-40 against pb blaster by spraying a shot of each into a foam cup. The wd-40 of course stayed in the cup, while the pb starteated eating the styrene.. etc.

I always figured it was kinda a skewed test, even though i like pb blaster.. after all.. how many of us have styrene bolts that we are trying to loosen (wink)

Soundguy

 

[madpogue]

PB blaster works good for me.. however.. at the price per can it gets prohibitive when yuo are working on antique tractors where 110% of the fasteners were already rusted stuck years before I was born. Thus.. i can go broke buying the scientifically formulated stuff, or i can find something that costs 3$ to make a little over 2 gallons of it, and have it work at least 90% as good. With your way.. I'd have less money to spend on dragging the rusty iron home.. etc.

What can you make for $1.50 a gallon? Isn't the cheapest base gonna be at least $3.00 a gallon?

Blain's Farm & Fleet in WI sells PB Blaster by the gallon; more than $3.00, I'm sure, but a LOT less than the equivalent of $4.00 for a rattle-can.

I'm surprised that test rated LW better than PB. I'll bet the test involved leaving it for several hours. In my experience (cars more than tractors), LW works if you leave it overnight. PB can work in just a few minutes, on all but the most rusted fasteners; I've never seen LW, WD40 or anything else work that quickly (except Mapp gas, I suppose).

 

[Ford850]

I agree that LW might take longer to work, but I like it better than the PB. I'm surprised that the can of PB is full of hype about testing it to disolve a styrene cup. Who cares about that? What am I missing with that test?
I did use LW on a really badly rusted spring tooth I was working on this summer. No luck, even after heating it. Switched to PB, same story. More heat, no luck. Finally I tried the wax method described on this site. WOW! they broke free without the usual POP, and the nuts turned off like they were new. The was worked so well, I warmed all parts and coated them with wax prior to reassembly. That was heavy, deep, rusted bolts, and the wax worked great. I've tried it on other things since then, and LW seems to work better. I do keep a chunk of wax in my toolbox now though.

 

[kenmac]

I usually make my own p-oil by mixing ATF or MMO with 1 of the following.. kerosene, diesel, or mineral spirits.

Depending on the time of the year, the usualy mix is MS and ATF.. as cheap jiffy store atf is still 84 cents a bottle, and MS goes down to a buck a gallon at the hardware store now and then.

1/2 gallon ms and a quart of atf makes some pretty good unstickum that goes in a spray bottle. ( smells better than diesel or kero.. too )

Soundguy

I wish I had some tonight. I just got through replacing broken springs on 1 of my tandem trailer axles. Could have used that brew to get the old rusted u - bolts off the axle.

 

[motepoc]

Do yo'all recon that's why they have, GM, Ford, Chrysler/Plymouth or orange, blue, or green tractors, or anything else that you could name. We all have our differences and that is what makes us great. And we aren't mean enough to keep it all to ourselves. We share almost all the time, and that makes us great too. It's good to hear all the different opinions, and then I make an informed choice based on who I believe the most. Thank God for the USA and TBN

 

[Soundguy]

For real thin stuff.. i can get by for 1.84 per 5qts..and thus making it 1.47 a gallon.. IE.. 1qt atf to 1 gal MS... really though.. I prefer 2 qts atf to 1 g ms.. making it a whopping 2.68 per 6qts.. thus equalling 1.79 per gallon.

That's hard to beat. $ wise.. and works for the vast majority of my projects. at the barn.

For ease of use i do keep 1 can of PB in my truck where I don't want the possibility of a 'spill' from a squirt /spray bottle.. and i also always take a can of wd-40 with me to antique tractor events just for the purpose of dewatering ignitions..

I have used the wax method a few times with great results.. especialy on my old dearborn 10-1 plow that had to have 99% of the nut/botls repalced.. etc.

not saying this is great for everybody.. but works good for me... and as said.. i've expiremented with other solvents.. IE.. kero and diesel.. but those cost 2x to 3x the mineral spirits.. and the kero only works marginally better IMHO. I've used Naptha as well.. but that's only for places i need the fluid to wick to then flash off leaving a thicker oil residue.. etc..

Soundguy

What can you make for $1.50 a gallon? Isn't the cheapest base gonna be at least $3.00 a gallon?

Blain's Farm & Fleet in WI sells PB Blaster by the gallon; more than $3.00, I'm sure, but a LOT less than the equivalent of $4.00 for a rattle-can.

I'm surprised that test rated LW better than PB. I'll bet the test involved leaving it for several hours. In my experience (cars more than tractors), LW works if you leave it overnight. PB can work in just a few minutes, on all but the most rusted fasteners; I've never seen LW, WD40 or anything else work that quickly (except Mapp gas, I suppose).

 

[Ford850]

Since mineral spirits has been discussed, has anyone noticed the price in the past year? I think Lowes sells it for $6 or $7 a gallon now. I used to be able to buy it for $1 a couple years ago. I used it for a lot of things, but not any more. Not at twice the price of gasoline.

 

[kenmac]

I bought some of this stuff today I.m going to see how it works out on tuff stuffFluid Film: Corrosion Preventive, Lubricant and Rust Inhibitor

 

[mrutkaus]

I got some Fluid Film based on comments here; it is great!

Diluted with mineral spirits (shake it a lot) and used undercoating sprayer to spray under two cars.

Rubbed it on leather seats in '95 Mercury Mystique, rubbed it on paint of '85 Alfa Romeo original paint, great hand cream, sprayed odd large rusting metal objects around house...I'm almost thinking of trying it on vanilla ice cream.

Mike

 

[Soundguy]

Since mineral spirits has been discussed, has anyone noticed the price in the past year? I think Lowes sells it for $6 or $7 a gallon now. I used to be able to buy it for $1 a couple years ago. I used it for a lot of things, but not any more. Not at twice the price of gasoline.

I havn't bought any this year.. I'm still ging on the multiple 1g jugs I picked up last year when i was doing some painting and rusty iron rust-o-ration. At 1$ a jug I was hoarding it... If it's gone up.. guess when i run out I'll move over to the next cheapest solvent that will do the job.

Soundguy