[TowerTalk] anti seize/never seize ?

[Pete Smith]

It was a long time ago, but a cautionary tale.  My daughter had a 1972 
VW beetle.  Those things secured the wheels by way of bolts threaded 
into the brake drums, rather than studs, and it was notoriously hard to 
remove the bolts.  I got some anti-seize compound and put it on the 
threads, where it worked fine, but about 150 miles later one of the 
wheels came off as she was crossing a railroad track.  It turned out 
that all of the wheel bolts were loose.

Moral of the story, for me, would be not to use such compounds in your 
tower installation unless it is somewhere that you can safety-wire the 
bolt, turnbuckle, etc. to prevent unintended loosening.,  The stuff just 
works too well.

73, Pete N4ZR

The World Contest Station Database, updated daily at www.conteststations.com
The Reverse Beacon Network at http://reversebeacon.net, blog at reversebeacon.blogspot.com,
spots at telnet.reversebeacon.net, port 7000


On 6/24/2010 11:51 AM, Mickey Baker wrote:
> This stuff works well. I've never had an issue on a part liberally coated
> with this:
> http://www.permatex.com/products/Automotive/lubricants/specialty_lubricants/Permatex_Anti-Seize_Lubricant_a.htm
>
> As you may know, aluminum to stainless connections are galvanic and will
> deteriorate. Ultra Tef-Gel is a great product that provides galvanic
> isolation of parts, including the threads of self-tapping or machine screws
> with dissimilar metals.
>
> Mickey N4MB
>
> On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 9:43 AM, Jim Thomson<jim.thom at telus.net>  wrote:
>
>    
>> This stuff comes in 8 oz containers [and also larger]   The stuff available
>> from my local
>> fastener place is made by locktite.   It's used on SS threads so they don't
>> gall, etc.
>>
>> It comes in two grades.. standard 'silver'.. and 'marine grade'.   I see DX
>> eng also sells
>> this goop... and also in both grades.   The only diff i can see between the
>> 2 x types
>> [besides price]  is the marine grade stuff is rated for a higher temp.
>> [1800 deg f  vs 1600 deg f]
>>
>> The guy tells me the marine grade stuff has a higher temp rating cuz it's
>> used on engine parts
>> in marine applications. [ I can't see any engine getting this hot, even a
>> turbo].
>>   No mention of the marine grade being better suited for wet environments.
>>
>> I'm going to use it for outside ant stuff... like dx eng SS  U clamps, etc,
>> etc.   So other than being
>> in the rain, the temp is not an issue.
>>
>> I bought the regular grade.  Did I buy the wrong stuff ?    On a similar
>> note, today, 3 of us took down
>> my trylon tower [to be replaced with a crank up] ... and I had replaced 4
>> of the leg splice bolts  with
>> longer  1/2" diam SS bolts... and had not used any anti seize on em.   I
>> required longer bolts since I had
>> mounted small al plates on one tower face.. to side mount a 15m yagi..
>> fixed due east.
>>
>> Of course one of the 4 x SS bolts gauled.. and flat out would not come out!
>>   Fortunately, we had mounted the
>> nuts on the outside of the tower legs.   We had to use the sawzall  to come
>> the damn thing off !
>>
>> I have made up 8 x new  boom to mast plates  from 3/8" thick al plate....
>> F-12 style.. with one vert plate
>> on the mast.. and one horz plate on the boom.[ 4 x ants in total]   5  x
>> 1/2" diam  SS bolts  mate the 2 x plates together.
>> I can just envision  just 1 of 20 x SS bolts  gauling.. and a gong show
>> ensuing, trying to cut em off.
>> How reliable is this anti-seize /never seize stuff.. esp after several yrs
>> ??    I think if I was to ever remove any of the
>> SS nuts, i would slop some more anti seize goop  on the exposed, excess
>> threads.. just prior to removal.
>>
>> I only had gauling problems just once b4.. and that was when using SS
>> nylock  nuts  on  SS bolts.  In that case, the
>> SS nylock was being tightened for the 1st time.. and the nut seized up..
>> with a 1/8"  left to go !   Would not loosen
>> and would not tighten.   I cranked on it with a breaker bar.. and sheared
>> off the SS bolt.   [these were 3/8" bolts]
>> I had that happen 3 x times.... and the gauling problem was only when SS
>> nylocks were being used..... until
>> today's incident [ no nylocks, just SS flatwashers and SS split ring lock
>> washers]
>>
>> Of course, I had not put any goop on the 3/8" bolts  nor SS nylocks either.
>>   I just discovered the goop a few months back.
>>
>> Funny thing is.. I use SS  machine screws all the time on HB amps... [ like
>>   10-32  1/4-20, 8-32  6-32 etc]  and have never had a
>> gauling problem with em in the last 20 yrs.    The gauling problem only
>> seems to happen with 3/8" and bigger.. and esp when
>> SS nylocks are employed.  BTW... just bought a ton  of dx eng SS saddle
>> clamps  [ SS u bolts with solid AL saddles]  to use on the
>> el to plate connections for each el on the yagis.   All my F-12 ones had
>> rusted. In some cases, it was just the nuts.. some times jut one thread
>> on one side of a U bolt..some times both.  I was getting fed up with rusted
>> hardware... and have not found a source for galvanized
>> u bolts..yet.
>>
>> I hope this anti seize/never seize goop actually works.  Trying to cut
>> rusted /gauled hardware..up a tower is no fun.
>>
>> Later..... Jim   VE7RF
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> TowerTalk mailing list
>> TowerTalk at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>>
>>      
>
>
>