Anti seize types
 

So my big bottle of permatex anti seize finally ran out, so off to the local autoparts store to replace.

Well guess what... its no longer nickel in a grease base but aluminum. Not real happy about that. Its soft, but it also oxidizes leaving basicly a super hard ceramic as a 'lubricant'. Not nice at all...

Hopped on amazon, and there is a wide variety of suspended metals... silver, copper, nickel, and aluminum.

So I picked up a new jar of Nickel anti seize that is NRC approved :D:eek:...that's nuclear regulatory commission :D:D... and some copper based too.

I read years ago when I was young when carol smiths first book came out back in 1984 when i just started high school and was beginning to wrench on motorbikes. that copper was the way to go by his opinion. Copaslip was the brand he suggested. He also got me started on my fastener fetish :D.

High performance fasteners are often silver plated as a protective and anti seize coating.

Thus I was wondering if anyone had opinions on what to use where, or if there is rule of thumb for anti seize type. The crower Ti rods I got came with a graphite based anti seize which surprised me.

Its messy, but I use the stuff everywhere cause stuff comes apart so much nicer up the road...

This is what I have been using for years. Amazon sells it. It is blend of aluminum, copper and graphite lubricants The nickel base anti seize is for stainless steel although I haven't had any problems with the copper base anti seize.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41kYL5xp5BL.jpg

That looks like the batch I have only mine is old enough to not have a bar code on it.

I use copper, but only because I can 'borrow' it for free where I work.

I just took my starter off my car, it had seen about four cold salty winters. The copper was still there from the last rebuild, all the bolts came out easily.

Note that the copper paste is not very conductive, it looks it would be, but it isn't. The bottle claims it is, but if you do a test it ain't.

I have always used copper based.

I could write a training seminar on this subject. oh wait, I already have :)

Answer: depends.

What metals are involved?
Similar, dissimilar?
What temperatures?
What environment (salt, moisture, etc).
Food processing or not ....

There's a reason they make about a dozen different kinds of anti-seize. NONE of them are good at everything.
That permatex bottle shown above is pretty good at most.
I wouldn't use it on a gas expander, but for most home and automotive uses it's OK.

BTW, Many formulas of anti-seize have either disappeared to have gotten weaker over the years thanks to the EPA and other regulatory jack-holes.

Lead was a good additive, but that could get on someone's skin or some idiot might use it on potable water, so that's outlawed.
Same with at least 4 or 5 other additives that were previously common.


Believe it or not one of my favorite recipes for exotic stainless fasteners in high temp applications is is high temp nickel-eze mixed with milk of magnesia.

IIRC Pratt & Whitney of Canada specified Phillips Milk of magnesia as an anti seize in the assembly of turbine engines.

If you have flown on a turboprop you likely been on a plane powered by a Pratt & Whitney PT6.

I have three Pratt and Whitney engines that I'm responsible for, FT4C-3F.

2 are installed one is an uninstalled spare, 58 MW each. They like to break the bolts that connect the free turbine section.
They've all got a little milk of magnesia on them.

I asked the factory rep a while back if he'd ever heard about using it, he said no but later told me that he found out others in the company had.

Neolube
 

More of a lubricant than an antiseize compound, Neolube films were the only materials allowed when cleaning reactor grade systems. It is colloidal graphite suspended in isopropnal. When applied, the alcohol evaporates, leaving the graphite film. Haven't seen any in a few years, but Micro mark (models and miniatures) does carry it.

There's about as much BS in an anti-seize discussion as a K&N air filter discussion.

But...what I have gathered over the years:

-Aluminum anti seize is the best all around. Not good for high heat such as exhaust parts however.

-Copper anti seize for high heat applications. Do not use copper on aluminum.

When using it on anything going into aluminum use aluminum anti seize, dissimilar metals thing.

Most spark plugs made today have a special anti seize plating on them and anti seize is not recommended.

I use nickel for stainless or stainless + aluminum. My understanding is copper and aluminum is a no-no for corrosion reasons. Aluminum is good but there are better ones.