Three weeks ago I had my steering cylinder rebuilt. It was a pain in the a to get off as it was set with red locktite. Upon reassembly I used blue locktite as the red was sold out from three local stores. This morning my steering went haywire as one bolt had back out and the second bolt mount broke under the load. The mount is cast ductile iron. I repaired the mount today welding it not brazing it. Welding iron is something that I have a good bit of experience with. I got it back together with red locktite took three places to find the red but I found it.The weld held strong as a torqued the bolts in tight Just wanted to warn anybody working on their machines to use the red as the blue did me no good.
A point of note on this one, in order for Locktite----- any Locktite, to work as intended according to its strength, the parts you're placing it on must be clean. If there is any oil or contamination, you can nearly treat whatever color you used as a step down to the next weakest color. In engine building whenever we prepare a part ---- say connecting rod, or main bolts ---- the bolt and the nut get sprayed with brakeclean and immediately hit with compressed air until completely dry. Or the bolt and the threaded hole --- same treatment. This ensures proper grip of the Locktite to the threads, and allows the Locktite to completly fill the gaps between the threads. In short, if you use Blue Locktite on oily threads it will hold very little, on clean threads it will hold very strongly but still be removeable. Using Red on properly cleaned threads will not allow removal without heat or extreme torque that may break bolts depending on the amount used. Hope my babble makes sense and helps someone out sometime.
firedawg, Thanks for all of this. It's like painting, sealing windows and glueing anything. Preparation is always as important as the type of glue used.
Red is defiantly better for a job like that and of course very clean and properly torqued If you really need it to hold use the anaerobic primer when you need to take locktited bolts apart heat them up right around 400 degrees and they will spin right off
Blue Locktite was never meant to do what the red stuff does. Using it is akin to trusting a lock washer will prevent a bolt from turning loose. I quit using brake clean years ago and now only use ether for cleaning. It's cheaper and leaves no film whatsoever. I've had brake clean poison more than one weld so I know there is a residue left.
John, if brakeclean is left to evaporate in a puddle on it's own, it leaves behind whatever residue it has thinned/broken down, I agree with you. However, by using compressed air it leaves "virtually" nothing behind. The fact is, locktite isn't as fussy about this sort of thing as say aluminum welding, although I have successfully used this method to clean aluminum that I've Tig welded. Nonetheless, the point is cleanliness is important when securing fasteners with locktite, however you manage to achieve it.
I know this is a Locktite thread, but since we drifted off into various cleaners and welding, never use chlorinated brake cleaner to prep metal for welding. Any residual tetrachloroethylene on the metal reacts to the heat of the welding process and becomes phosgene gas, dangerous stuff. I use both brake cleaner and ether. Like John C stated, ether evaporates very rapidly and leaves no chemical residue. My fav starting fluid used for cleaning (and starting stubborn engines) is Thrust starting fluid from Radiator Specialty.
Sounds like I'll have to try something new...... good advice fellas thanks. :thumbsup
When I put new rollers on the cat I used service insensitive blue Loctite because it is designed to work if there is still some oil on the threads.
One thing I learned recently, though I have been using the stuff for forty plus years... is that the Loctite type threadlockers actually chemically react to iron ions in the nut, bolt, or threaded part to kick off the hardening... an interesting bit of trivia.
Also when used with "non-reactive" materials like stainless steel or aluminum they need a primer to properly cure. I was looking for something to seal the joint in an aluminum engine crankcase and contacted Loc-Tite for suggestions and that is what I was told by their tech person. Seems to have worked fine as no leaks so far on the Sportster engine! Is a Harley considered "Heavy Equipment"? Just remembered something, if using Loc-tite with a primer be sure to have wrench ready before screwing bolts in. I was assembling a Cat torque converter a few years back. As we had been finding a problem with the bolts holding the stator in place on a few we took apart we started making it a practice to use Loc-tite on the retaining bolts. We used the blue Loc-tite with primer. On one occasion I put the primer on the bolts and then applied the blue stuff. Screwed the bolts in finger tight then grabbed my torque wrench to tighten them. Forgot to set it first so I adjusted it to the proper torque value and proceeded to tighten the bolts. Problem was they would not turn! The Loc-tite had already set up! At least it was the blue stuff so it was possible to remove them with normal wrenches and start over again!
If the Hardly is a Fat Boy, it is heavy equipment! LOL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP3GHnnmHj4 Hardly, hardly, hardly, hardly, hardly
Does anyone know how long it takes blue locktite to Completely harden ? I somehow don't think 24 hours in 75*F is enough time ? FYI; Locktite won't dry without the complete absence of air. (From my understanding )
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/t_lkr_blue/directions/Loctite-Threadlocker-Blue-242.htm From the above link: Assemble parts and tighten as required. Sets in approximately 10 minutes and fully cures in 24 hours. In the "Technical Data Sheet" also at that link says, application temperature above 50ºF And like I said if used with the Primer the blue will set up very fast in under a minute to the point it needs a good amount of torque to remove fastener. Cleanliness is the major factor in how good it works!
It`s not just the Blue that will set up faster when using the primer, it all will. Cat reccomends the Green bearing mount for rear main seals. I was putting one in a 3306 and got side tracked. A few minutes later it was set up like a bulls -you know what- at fly time.
Thanks Ken Does Locktite sell a primer? Wonder if PVC primer would work. (I had to put some Very tiny screws in something and they didn't fit very well )
Yes the primer is a Loctite product any good supply house that sells Loctite should have or be able to get the primer. Spend some time on the Loctite site, they have all kinds of sealants and glue type products, the site can be a little confusing.