Penetrating oil

[Hydraulicjump]

Of all the things to have in the tool kit on a machine marinating in saltwater, penetrating oil is in the top ten.

I was raised on liquid wrench, but have always assumed the fancier, more expensive oils were better. I stumbled onto this experiment, which is a useful head to head.

https://youtu.be/xUEob2oAKVs

But like anything else, personal experience often outweighs tests like this. Just thought this would be useful to tugsters shut in this morning thinking about their boats. And I am about to tackle a couple of repairs that will undoubtedly need a dose of penetrating oil.

Jeff

 

[ohioan55]

Good video. I'll add one item he didn't test, wintergreen oil. When working in shipyards over several years, wintergreen oil seemed to be the 'go to' oil to use to free rusty/stuck nuts. Heat was also used with or without the oil. Now I don't how wintergreen oil stacks up against the others tested, but I do know that it is used in a lot of shipyards that dealt exclusively with steel hull ships in salt water, so they see the worst of the worst. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

 

[Trisailor]

An old Navy aircraft mechanic friend swore by wintergreen oil. Pointed out the same uses listed byohioan55.

 

[BB marine]

Working as a millwright in refineries the go to penetrating oil was Aerokroil. Every tool crib, gang box, tool box or tool bag had a can of Aerokroil in it. Areokroil seemed to work well but not all the time. The engineers theory was the studs that were stuck and could not be removed in most cases were not installed properly. Carbon steel fasteners require a lubricant on the threads to prevent galling during the torquing process. (not all some applications specify torque dry) When torqued dry and thread galling has taken place even with the penetrating lubricant the fastener will need additional torque to remove it or in some cases it will not loosen at all. Honestly it seems that no matter what product you use it will provide some assistance in the removal of a rusted or corroded fastener. This video showed that. I think we all have our go to product.

Working as a Marine Technician I used CRC 2-26 has a spray protectant and as a penetrant for loosening up fasteners. I also used marvel mystery oil. I had spray bottles of of each in my tool bag. I used the mystery oil as a fogging oil during winterizing season and as a top end cleaner during spring tune up season. It also worked well as a penetrant oil. Those are my personal experiences right or wrong!

Good luck with those repairs requiring some penetrating oil!

 

[ohioan55]

Ahh. Marvels Mystery Oil. I used to keep a can on hand. I didn't address assembly, but if you use anti seize when you assemble parts, it many time makes the need for a penetrant unnecessary. I know it's popular, but I've never used Areokroil, so I can't comment on it. I can say that I've used a lot of Liquid Wrench over the years mainly because it was readily available at any auto parts store and it has always worked well enough. Anything to avoid the dreaded broken bolt/stud removal/drilling/tapping game.