Most DIYers Do Not Know This | Loctite Red Threadlocker Curing

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Former Loctite sales rep here. Zinc is a fairly active metal, which is why it's used for sacrificial anodes on boats. You won't gain much using primer/activator. That product is meant for passive metals, such as stainless steel. What the primer does is add another cleaning, and introduces copper ions, which will cause the Loctite to set up. Try your experiment using 316 stainless bolts and nuts, passivated if you can find them.

Now lets talk about how red loctite comes in a blue tube and blue loctite comes in a red tube.

Try the test with the fasteners torqued when assembled, probably with holes through a steel bar. This would approximate real world use as the nuts loose on the bolt aren't as "anaerobic" as when stressed under torque. I would definitely be interested in seeing those results. Thank you for your presentation.

I've never wanted a graph so badly in my life. Good stuff, sir.

You’re like the chill version of project farm.

You had me at when you said you read the instructions…bravo!!

Been a mechanic for 40 years & red lock tite is used for bolts & nuts that are imperative that don’t come loose like driveline bolts or any bolts subjected to torsional vibrations- bolts that go round and round. Blue lock tite is used for smaller bolts and bolts that clamp components to something like p/s box to frame. A shot of brake clean before installation if the bolts are greasy. Once the bolts are installed they usually don’t come back out for years so time isn’t an issue.

Exceptional no-nonsense presentation of valuable/everyday information. Thank you for your contribution!

Love this! More technical experiments and information and less garbage on YouTube is a great thing.

When I started my HVAC career, I had a journeyman once tell me “ if you want to put something together with nuts and bolts without it coming apart again just put some paint on the threads first”. Dam it actually Works.

I like it when people get their point across in less than six minutes.

I believe that what many people don't realize is that both sealants are anerobic sealants meaning that they cure fully in the absence of oxygen. When the bolt/nut is tightened all the air is squeezed out causing the sealant to cure.

I just came from a reddit post that was basically a guy ranting about how everyone uses loctite wrong and that it's basically useless on inactive substrates unless you buy the kind of loctite specified for it or use the primer. It got me worried because I've never used the primer and have assembled a lot of stuff with loctite that is plated or anodized. This video proves that it's nearly as good without the primer. Unless it's an absolutely critical part, I'm going to continue to forgo the primer.

Manfactures often include an unnecessary step to either sell another product (ex. primer) or give their lawyers a loop hole if their product fails (clean dust free surface) when they know that most of their customers cant abide by it. I use Loctite on light fixtures that were installed on a bridge when clinton was in office, at 3 am, in the rain, cold salty air while on a boom lift with a head lamp. In these conditions i can barely keep my sandwhich clean let alone a bolt. Use lots of loctite and torque to specification. If you need to loosen use either a brake bar or a torch to burn it off.

I really appreciate the work you put into this! I'm both curious and cynical about manufacturers claims. This is the kind of independent testing that helps everyone AND keeps manufacturers on their toes!

This is the first test like this that I've ever seen. Thanks for all your work and for sharing your results. This is the best way to learn something.

Far out, I never read the instructions. Been using the stuff wrong for decades. Thanks man. Take care.

I have had things where red Loctite was used and shouldn't have been. It seems like the finer the threads are, the stronger it is. I've had a couple of gun barrels that had red applied to them and they had to be heated up to even think about getting the nut off without damaging it. A friend had a homebrewed radio with the front panel held on with about 20 hex screws, and the builder used red Loctite on every one of them, apparently not thinking the panel would ever have to be removed for future repairs. Even when we heated the screws with a soldering iron, some of them got the hex stripped out and others bent the allen wrenches we were using. When we put it back together, we used new screws and Vibratite.

Very invormative and not time consuming. Thanks