OT: COPPER anti-seize lube

------------------------------------- Yes. The 'why' would fill a small book

------------------------------------

----------------------------------------

'Automotive' means anything that moves under its own power -- space shuttle, steam ship, locomotive -- all are 'automotive' in the engineering sense.

Copper is the Brand X of anti-sieze compounds. Not very effective but not very expensive. The Good Stuff includes cadmium, lead, silver(!), aluminum...

Cadmium is considered best for spark plugs in aluminum heads on air-cooled engines. Most spark plug manufacturers offer their own Secret Receipe of anti-sieze (at several dollars per ounce).

As with lubricants, anti-sieze compounds all work about the same. The differences show up when you get to the extremes of the scale for temperature (both high & low), torquing pressure and so forth. The spark plugs on a VW engine, for example, need the same type of anti-sieze protection used on air cooled aircraft engines, which has significant advantages at elevated temperatures over that used on water cooled engines with aluminum heads.

-Bob Hoover

You really don't want to use either on spark plug threads. They both contain metal particles. Those will get on the threads in the head and eventually a bit may get rubbed off on a spark plug center electrode insulator.

Instant misfire.

I use moly disulfide paste on the SP threads. It's non conductive.

-

----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

-----------------------------------------------

I have used the copper antisieze in places where there are ground wires.................like trans to frame comes to mind.

Darn.

YOU KNOW WHEN YOU ARE A GEEK WHEN:

You ask the counterguy at the FLAPS for some "molybdenum disulfide grease" and he looks at you with a blank stare. "Moly grease," you say. "Ohhh," he says. "I've never heard it called . . . what did you call it?"

Need to learn FLAPS-speak.

My Glock came from the factory with copper anti-seize lube on the slide rails.

Rob >

I wouldn't use non-conductive anti seize on parts that rely on high conductivity to function.. like spark plug threads. A tiny dab of copper or aluminum paste is just right, BECAUSE of their conductivity.

Jan

I would think that the crush-washer provides a more than sufficient contact area.

Max

Thats why it is cheap! ;o)

J.

Exactly my dear Watson!

J.

And just in case our sence of humor is not on the same level, I will point out that the former, was both positive and a joke.

Cant be to carefull these days..... :0)

The peak current there is minimal, on the order of 1 mA, so there is never a concern that you might not have good enough contact to carry the current. The peak current there is, in fact, less than drawn continuously by a small LED penlight There is never a chance that you won't still have some metal-to-metal contact there. Even if you did manage to fill the threads with an insulator that wouldn't squeeze out there's still the gasket washer pressing against the head and the plug body.

Try it. I'll bet that you can't get as much as 1 Ohm of resistance between a plug and the head, regardless of what you paint on the threads. 1 Ohm would produce a voltage drop of .001 V for a current of

1 mA. I think all of us can afford to lose that much out of thousands of volts.

Ever wonder what the voltage drop was across the carbon brush in the dist cap or across the GAP between the outboard end of the rotor and the dist cap cylinder electrodes? The spark plug wires themselves have

100O Ohm resistors in them, and they don't even cause any problems (1000 Ohms x .001 A = 1 Volt.)

It really just never is a problem.

Whereas getting a tiny dab of conductive stuff on the insulator really does happen, with predictable results.

I've been using Dow-Corning MolyCote G paste on spark plug threads for

35 years. No problems yet. -

----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

-----------------------------------------------

You're right, but even if you made the washer out of plastic you wouldn't be able to get enough resistance to make a significant difference.

-

----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

-----------------------------------------------

Fair enough. I'll take your word for it.

Jan

Nah, those Glocks are rock solid. Look, you can almost see the anti-seize on the rail on my Glock here:

I'm suspicious of the firearm that _needs_ lubrication on the slide. What's with that? Bad engineering?

Actually, I don't lube mine. When I got it, I took it out and cleaned it really well and thats all. Another officer I work with has one, and like me doesn't lube it. I've never had a problem, neither has he. I'd rather not lube it, the range I go to is dusty and dry. I don't want sandpaper inside it.

Rob in Salt Lake