sump plug washers

They are copper, but I'm not sure how far you'll get with that method. Copper is soft, and remains soft. When you use a fresh washer, the copper deforms as you tighten up, making the seal.

You can get away with reusing the washer a few times, as long as you clean up the surface with fine emery paper. But every time you use it, it gets thinner and wider, so takes more force to squeeze next time.

Grunff's tip of the day: Screwfix sell multipacks of copper washers, which come in sooo handy.

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Hmm, you got a part number for that, so I know to buy the right ones?

Must be so much cheaper.

BTW, copper work hards too, I've used it about 3 times. Doesn't look noticabley thinner, but does leak a little more each time.

Annealing it softens it a little, so allows it's re-use, so you don't need so much pressure to get a seal.

I thought that was very minor - hence copper cables? I dunno.

Oil changes every 3,000 miles with 470 washers = 1,410,000 miles.

I d> MeatballTurbo wrote:

Sounds reasonable :) Plus the 150,000 already on the clock makes almost 1.6M miles.

Paul

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Well, couldn't say how stiff it was before, but I was able to bend and straighten it with my hands after.

If it carries on at this rate, I reckon two more changes before I need a new washer, then I'll order a pack like you bought.

That's very true, but I do a lot of engineering, so fing those multipacks really useful. There's a whole range of mukltipacks, most of which I have on my shelf - O rings, split pins, R clips, circlips, etc. etc.