Teflon Lubricant

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Ever since the patent for Teflon ran out (Trade name for PTFE), manufacturers have been making lubes with PTFE, giving it their own trade name. Here is one from Liquid Wrench. (Done incognito at a Walmart in Canada.).






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PTFE or Teflon is a solid, as in sand. Fail to see how it does anything. Your cheap cooking pans, you know the ones you throw away every six months? The metal has to be heated at around 800 degrees so the solid PTFE will flow and stick. Complete waste of time.

slomo
 
Originally Posted By: slomo
PTFE or Teflon is a solid, as in sand. Fail to see how it does anything. Your cheap cooking pans, you know the ones you throw away every six months? The metal has to be heated at around 800 degrees so the solid PTFE will flow and stick. Complete waste of time.

slomo

That is not how it works. PTFE never flows, in fact it decomposes below the melting point. And furthermore it will not stick to anything without extensive surface preparation and modification beforehand. In this application the material remains a sold and the particles act as a lubricant in the solid state. Much like graphite or molybdenum disulfide.
 
In greases, it's very effective...when it's needed. Doesn't stain black like MoS2 or Graphite.

I've got an old tin of slick 50 teflon lube, and things like sliding screen door lower solid runners it works well. If it can get into hinges, they stay squeak free for longer.

When I commissioned the MDF factory back in the late 90s, the predescessor of this
https://www.klueber.com/ecomaXL/get_blob.php?name=Kluber-Klubertemp-GR-AR-555-FINAL-1.pdf

Was a serious grease...especially when Wynns brought their "one armed bandit" onto site to try to influence the purchasing staff.
 
The common brands like Liquid wrench, 3-in-1, CRC, ETC almost always contain too much solvent to really be good lubricants; regardless of what other additives they have in them.

If you really want a good teflon fortified lubricant, try super lube. It comes in oil, grease and aerosol. Tri-flow is pretty good too but the flash point is low so it doesn't do well on things that get hot.

All this being said, there are much better lubricants out there that don't rely on teflon. I am not saying teflon is bad but there are plenty of other powerful lubricants that don't use it.
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
In greases, it's very effective...when it's needed. Doesn't stain black like MoS2 or Graphite.

I've got an old tin of slick 50 teflon lube, and things like sliding screen door lower solid runners it works well. If it can get into hinges, they stay squeak free for longer.

When I commissioned the MDF factory back in the late 90s, the predescessor of this
https://www.klueber.com/ecomaXL/get_blob.php?name=Kluber-Klubertemp-GR-AR-555-FINAL-1.pdf

Was a serious grease...especially when Wynns brought their "one armed bandit" onto site to try to influence the purchasing staff.



How about when it's mixed with oil? I was using white lithium grease on my pickup doors but holy cow what a mess it made, don't get me wrong it kept them working nice and smooth for a while but when the drivers door started moaning a couple weeks ago I looked closer and I couldn't believe all the dirt that grease attracted. I hit them with some WD40 to get them cleaned up but now I need to put some lube on them so I bought some 3-in-1 with PTFE.
 
Originally Posted By: AMC
Tri-flow is pretty good too but the flash point is low so it doesn't do well on things that get hot.


Which is why it tends to have a good following in the bicycle community.

Pretty good chain lube and general purpose bicycle lube. Has a unique smell
wink.gif


Regards
Jordan
 
Triflow definitely works great (as a wet lube but thats a different discussion) for bicycle applications. It was our go-to back when I was a shop rat and I still use it for a great many bike and non-bike applications. That said I'm quite sure there are many alternatives that work just a well if you prefer something different!

What I'm curious about, and I figure it fits here, is the colloid ptfe in something like Breakfree CLP. How does this compare to a non-ptfe formula (like, i dunno, Microil) or a solid PTFE formula like superlube or triflow?
 
I don't follow. what is it your trying to say?

PTFE stands for polytetrafluoroethylene. Teflon is the trade name owned by DuPont.


Yes,
there's numerous chemical companies putting out lube's with PTFE.
 
Best stuff i ever bought was made by Lawson industries.
It's called TEF Gel
.........
It sprays out as a ultra thin liquid that can penetrate
the tightest tolerances then turns to a heavy viscous gel.
Not cheap but beats all department store stuff.
 
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