I hate quizzes

Hi Mike, take it back and get a replacement or a refund.

Regards Nick.

P.S. I'm not good at guessing games, but I've got a couple of WD40 ones that are no problem.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 12/04/2019 10:13:25

Sparky refers to WD40. My latest can came with a hinged nozzle; in one position it sprays, in the other it directs the flow down a plastic tube. No longer sprays. Perhaps it's just too difficult. Old fashioned paraffin blow-lamps were temperamental too.

Another thread mentioned Selley's RP7 recently. It's Australia's answer to WD40 : I bet it doesn't spray properly either, even though all their cans are upside down. (Old jokes are the best.)

Interesting stuff WD40. Popular despite being mildly useless. Not a good penetrating oil, not a good waterproofer, not a good lubricant, not a good cutting fluid, not a good water repellent etc. I think it scores because it's the easiest spray-on option that can be tried on almost anything with some hope of success. I get through quite a lot…

Dave

I found another use for WD 40 in one of those hinged nozzle cans yesterday freeing off Phillips head wood screws on the window frame of a potting shed that has been weathering for several years.

They were run up hard by a power drill on the assembly line and I had hell's own job shifting them with a hand held screwdriver without camming out all the time. A good blast of this stuff softened the grip in the timber and the job suddenly became a whole lot easier. Powered access to reverse them out was not possible because of the roof overhang on the structure.

I commend it as a dodge that saved my day

Brian

Re: the comments regarding WD40 and it’s non performance at a multitude of tasks, I believe that it was originally developed as a protection that was liberally dispensed on both missiles and helicopters, the idea was that if the equipment was liberally doused in WD40 then it would afford protection in the harsh environments that these equipments operated in. If you have ever worked on said equipments then you would find that the WD40 had penetrated to every available crevice which was it was designed to do and thereby thwarted corrosion forming. So it may be mediocre in performing the tasks that it is currently sold for but it was extremely good at the function it was primarily designed for.

Dave W

Are we now going to guess which supermarket garage forecourt you will buy the diesel from?

I will start it off– "a well known one that sell own brand beans that taste awful"

There you are . Now we all know

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 12/04/2019 20:44:45

FMES – The MoD's ban may have been for technical reasons not connected with anything that would worry "the general public".

WD-40 is what the initials mean: "Water Dispersant (or Displacer?)". Despite the waffle on its cans, that is its best purpose, but you can also use it as an oil-dispersant for cleaning, .e.g miniature locos after running them, and as a cutting lubricant for aluminium. It is not very effective as a lubricant, nor as a penetrating-oil.

Plus-Gas is a long-established, well-tried penetrating oil. That is what is made for, nothing else.

It's better to buy materials like these in bulk tins rather than spray cans, but for covering areas you can use them in a salvaged, manual aerosol sprayer bought wrapped around a kitchen cleanser. (NB: The "aerosol" is the spray, not the spraying method!).

For point application, to minimise waste use a small paint-brush, wooden spill, the ink-tube from an exhausted ball-point pen (as a pipette), or similar. I've even used a twig.

Slightly digressing, the kitchen and bathroom also supplies potentially useful pumps, on liquid-soap bottles, that will draw off liquids in 5-litre tins whose spouts are designed to spread more of their contents over the surroundings as they pour into the container you use with the brush!

As a slight digression – I always buy the fluids in bulk liquid format not in a pressurised aerosol can. 

I find that to get the right quantity where I want it and not everywhere I don't is to modify an old Vicks nasal spray.

Take the top off and pry out the insert which holds the dip tube, pull out the dip tube then drill out the insert from above slightly undersized to the dip tube and force it in to prevent leakage. Then drill the top oversized to allow the dip tube to pass through – fill the bottle with your preferred lubricant then hey presto a droplet control dispenser.

I hope these photos show it better than I have described it. I find a kitchen roll sheet rolled up and wrapped around the dip tube keeps everything dry and clean. I have been using this for years and it works a treat.

Steve

Edited By Steve Skelton 1 on 08/05/2019 10:28:14

Edited By Steve Skelton 1 on 08/05/2019 10:31:56

Edited By Harry Wilkes on 08/05/2019 15:32:40