loctite 638

[michael birdParticipant @michaelbird72946]

Hi.When building a 11/2”scale traction engine to what extent can loctite be used to replace the need for silver soldering ie steam stop valves, injector, etc.Thanks Mike.

[michael birdParticipant @michaelbird72946]

[mgjParticipant @mgj]

Well – you know the silver solder will have a strength approaching that of the parent metal – though you can look up the figures in detail.

 

Then you work out your bond area for Loctite, and look up the shear strength of that bond at that service temperature. You know the area of the bond and you can work out the load.

 

With respect that is not a question that anyone can answer at a a distance, because, to give a decent answer you need to know these things. Unless you want to go by experience “I loctited my injectors/item x/item y and that held Ok so it would be Ok on yours”. Well it might be, and it might not, just depending on the conditions.

 

There is one important point though – get it wrong, and in that sort of application, even a decently made bonded joint will fail. A silver soldered one is most unlikely to.

 

For my money, I’d stick with the silver solder – its just so quick, neat easy and sure. Still, others may have done perfectly well with other methods

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

You also want to check how the loctite performs with higher temps, it starts to drop off a lot at 100 deg C, maybe 648 would be a better choice.

 

Personally I would go with silver solder, but if you want to go the loctite route see what your boiler inspector thinks about fittings made that way

 

Jason

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