Does Loctite Work? Shocking Results - The Ultimate test of Fasteners 

Some notes to add to this fantastic video Jesse: 1. I looked up the curing time for Loctite and its 24 hours. I didn't know that, like you I thought it was 2-3 hours and have operated under that idea for decades! Heat can speed curing time but has to be controlled, between 150F-250F. Less is no help, more cooks the Loctite and it no longer works. 2. Jet nuts (also called K-nuts in some aircraft circles) are supposed to be single use hardware. The wear rate of the threads on the egg shaped part of the nut is very high and after several uses can start to lose their resistance. 3. Nylocks also wear out but take longer to do so since the nylon is flexible. And of course nylocks are no good where heat is involved as the nylon is only good to about 250F. 4. As a rule of thumb I use Jet nuts 2-3 times before replacement as they are bloody expensive. I'll use a nylock till it spins on by hand: that does not mean it spins freely, just that I can turn it by hand onto a bolt or stud. Great video! I'm a hardware junikie that keeps loads of AN and MIL spec hardware on hand in my shop and love using Jet nuts where they make sense. I learned a bunch in your video.

Just some tips here - Loctite needs to have an "active" metal surface to cure properly. The metal surface needs to be able to react chemically (which is kind of what the definition of "active" means in this case - electrically active - the material is able to shed ions) to properly cure. Most plating materials on bolts (things like zinc, but can be cadmium, or black oxide, etc...) make the material "passive" which is what helps prevent corrosion. Stainless steel is another material that is "passive", which is why it is rust resistant. With plated or stainless materials you absolutely must use a primer to get proper curing and maximum locking strength when using Loctite. Also, you want to use primer and Loctite on both the male and female threads, in this case the nut and bolt, and be sure to use enough to fill all the threads. I used to distribute chemicals for a Loctite competitor, learned all of this in the training, so thought I'd pass it along. Fun fact: Loctite and similar products are anaerobic - they need to have their oxygen supply cut off (which happens when you thread the pieces together) and have ions present, an active surface, to cure properly. The reason you have a cap on the Loctite bottle isn't to keep it from drying out or hardening, but only to keep it clean and from spilling out. Loctite packaging actually is breathable, and allows enough oxygen to pass through the plastic and keep it from hardening!

Can you repeat the Loctite portion of your test after a 24 hour or more cure time? I really appreciate your effort on making this video. Thanks

Two days ago I had to dis-asseble an alternator stator that had been fixed wih 1/4" screws an loctite 262. It had been in place for 10 years. I had to use mulitple applications of propane gas flame to heat it to loosen the screws. You need to get it to 500 deg F to get it to move and as it cools it grabs again. 4 x phillips head screws took several hours to remove, Three came out with the screws in tact, the fourth one burred and I ended up using a dremel to cut a slot in it to get it our. An incredibly painful experience! When cured loctite works! Be careful with the red in case you want to pull it apart again!

This was a really insightful comparison. Might I suggest repeating it, though, but instead of loosening the nuts with a wrench, lay the plate on the floor, and go over it evenly with an air hammer, or air chisel with a hammer bit. It's generally not the turning torque that causes backing off, but vibration and sometimes flexing. That would better compare real world expectations. Great value in this video, though!

Interesting and useful video. Thanks for sharing.

Keep up the great videos Jesse. 👍

Great stuff!

Very interesting Video thank you so much

Very helpful. Thank you!

Great video Jesse! Even as an engineer we weren't taught this

My Isuzu Rodeo Factory Manual published by Helm states that after the application of threadlocker the technition should wait one hour before continuing with the assembly of the component being worked on.

Just two remarks: Based on the technical data sheet Loctite needs 24 h full cure time, not only three hours, what is called the functional cure time. Next thing is, that the blue Loctite (222) has a breakaway torque of 6 Nm (4.4 ft.lbs) and the red Loctite (243) has a breakaway torque of 26 Nm (19 ft.lbs). If you torque your bolts and nuts with 20 ft.lbs it is not cmparabel. The only reason for using thread locking fluids is what you said correctly in your video: preventing from loosening. Thanx for your effort! Great Video!

Interesting video for a 60 yrear tech, iI will check out you other videos. I am havin an issue with bolts on a jonsered chainsaw backing out., and looking for solution. Maybe an idea here Ihaven't tried!

Thank you.

Loctite needs elements from metal to cause curing, so if the metal is coated in any way whatsoever, even anodized, it needs a loctite primer. Certain metals that are considered "Inactive" such as Staneless Steel, Pure Aluminum, Incolnel, precious metals, and more needs a loctite primer for loctite to cure.

Great video Jesse, what about serrated flange nuts and bolts. I've used them quite often. As with the lock washer, has to be on harder material. Maybe even with a drip of locktite on them. Also the top lock flange nuts? Like to use those especially in high heat areas.

That was very useful as I’ve seen some mechanics using it I am not mechanic but I like to learn my self about it I was like why people spend money on stuff like this I was wrong 😑

I prefer vibra tite vc3 as it works on all metal types active or not. Nord locks are great for high vibration parts. Lastly for high temp stuff Copper jet nuts for turbo flanges or downpipes. t25 and t3/4 flanges used to drive me nuts on high rpm engines....

Did you prep with oil/grease remover? Most thread lockers instruct you to clean and dry first. I put the locktite at the top of the thread and move the nut down the screw.

Just came across this even though it is 2 years ago. Interesting and informative. Jesse, what are your thoughts on Safety Wire and application when to use it? Maybe a video on the correct way to use Safety Wire?

Sir, you just won a subscription.

Awesome. Thank you. It is a no brainer to subscribe to JPM Performance.

there is also loctite 270 high strength 180C temperature resistance. they say on the data sheet it gives 30Nm on a 10mm nut.

Nice.

The blue/red Loctites, just WHERE do the different strengths take effect? At the “break away” or at the “free spinning after the break away”. Both the red and blue had about the same “break away” force. So there doesn’t seem to be a strength difference there. Is the strength difference in the “free spinning”area? Thanks, great vid.

Nordlock washers blow everything else out of the water. They arent cheap and only used in critical applications. Youd swear every fastener is gonna break when they pop open. Id guess red aneroibic locker and nord locks would never come out with the bolt head undamaged.

Just my 2 cents here guys, I havent read the other comments so I apologise if I'm doubling up. I don't believe that locktite is designed to resist untorquing, I believe it's only designed to fill the tolerance gap used to ease the threading that will remain after the lock is torqued up on the thread. Hence the vibration retalience as the transients going through metal are hight, for example in an engine reving high, therefore those can compromise your "to the T" fastening in those exposed situations. I don't believe that Locktite will accentuate the grit or add any more resistance of any form if you are untorquing, just like the global misconception suggests. ps: I came to this video by accident as I was actually looking for a way to avoid treading the threads of my injectors that I'm trying to remove and will now look for something not as strong as super glue as this one is a real b*****stard to remove unless you heat it up, but can be considered

Great video with very useful content (though my wife thinks I'm really strange for spending my Saturday night watching a video about breakaway torques on fasteners!) What's your experience and opinion, if any, regarding Nord-Lock washers?

Loctite needs 24 hours to cure. Test data is obsolete

awesome comparison, but I couldn't help but wonder about the vice setup. Is it just on a grinder stand?

Thanks for the comparisons, I learned a lot about the initial 5 combinations you showed. I really appreciated the scientific approach until you blew that out of the water by winging it on the Loctite curing. I just came from their channel's "in the lab" series -- a great 7min on how to apply & how it works, BTW -- looking to see a real-world comparison. Your conclusions led to a slight misrepresentation on Loctite Blue and a heavy one on Loctite Red. As others have mentioned, its full cure time is 24hrs. Set time is only 10min. When you do another video on this (I don't see one yet), please mention that Blue is made to be removed with hand tools, and Red (once cured & used on compatible materials per jonathanspiegel below) *requires* heat. Thus if folks walked away from your video and figured "I'll go with the red/washer solution just in case", they might end up in some real trouble if that fastener needs removed later. Also good to mention that both provide great corrosion resistance, which is great to know since non-corrosive materials seem exclusive from the target application set, based on the ideal curing conditions.

A very good test using many different fasteners. As a retired USAF jet engine mechanic I know of many different ways to secure hardware. Locknuts are my #1 but running a damn close #2 is safety wire. If you use a good quality safety wire they may stretch but they won't break except in extreme forces. The other way you don't see as often is tab washers (many different types. There would be a slot somewhere for the tab to connect to such as a small hole in the structure and then after torqueing the tab(s) are bent up against the nut preventing movement. I would second the 24 hour curing time of loctite. The red should require a torch and other such things to break it free.

Please share detail about your Spanner

Awesome video 💯‼️ Would love to see a video like this on studs. Especially, why they are used instead of a bolt. I have always wondered why my Ford exhaust manifold the stud has a lower torque rating than the nut. Seems backwards to me. Thanks!

Threadlocker needs to cure for 24-48 hours to properly maintain it's hold. I know for a fact it will be much harder to remove than nylock. Make sure those nuts are new. I don't use washers. Red locktite will require 5x the holding strength to breakaway a nut than 242 blue and can't be removed with hand tools unless you heat it to 350°F with a torch or you spray the red Threadlocker with chlorinated brake parts cleaner (CRC brakeleen red can) . Orange 21520 will have 3x as much as blue but still removable like blue. Green is similar to Blue being medium strength but is wicking so it's applied after the fasteners are torqued. You should redo this test so you can see the difference. Threadlocker is noticed most when the fasteners are torqued above 100ft-lbs.

Interesting comparison to look at how much preload goes into bolt stretch. However, this is not really a good test of what happens to each of those types of installations under their real-world load conditions. In other words, how do each of those joints perform when subjected to vibration loosening. My bet is that the drop of loctite between the washer and plate does nothing other than waste a drop of loctite.

You plan on doing a safety wire video?

Great video but you didn't let the loctite cure.

def 24 hours, 3 hours wont really do anything. I got some stuff curing right now, only on the 6th hour.

That is not how lock/split washer work. Please do more research before making a video.

Seems like rust wins

You forgot about heat , nylock is junk for almost everything fyi

There is so much wrong with this demonstration. Not just the 3 hours drying time and (likely) improper lock washers, but all you've proven is how much force is needed to unscrew nuts the way you screwed them in. You haven't fastened anything together and this has nothing to do with vibrating loose. There may be a correlation, but you haven't shown it.

Not sure this is a useful test. Various methods to lock a nut are not so that it requires increased torque to loosen. Rather the intent is that the nut does not loosen on its own due to vibration or heating/cooling cycles. If we were just concerned about breakaway torque, then the bare nut demonstrates that no type of "locking" mechanism is needed. We all know that's not true. Should run one more exact test, but vibrate the hell out of it.

Sorry, not a very good coverage.iI do appreciate the effort though. Some issues are 1)hardness of your base plate; 2) flat washer negates lockwasher as it will turn on plate; 3)correct cure times not noted/followed; 4)jetnuts just one type of special type of nut. Some are much more tenacious such as the ones with the oval hole or the ones with multiple wedge-shaped cuts all around the circumference;5)tensile strength of bolt since low strength mean more torque needed to stretch but also a higher modulus so won't stay stretched therebt losing the applied torque etc.

It's twenty four hours for loctite to dry. Your test is seriously flawed.

Loctite....24hrs. Botched video, loctite wasn't cured buddy...

"what is this telling us here" 😂😂 it's telling you that you didn't wait long enough for loctite to set. Why not just delete this pointless video