Corrosion Reduction ?

[Jolly Roger]

Could anyone please tell me the best stuff to smear on stainless screws and self-tappers into an aluminum mast, (winches, cleats, etc.), to reduce corrosion between the dissimilar metals?
Thanks in advance.

[Vasco]

Lanolin

[Sailmonkey]

Lanocote or teffgel

[Stumble]

Any insulator will work. I prefer loctite.

[colemj]

I like tefgel. Duralac is another good option. I have never had good long-term results with lanoline, but others have so it is probably my technique.

Mark

[casual]

I,just unstepped my mast to rewire and paint.Hasn't been done in 11 years.PO used a white substance smeared under Tang's and all treaded fastners,a small ammount of corrosion existed,however all fastners came free without any real effort just a screw driver with vice grips clamped on.I,beleive the stuff smeared on was Tef Gel.The rigger I,am using swears by Teflon for stopping corrosion.All FWIW

[sailr69]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger

Could anyone please tell me the best stuff to smear on stainless screws and self-tappers into an aluminum mast, (winches, cleats, etc.), to reduce corrosion between the dissimilar metals?
Thanks in advance.

OFF-SHORE SPARS uses tufgel, A white substance that does not dry or go away. also, hard to wash off your hands.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger

Could anyone please tell me the best stuff to smear on stainless screws and self-tappers into an aluminum mast, (winches, cleats, etc.), to reduce corrosion between the dissimilar metals?
Thanks in advance.

Tef-Gel, hands down. I work with this sort of thing day in, day out and nothing I have tried holds up better than Tef-Gel. Lanocote is okay as is Duralac & blue Loc Tite but these don't touch Tef-Gel in a marine application in my experience...

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

Tef-Gel, hands down. I work with this sort of thing day in, day out and nothing I have tried holds up better than Tef-Gel. Lanocote is okay as is Duralac & blue Loc Tite but these don't touch Tef-Gel in a marine application in my experience...

Yep, Tef-Gel. Costs a fortune (relatively speaking) but it's awesome. Taking off something with Tef-Gel five years later is a wonderful (no kidding) experience compared to having to break your knuckles or the fastener because it's malled on.

[Lagoon4us]

Ample DURALAC is very good but getting expensive....

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Vasco

Lanolin

Lanolin or Lanocote. One little jar will last you a lifetime! Great on anchor shackle threads too. Will not wash out in water. Never had a lanolin screw or shackle seize up.

[Lagoon4us]

Lanolin = Kiwi's KY.........

[colemj]

In case you don't care to use anything, I recently bought a new cordless drill (Rigid) that came with a free impact driver. My original thinking was that the impact driver was just going to be extra weight taking up storage room.

But holy crap does that thing work! I use it more than the drill now. It will remove anything instantly - even stainless screws corroded into aluminum. Brrrp - fastener off. This thing has saved me countless skinned knuckles and decreased my blue vocabulary to almost nothing. And you know those bolts with a nut wedged inside a part so tight that you cannot get a wrench into the part to keep it from turning while you loosen the bolt? Brrrp - bolt off without any backing wrench (although the nut and washer then fall into an equally inaccessible place).

This tool is magic and only costs 10 tubes of Tefgel (but you also get a free 18V lithium ion drill with it).

Mark

[Lojanica]

If you have really bad corrosion you can heat the head with a fine tipped butane torch than get a hand held hammer driven manual impact driver for the first loosening then use the battery impact driver. Fast and works most of the time.