A motoring pal sent me this which is vaguely relevant to stove fettling if you have immovable nuts (hexagonal ones that is) Interesting info. for gearheads please share Got some rusty nuts? Penetrating Oils Compared Machinist's Workshop magazine actually tested penetrants for break out torque on rusted nuts. Significant results! They arranged a subjective test of all the popular penetrants with the control being the torque required to remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" environment. Penetrating oil Average load None ..................... 516 pounds WD-40 .................. 238 pounds PB Blaster ..............214 pounds Liquid Wrench ...... 127 pounds Kano Kroil ............ 106 pounds ATF-Acetone mix... 53 pounds The ATF-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note: The "home brew" was better than any commercial product in this one particular test. A local machinist group mixed up a batch and all now use it with equally good results. Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is about as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price.
I'm still using a can of Plus-Gas, I bought about 7-8 years ago - mainly so I could use the can for meths to prime Bialaddin and Vapalux lanterns. At the time it was cheaper to do that than buy a spirit can from the likes of Base-Camp (V2 - £14.95 plus P+P) and Bairstow Bros ( V2 - £9.50, but subject to £15 minimum order + carriage + VAT on both)... I think WD-40 isn't a penetrating oil, as such - it's a water-dispersant (hence WD). I seem to recall it's no more than paraffin (kerosene) with some sort of perfume added - it does smell nice!
We visited this topic not long ago. I made up a batch of the atf-acetone stuff and it seemed to work better than "liquid wrench" and some other old penetrating oil I have around ( "Tis-Quick" is the brand name, very old can. ) My two cents worth.
Notwithstanding it's undoubted efficacy, I think there may be 'issues' (such as flammability) with the ATF/acetone mixture. That might explain why it's not commercially available. But I guess you just need to be aware of these things and use it appropriately... 8)
Aero-Kroil! I bought the pair of big spray cans (16.5oz) they they were selling as a two-fer-one intro deal a year and a half ago. I'm still working through the first can. A very tiny amount is all you need, so it should last me a few years yet. YMMV. An overnight soak with Aero-Kroil and a heated NRV wrench head and no NRV will dare to stay frozen. Just my opinion, of course. Best, Gary
WD40 (water displacement, 40th formulation) is highly flammable also, so much so that it can not be used in off-shore drilling settings. I forget what they use, but its not WD40.
In the UK, you can't beat Plus Gas and Duck Oil. Or traditional glycol brake fluid, fresh or used, and various things can be added to this to improve penetration. Most important factors though... time to allow the stuff to penetrate, and patience! WD-40 is a water displacer, it is useful for displacing water (suprisingly!) but poor as a lubricant and penetrant.
