PB vs. WD-40


 
D

Dan Leighton

TVWBB Pro
A question for the restorers out there. I've always used WD-40, but I noticed some people talking about PB for freeing up stuck bolts, etc. Is PB better and more effective?
 
Dan,
While WD40 has many helpful uses being used as a penetrating fluid is not one of it's strong points.

I work in an Auto Parts store and have access and have tried many, many penetrating oils . For the last 10 years my top choices were Liquid Wrench, Cyclone Break Away, and Freeze Off. While most fluids do a good job PB just seems to get the really tough stuff so I have been using PB for the last 8 years or so.

I then discovered Project Farm on Youtube (a fantastic show), which pits like products against each other and in their second test of Penetrating Fluids Seafoam Deep Creep came out on top of all others. I have been using it for the last 5 months and can report that it works great.
It seems to flow into the rusted parts better and doesn't have that God-awful smell that PB Blaster has.

Check it out here-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st8dkGzJWtg

Jeff
 
Yah, I always have a can of WD40 around and if I need to break a rusted part, I will use that if I don't have something else specifically designed for use as a penatrating oil. The two penatrating oils that I have used with good results is PB Blaster and Liquid Wrench. I won't try to tell you that one is better than the other, but it does seem that either of them is better than WD40 for breaking apart rusted parts.

I have never seen that Seafoam Deep Creep, but if I see it in the store, I will probably grab a can to check it out.

FLuid Film has always been highly regarded for rust prevention in the automotive world.

I would like to see these tests after many cycles of high heat such as our grills experience.
 
Last edited:
For the 2 grills I rehabbed the pb blaster was far superior for loosening rusted on hardware. The pb blaster worked every time for me.
 
Seems like every time I have a frozen nut or bolt, it is so bad that I simply twist it off and use new and don't mess with trying to unfreeze it unless it looks to be in pretty good shape to start with. Some times it is just easier to do than than spray it wait and hope it works.
 
Wow! I guess I need to rethink the mentoring I got from a master mechanic back in the '70's. Bigger hammer, torches, and last but not least Never Seize (the silver stuff that ends up everywhere). I finally got rid of the Never Seize when we moved cross county, but I've kept WD-40 on hand. I forget that any grill is not a Detroit Diesel in a fire truck! I still harbor my large pipe wrenches and combination wrenches up to 2". Heck, this summer I even had to get a benzomatic torch just to light my Smokemiester! Had a lazy Saturday with only a little more cleaning on the son's grill project.
 
Jeff MA said:
Dan,
While WD40 has many helpful uses being used as a penetrating fluid is not one of it's strong points.

I work in an Auto Parts store and have access and have tried many, many penetrating oils . For the last 10 years my top choices were Liquid Wrench, Cyclone Break Away, and Freeze Off. While most fluids do a good job PB just seems to get the really tough stuff so I have been using PB for the last 8 years or so.

I then discovered Project Farm on Youtube (a fantastic show), which pits like products against each other and in their second test of Penetrating Fluids Seafoam Deep Creep came out on top of all others. I have been using it for the last 5 months and can report that it works great.
It seems to flow into the rusted parts better and doesn't have that God-awful smell that PB Blaster has.

Check it out here-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st8dkGzJWtg

Jeff
Click to expand...

Excellent breakdown. Thanks Jeff. Totally agree about the awful smell of PBB also.
Maybe I get to impatient and do not wait long enough, but I have not have much luck
with WD of PBB. I normally end up breaking the bolt. Especially when trying to remove the
bolt that holds the firebox onto the cart frame.
I recently had an old WW that I had sold and needed to disassemble to shio to Atlanta. One of the
legs was rusted into the socket and simply would not budge. I sprayed PBB on for 10 days in a row
with no luck. After inquiring for some advice, the popular opinion was HEAT. About 30 seconds worth
from a propane torch did the trick.
 
Yah, heat is the go to option for frozen/rusted wheel hubs and other parts on vehicles. If that doesn't work, in conjunction with a BFF, then you have a real problem. It shouldn't take much heat for small grill parts and a regular propane torch should work for most any situation on a grill. However, usually just go to the angle grinder/cutoff wheel when I have frozen grill parts. The bolts are usually in bad enough shape that they are going to have to be forcibly removed after separating them anyway. Frame pieces and stuff like that might be better served with the heat though.
 
I have never tried heat on loosening parts on an old Genesis. I would think though careful use of a propane torch would work well as aluminum expands much more rapidly than the steel bolt so I would think even a bolt badly corroded would at least come out by applying heat around the bolt (not to the bolt).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top