teflon tape for air fittings

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Originally Posted By: MoreCowbellAz
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I threw out all my teflon tape and use liquid teflon.




Can I ask what exactly do you use? I bought some stuff at Home Depot awhile back, T2 I think, thinking it was some sort of liquid teflon than dried once applied. This stuff never dried and I couldn't get my head around how it worked if it permanently remained a paste. My use was for harley primary drain and I didn't want any kind of teflon seeping in and getting on clutch disks.


https://www.fcsdchemicalsandlubricants.c...and%20Adhesives because well I can get it at work. We also get the Loctite stuff as well since some of the techs prefer it.
 
[/quote] I am a pipe fitter, anaerobic dope makes life unnecessarily tougher for me lol. I teflon tape and teflon dope everything.[/quote]

I heard that pipe fitters make lots of $$$$$$
 
For fittings 1/4" or smaller, which is going to be most homeowner-type air fittings, I use dope (Rectorseal T5 for no particular reason other than it's what I bought the first time I ever needed any and it seems to work) only, because I find it hard to get tape around the threads without having extra hanging over the end and potentially clogging something up. For larger threads, I'll use a few layers of tape and then a thin layer of dope over that, just to make sure it never leaks.
 
Originally Posted By: ChevyBadger
I am a pipe fitter, anaerobic dope makes life unnecessarily tougher for me lol. I teflon tape and teflon dope everything.

I work with pipes a fair bit, reconfiguring hydronic heating systems and moving cast iron radiators. I use the Loctite 567, which is an anaerobic thread sealant. It sets up very mild, milder than the blue Loctite threadlocker, and it really does not make disassembling a joint any tougher.
 
I worked at a pump shop and the pump mechanic got [censored] if you put Teflon tape on the air hoses. I think he claimed that it gunked up the air tools and air valve assemblies of pumps. Not sure how, but I guess he knows. I think he said people would wrap it the wrong way and it would just bundle up, also maybe they don't put the tape a couple threads back and it gets into whatever air tool?
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
If used properly how its getting in the tool from the threads? In 45 years I have yet to find any tape in an air tool.


That is the issue though. Lots of people don't do "properly", they just wind on a [censored] of tape, often in the wrong direction and it gets everywhere. If I had a dollar for every flared pipe connection I've had to pick the thread tape out of, or a parallel thread o-ring seal packed with thread tape, I'd be a rich man. Most people seem to just say "if it leaks, wind some tape around it and tighten 'er up".

I'll bet your examples are put together by people who have a clue. Most people don't.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
If used properly how its getting in the tool from the threads? In 45 years I have yet to find any tape in an air tool.


I don't know, he came up with a lot of stuff I didn't quite agree with. He's [censored] good at what he does though, so nobody is going to argue with him, except me. lol I've never been one to do something that someone wants me to unless you can backup and explain your reasons behind it. That's probably it though, he makes a living fixing stuff that stupid people messed up.
 
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As Brad C said people probably wind the tape on the wrong way or cover the end of the fitting leaving tape to go up into the motor. If you leave the first one or two threads blank and wind in the direction of thread you will never have a problem.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
As Brad C said people probably wind the tape on the wrong way or cover the end of the fitting leaving tape to go up into the motor. If you leave the first one or two threads blank and wind in the direction of thread you will never have a problem.


Good point. I have taken plumbing apart, faucets and valves that other people worked on, only to find the tape was wound on in the wrong direction, bunched up and a mess. Sometimes it finds its way into the stream of the water, which eventually breaks loose. In an air tool that could pose a problem. Tape works fine if it is put on right.
 
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