So ever since the start its been a challenge to fix all the leaks. i managed to find the audible ones and fixed them. but im still loosing psi over the long run. so today i did the spray bottle with soapy water trick and found leaks on alot of fitting that are sooo small it almost seems worthless to remove it and re-wrap it in teflon. do you guys have this same problem or is there a product, which im sure there has to be, that expands to create a true air tight seal?
If you go through the trouble of removing the fittings, don’t use tape.
Loctite 545 is the ticket. I’ve been using it on my new setup because people swear by it. Some of my fittings always leaked with teflon tape.
Did on loctite…but there is no such thing as leakless system…
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My system is leakless until night time if it drops down real cold. Then at that point it may loose 5 psi, but then during the day when it warms back up a little i gain the lost psi back, and sometimes plus…
I took my whole system apart and used loctite 545 on every fitting! And i didnt just do a couple drops … I put it on every thread, tightened it up and wiped off the excess.
Using this method i found i can seal up fittings and use them as soon as they are tightened. No waiting for it to dry.
I would never use teflon on an air system again.
I have even changed out all my quick connects on my air tools (nailers, impacts , grinders…etc)
In my garage i have a 17 gallon tank hooked up to a 6 gallon pancake compressor so i have a nice reserve. Since day 1 i got the pancake it had a slight leak. Now that i took everything apart and used loctite 545, it holds 135 psi for easily a few weeks if i dont use the air.
^^^ that’s exactly what I want to hear.
I have been filling up the 1st three male threads, which usually makes it squeeze out some.
There are so many fittings on my new setup that I’m worried about leaks too.
Yea i over did it with mine wasting a lot , but i was tired of chasing leaks.
I tried teflon tape, and even the plumbers paste with teflon in it which is supposed to be fool proof. It works great until it gets cold, then the smallest of pin leaks will loose half a tank over night.
545 all the way!
545 is the way to go! No leaks here!
J.Wal
what is the difference between loctite 592 and loctite 545
592 just says thread sealant.
545 says Hydraulic/Pneumatic thread sealant…
With all the great reviews on the 545, and for me a excellent experience with it whenever used, i wouldnt even gamble using something else.
Same here. I could not find loctite 545 anywhere in town and didn’t want to risk something in the permatex brand. Even online it’s kind of expensive, but hopefully worth it.
Grainger had it… I originally thought it could be had at home depot / lowes… Not!
When i was installing my setup i was on vacation and had no choice but to go to grainger and spend 4x what i could have got it for online… but it was worth it now that i know it works.
Buy it on ebay… or probably even amazon… much cheaper.
I use a product made by Swagelok called swak…I get it from work but I think it is similar to the loctite stuff. Its what we use when nothing else will hold.
Same here - bought from Shoplet.com through Amazon.
10ml bottle was about 17 bucks with shipping.
Their stock was fresh enough as the exp date was 18 months away.
I just learned you’re supposed to shake the stuff before using.:o Hope my first round of fittings are ok.
DOH!
They should be fine… if the stuff was real old and settled you might have an issue but since it has an exp far away, i wouldnt worry.
guys are not going to believe this but Teflon tape worked for me. Tanks sat weeks with pressure in them, dropped 1 Psi. seem like almost no matter what Air is going to find a way out somewhere, I just not worry about it and be happy I have Air compressors which do the job of replacing the lost Psi. Of course when I hear a Hiss sound I definitely take a good look at my air fittings and tanks!
^Teflon worked for my brothers when I hooked it up. As for mine, not so much. nor do I care enough to fix it haha- Ill get to it one of these days.
Teflon tape failed me so I used this stuff. It sounds similar to the Loctite. http://www.permatex.com/products/Automotive/thread_compounds/a_thread_sealants/auto_Permatex_Thread_Sealant_with_PTFE.htm
I haven’t had any problems since.
I did teflon on my first tank and it leaked like crazy. When I upgraded from 5 gallons to 8.5, I used Loctite 545 and the difference was like night and day.
I also found using the 1/2 NPT tap and chasing the threads on the tank really helped to get the Loctite to set better as there was more paint than I thought from the tank being painted that was in the threads.
-Kris
I just posted this in another thread, but the Permatex equivalent to Loctite 545 is: