Freeze-Off Super Penetrant (by CRC)

[larry/Texas]

I found a new (to me) product at NAPA called Freeze-Off to help in unscrewing rusted bolts/nuts. It freezes & cracks rust. It has worked on almost everything I have tried it on. It is in an 11.5 Oz spray can for less than $5.00. Holpe this may help someone out there.

[ken ct]

I'll have to try some,sounds great thanks. ken ct.

[Henry/Kokomo]

Many thanks for the tip!

[29AVEE8]

Just posted this on the H.A.M.B. in reference to a penetrating oil thread.
Ok. I have been working on pulling some flathead studs for several months. Have been using my usual favorite Kroil as well as anything else I can find, and believe me I have tried them all and have always found Kroil to be the best. Well I have been working on one for several weeks and it is in there, probably since 1946, and it wont budge at 87 Ft/Lbs. I find they fracture at 85-90 so I try to stay away from 90. After seeing Don's recommendation for CRC- Freeze Off I thought I would try it. Applied it exactly as directed and the stud just laughed at me, tried again... same, tried a third time no good so I am ready to proclaim this stuff as "Snake Oil". Take a break pour a Black Label and soda.... Ill keep trying it till I run out the can. Fourth try and guess what? It started to move and came out intact and the block threads are perfect. This stuff worked for me on something I thought was going to take a torch or worse. Thanks for recommending this Don I am very pleased.

[ken ct]

Must have been the Black Label and soda. lol ken ct.

[Pete]

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Originally Posted by larry/Texas

I found a new (to me) product at NAPA called Freeze-Off to help in unscrewing rusted bolts/nuts. It freezes & cracks rust. It has worked on almost everything I have tried it on. It is in an 11.5 Oz spray can for less than $5.00. Holpe this may help someone out there.

Radio parts supply houses have it also.
It is used for trouble shooting printed circuit boards.

[Mike B]

The principle is sound...just the opposite of heating things up.

Heck, cost me a buck or two to light the torch, this might be a better alternative

[Talkwrench]

Im sure there is a similar product called "nut cracker" my brother has given me a few cans over the years, seems to work ok. Think its from the U.S.?

[Capn John]

Oil Machinist’s Workshop Magazine recently did a test to determine which brand of penetrating oil worked best on rusty bolt / nut combinations. They scientifically rusted the threads on a group of nut/bolt combinations then measured the torque it took to remove the nuts after they had been soaked with various penetrants.
Here are the results….
No Penetrant 516 pounds
WD-40 238 pounds
PB Blaster 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench 127 pounds
Kano Kroil 106 pounds
ATF / Acetone 53 pounds

The ATF / Acetone is a homemade machinist’s recipe that has been around for more than sixty years. It is made up of fifty percent Automatic Transmission Fluid and Acetone (acetone… you can buy at any local hardware store). The ATF/Acetone mix proved to be the most effective by far and costs the least amount per use. It was also interesting to note that the Liquid Wrench brand worked almost as good as the Kroil brand which costs about 20 percent more.

NOTE: The acetone dissipates if not held in a tightly closed container!!!

I put this information here because… if you are like me… you have tried most of these brands at one time or another and some seemed to work better than others… but there was no real proof…till now.
It also gives you greater respect for those early day machinists who after much trial and error figured out a simple penetrant recipe that works better than anything available today. If you ever wondered what they used before products like WD-40 and Liquid Wrench were available…now you know

Enter various times as earlier post.

[Big Red 51]

Here is whats in it, per NAPA;
Product Name:
Freeze-Off
®
Super Penetrant
(Aerosol)
Product Number (s):
05002, 05002-6
Page 2 of 6
Section 3: Composition/Information on Ingredients
COMPONENT CAS NUMBER % by Wt.
Aliphatic hydrocarbon 8052-41-3 10 - 15
Hydrotreated petroleum distillates
64742-47-8 /
64742-46-7
5 - 20
Turpentine oil 8006-64-2 3 - 6
COzol® 306 proprietary blend 3 - 6
2-Butoxyethanol 111-76-2 2 - 3
Diacetone alcohol 123-42-2 1 - 3
1,1-Difluoroethane (HFC-152a) 75-37-6 45 - 55

Don

[whizzernick]

Has anyone tried the heat ( both nut & bolt must be red ) and then cool off with water ?

[rotorwrench]

Looks like it is basically solvent and a light oil. Autotrans fluid and acetone is also light oil with a solvent. The chilling factor would be the difference in the way a penetrant works.

Heating until above the boiling point and imediately chilling with cold water can sometimes break a hard bond but many situations differ in corrosion or locking compounds. Not any one penetrant will do all situations. A good example is where a fastener protrudes though into a void that corroded badly inside with no access to clean the corrosion off. It leaves a knob of corrosion on the tip of a fastener that is nearly impossible to affect with a penetrant or heat.

[36tbird]

What about the heating then melting wax technique? I haven't tried that one yet but it was going to be next in my arsenal.

[hardtimes]

Hey CapnJohn,
Thanks for posting this info, as evidence is nice. I've used all stuff mentioned and a combination thereof when positive results were not immediately seen. I have a whole shelf of this gunk junk. I'm thinking that using the acetone/ATF with quenching is almost best resort. NOTE: I've found that using this mix AND bumping vigerously time to time with impact wrench works. I guess it facilitates better/quicker penetration ?

[Mike51Merc]

It's an opposite-torch! or an anti-torch!

Instead of heating and expanding the metal, this one cools and shrinks the metal. Either way, the bonds of the corrosion get broken up by the movement of the metal.

[Truckedup]

I have tried most every brand of penetrating oil including Kroil.....None of them work very well on anything but the slightest rust.