A Word to the Unwary

[DaveyG]

It is not a good idea to apply WD40 to your watch :thumbs_down:

 

[EdinKali]

Yikes!

 

[flynwill]

Is that green corrosion (copper oxides), or just some sort of residue? If it is corrosion I'm at a loss to see how it could have been caused by WD-40.

 

[Kevin W.]

I had a watch that had wd on it, but did not have the green on it. I am thinking maybe this was a Duncan Swish job.

 

[karlmansson]

Doesn't WD-40 have a green tint? That's residue right? Right...?

 

[everydaycats]

Very sad. Not sure if WD caused this, but still very sad. I hope it can be re-lived.

 

[DaveyG]

I can tell, instantly by the smell that it is WD40 - and I have seen several clock movements in a similar or worse state when the owner has admitted to using WD40 spray. WD40 reacts in some way with the brass, maybe even with the gilding I'm not sure about that, and you're quite right Karl, it is a waxy sort of residue and doesn't do significant damage - it just clogs up the watch, it's a PIA to get off and cleaning consumes a great deal of cleaning fluid and time. I started this at 10.00am today and it has just been through the cleaner for the first time. You will note that it hasn't affected the steel parts.

 

[psfred]

Solo-lube, one of those "better ideas" that wasn't. Makes a horrible mess.

WD-40 turns into gel, which is very hard to remove. I use methylene chloride (paint stripper) in really bad cases, but you have to be careful with pallets and balances. I had to use a razor blade to separate a fourth wheel from the bridge on the very first watch I worked on.

Solo-lube and various other "one step clean and lube" products tend to be corrosive, leaving hard green crud behind, although I didn't find much pitting, etc. Very hard to get loose.

My friend the typewriter repairman hated the spray "clean and lube" too, for the same reasons. Oiled surfaces collect dust, and dust does bad things to typewriters just like it does to watches.


Peter

 

[DaveyG]

Exactly so Peter. I was able to remove the accessible crud here with cotton buds dipped in MEK and the rest has come off in the cleaner. The balance is a bit of a worry as there does seem to be pitting there. I'll be looking at the chrono parts today where it is principally the wheels that are affected.

It has always been my understanding that WD40 is not primarily a lubricant but is in fact a protective (PX24 mil spec) coating, the WD stands for Water Displacement and in point of fact the solvents used as carriers destroy existing lubricants. PX24 has been determined as the direct cause of at least one aircraft loss in the RAF.

 

[karlmansson]

How... That's something... Don't suppose there are some special cleaning solution that would be extra effective agains this residue?

 

[karlmansson]

I read someplace that WD-40 is, as it was developed, a rust protection for long range missiles while kept in their silos.
Water Detergent 40, and that's because it took them 40 tries to get it right .

So yeah, primarily not lubricant. We have a similar product in Sweden called 556. It has a reputation almost as bad but it does come in handy! It's great for nuts and screws that are stuck because of it's capillary action and ability to, if not dissolve, then at least loosen rust.

 

[GeneJockey]

I read someplace that WD-40 is, as it was developed, a rust protection for long range missiles while kept in their silos.
Water Detergent 40, and that's because it took them 40 tries to get it right .

So yeah, primarily not lubricant. We have a similar product in Sweden called 556. It has a reputation almost as bad but it does come in handy! It's great for nuts and screws that are stuck because of it's capillary action and ability to, if not dissolve, then at least loosen rust.

I've heard it's Water DISPLACEMENT 40, so if you think about it it has properties that are the diametric opposite of what you want in watch oil - it's designed NOT to stay where you put it, and because it's thin enough to creep, it also has to have some kind of light solvent that evaporates, leaving the crud behind.

Yeesh!

 

[Hawk53]

Here's a 1960 ad for WD-40. Let your imagination, and humor go wild!!!

 

[David S]

The only thing I have found WD 40 useful for is as a cutting fluid for aluminum.

 

[Tom Huber]

Love it. Whatever happened to good old fashioned advertising?

Tom

Here's a 1960 ad for WD-40. Let your imagination, and humor go wild!!!

 

[Neuron]

Here's a 1960 ad for WD-40. Let your imagination, and humor go wild!!!

Wonderful! "Makes screwing a pleasure..." no less! Around the same time the Ridge Tool Co. (maker of Ridgid plumbing tools) distributed promotional calendars and that pictured scantily clad gals, often suggestively holding a large pipe wrench...along with the phrase, "I really love a Ridgid tool." Maybe the fact that the tool's name was spelled "Ridgid" and not "Rigid" allowed them to escape censorship...but public mores were starting to loosen up anyhow.

 

[LarFure]

I can tell, instantly by the smell that it is WD40 - and I have seen several clock movements in a similar or worse state when the owner has admitted to using WD40 spray. WD40 reacts in some way with the brass, maybe even with the gilding I'm not sure about that, and you're quite right Karl, it is a waxy sort of residue and doesn't do significant damage - it just clogs up the watch, it's a PIA to get off and cleaning consumes a great deal of cleaning fluid and time. I started this at 10.00am today and it has just been through the cleaner for the first time. You will note that it hasn't affected the steel parts.

Have you tried good old soap and warm water to remove the WE-40? After you get the crud off you can clean the parts with watch cleaning solution and rinse.

 

[DaveyG]

Have you tried good old soap and warm water to remove the WE-40?

Good thought and I guess it would emulsify the crud - but for some reason I have a phobia about using water on watches - yep, I know it's irrational but .............

The MEK did a fine job but it has still gone through the cleaner/rinse 3 times. It does appear that, where the residue was present in spades, there has been some damage to the gilding, but not life threatening. The steel parts cleaned up good as new. The nickel case was pretty gungy as well but that cleaned up in the cleaning fluid that was spent, just before it got consigned to the waste barrel.

Neuron, I love it. Takes me back a few years to when the RAF Search & Rescue boys all wore badges and had them stuck on their windscreens - 'Happiness is a Big Yellow Chopper'. Ahhh - those were the days.

 

[Bill Stuntz]

Don't you guys know that there are only 2 tools required to fix ANYTHING?
If it moves and isn't supposed to - Duct tape.
If it doesn't move and it IS supposed to - WD-40.

 

[kirxklox]

A can of carburetor cleaner and then move to an old batch of watch cleaning solution. wd40 destroys the cleaning solution.

 

[Larry Treiman]

Wonderful! "Makes screwing a pleasure..." no less! Around the same time the Ridge Tool Co. (maker of Ridgid plumbing tools) distributed promotional calendars and that pictured scantily clad gals, often suggestively holding a large pipe wrench...along with the phrase, "I really love a Ridgid tool." Maybe the fact that the tool's name was spelled "Ridgid" and not "Rigid" allowed them to escape censorship...but public mores were starting to loosen up anyhow.

My father had a small hardware store from the mid-1950s up to the early 1980s, and he sold both WD-40 and Ridgid plumbing tools. While I was a student (high school and UCLA undergrad and grad student) I helped him out in the store in the late '50s and '60s, and was familiar with WD-40 and their advertising and the Ridge Tool Co. calendars.

I don't remember seeing ANY suggestive WD-40 advertising at any time and I'm SURE I would have remembered seeing anything like the ad that Hawk53 posted in his post #13, and would have saved it if I had seen it! That certainly does not seem like anything that would have appeared in any mainstream publication, but perhaps in some ribald humor publication Hawk, can you mention where it appeared?

Neuron, as for the Ridge Tool Co. calendars, I think you perhaps have let your imagination....or your memory.....run a little wild. The photos were tastefully done by the late Peter Gowland, a true artist in the field of pin-up photography. There was nothing particularly sexy about the tools that were included as props in the main photos, unless you consider such things as pipe threaders, pipe cutters, a large plastic jug of pipe threading oil, and even a few Ridgid-pattern pipe wrenches, to be erotica!

I just dug out a couple of the calendars that I had saved from the mid-1970s, and there were absolutely NO suggestive phrases anywhere in the calendar, either such as the one you quoted, or anything of the sort! Again, I can assure you that if there had been any suggestive phrases in any of the numerous Ridgid calendars that I enjoyed looking at over the years, I think I would have noticed! <];>)


Larry "Always Watchful" Treiman

 

[DaveyG]

If it moves and isn't supposed to - Duct tape.
If it doesn't move and it IS supposed to - WD-40.

Bill, I don't think either of those solutions will work - well not for long anyway

 

[ANDY YALE]

WD 40 and Liquid Wrench as well are rust penetrants, not lubricants. An old timer told me some years back that they would cause rust and corrosion if left in place and that they displaced any oil already present.
I use PB Blaster as a penetrant, then remove it in benzine. I don't believe PB is as problematic.

 

[richiec]

PB Blaster, WD-40 and Liquid Wrench have specific purposes, penetrate rusty fasteners and loosen them up, they have no lubricating value at all as they all evaporate quickly. I found that you had to keep spraying them on as you unbolted the parts to get any lubrication out of them. Of all of them, PB Blaster worked the best to loosen rusted fasteners but only came on the market in the last 20 years I believe, before that it was Liquid Wrench or WD-40.

 

[DaveyG]

It lives and breathes albeit with some dull patches on the gilding.

BTW Richie, WD40 is not a penetrating oil so, whilst it might function to loosen locked threads, it is primarily a water displacing inhibitor/protective.

 

[restomod]

BTW Richie, WD40 is not a penetrating oil so, whilst it might function to loosen locked threads, it is primarily a water displacing inhibitor/protective.

Quite true. It's actually a poor choice for loosening stubborn threads. It's a good coating for steel parts to prevent surface rust, particularly if they have to be cleaned quickly, as it leaves little or no residue with a quick wipe. Better yet, dip the part in a fast flashing solvent like naptha or acetone to completely remove it, without contaminating the solvent the way an oil coating would.

 

[Hawk53]

Larry, I have no idea if the ad is real or not. A friend sent it to me in a email, and after a quick search I found the same image all over the internet including a copy that was sent to the WD40 facebook page where all the company could say was "AWESOME".

 

[Al J]

Nice job getting it sorted. WD40 is evil stuff - I don't run across it often thankfully, but a while back had this Panerai in (with a modified ETA 7750 movement) that had been sprayed liberally with it...as noted the smell is instantly recognized...



It was swimming in the stuff - but the problems with the watch were not limited to the WD40 though - as you can see here the cap jewel was not seated, and note the balance spring is snapped off near the stud - debris and fibers all though the movement as well:



Some shots showing the WD40 through the movement:







The reversing wheel had just a tiny bit of wear on it...LOL! New one on the left for comparison:



Ticking again:



Happy with the timing results:



Had to replace the rotor bearing:



Also refinished the case - came out pretty good in the end:



Often the most difficult aspect of watch repair is fixing the damage done by other people who attempted to repair it before me. I'm sure my experience in that regard is not uncommon.

Cheers, Al

 

[Neuron]

My father had a small hardware store from the mid-1950s up to the early 1980s, and he sold both WD-40 and Ridgid plumbing tools. While I was a student (high school and UCLA undergrad and grad student) I helped him out in the store in the late '50s and '60s, and was familiar with WD-40 and their advertising and the Ridge Tool Co. calendars...

Neuron, as for the Ridge Tool Co. calendars, I think you perhaps have let your imagination....or your memory.....run a little wild. The photos were tastefully done by the late Peter Gowland, a true artist in the field of pin-up photography. There was nothing particularly sexy about the tools that were included as props in the main photos, unless you consider such things as pipe threaders, pipe cutters, a large plastic jug of pipe threading oil, and even a few Ridgid-pattern pipe wrenches, to be erotica!

I just dug out a couple of the calendars that I had saved from the mid-1970s, and there were absolutely NO suggestive phrases anywhere in the calendar, either such as the one you quoted, or anything of the sort! Again, I can assure you that if there had been any suggestive phrases in any of the numerous Ridgid calendars that I enjoyed looking at over the years, I think I would have noticed! <];>)


Larry "Always Watchful" Treiman

Larry,

The pin-up girl calendars I recall were from the 1960's, and there were also a couple of posters (without calendars). I agree that they were "tastefully" posed and not hard-core pornography. Some of them had the wording "I really love a Ridgid tool," which was certainly meant to be a double entendre. They included gals posing with large pipe wrenches and other tools (I recall one with a large pipe threader). I saw these in a plumbing supply shop when I was in college in the 70's and working as a plumber to pay may way through college (that's another story). Folks can find plenty of images of these Ridgid ads on the internet (just Google "I really love a Ridgid tool" and see what comes up...

As regards the WD-40 "advertisement," I agree it's hard to believe such an ad appeared in a "mainstream" ad.

 

[restomod]

The reversing wheel had just a tiny bit of wear on it...LOL! New one on the left for comparison:

Is that wear due to lack of routine servicing? Or do these parts wear out that much over time?

 

[Al J]

Is that wear due to lack of routine servicing? Or do these parts wear out that much over time?

It's not uncommon to see pivots worn on reversing wheels, but I can't recall ever seeing the teeth worn down on one to the extent this one is. I suspect the watch had never been serviced since new, other than someone spraying WD40 inside and poking around enough to break some stuff.

Cheers, Al