TOOLS AND THE SHOP > GENERAL TOOL AND MACHINE DISCUSSION

What makes JAFE JUICE work so well?

<< < (2/7) > >>

bonneyman:
I didn't know about the acetone/PSF mix - guess I'll have to do some research on power steering fluid and see what comes up. What follows is about the commonly used acetone/ATF mixture.

The acetone component:
Acetone is a good solvent. The molecule has both polar and non-polar "parts" in it, so it can dissolve both kinds of materials. I've read in one of my old chemistry books that acetone is as close to a universal solvent that there is.
It is the cheapest solvent available in large quantities, and it is rated fairly low on toxicity. In fact, it is a naturally occurring chemical, and is even found in the human body in very small amounts. It can be mixed with water for use as a cleaner, and when used it cleans without leaving any residue or film behind.

All of these qualities show why acetone is used in the mix. Grease and varnish and resinous oils can be dissolved readily, so a gunked up ratchet or stuck carbonized bolt can be loosened with it.

bonneyman:
The ATF (automatic transmission fluid) component:

Originally, automatic transmissions used whale oil (also known as sperm oil) as their main ingredient. Sperm oil was a product of the whaling industry, being used in lanterns that burned with no smoke. A component of the sperm oil was used to make candles that burned very cleanly with no smoke. Back in the day this alone made it a sought-after commodity.
https://www.scran.ac.uk/packs/exhibitions/learning_materials/webs/40/lubricants.htm

Sperm oil was found to be a very good lubricant. As the machinery age bloomed the demand for such a high quality lubricating oil increased. It has a very low freezing point (finding it's way into use in the space program!)
https://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/whale-oil-as-space-lubricant-better-than-anything-we-can-create.html

In fact, it was used in a wide variety of machine uses, as no other known lubricant could be found to improve on it's characteristics.
http://www.petroleumhistory.org/OilHistory/pages/Whale/oil_uses.html

So when the automotive industry needed a fluid to operate and lubricate their transmissions, whale oil was the lube of choice! It was very stable, had great lubricity, was non-reactive to car parts, and thermally resistant. So long as the temperature was kept below 175 deg F, it was the best solution around. Though there were alternatives for most of the other whale products, the oil was just so good it persisted into the 20th century.
With the increase in the number of cars, however, the demand for sperm oil rose to the point that the whale population started to decline precipitously. With whaling being largely banned in 1973, engineers had to come up with a synthetic alternative. Transmissions were also being tasked with working under higher temperatures, so another oil had to be found. (Even so, most modern fluids must be kept cooler than 200 deg F. Transmission fluid coolers are very common on cars now, and any water coolant leak means one should probably change their ATF, as hotter temperatures just scorch the fluid).

It's this petrochemical research necessitated by a need to replace sperm oil that led to the modern ATF.

bonneyman:
Modern ATF is a mixture of highly refined components, each designed to add its specific property to the mix. I would say that of all the chemicals used in an automobile, the automatic transmission fluid is the most complex.

Most companies are highly reluctant to share their "proprietary" compositions, as evidenced by these SDS's.
https://www.grovesindustrial.com/msds/ILU_TRANS.pdf
https://www.onboces.org/cms/lib/NY02216875/Centricity/Shared/MSDS%20K_List/Kendall%20Dexron%20Mercon%20ATF.pdf
They either don't tell you what's in it, or basically do a "data dump" of every possible oil it COULD be so as to avoid listing what is actually in it. Really helpful to say a poison control center, don't you think? Though, when you've read as many SDS's as I have, you see trends and learn characteristics, and can whittle down the probable list of suspects.

AMSOIL's synthetic ATF looks like it has some serious silicones in there.
https://www.amsoil.com/msds/atf.pdf

This last one, a licensed Dexron 3 type, sheds some light on what we're after.
https://www.tetconnect.com/images/stories/virtuemart/documents/XPF001_SDS.pdf

Though not listing the main carrier oil, it lists a light naphthenic mixture (very good solvency and oxidation resistance) with DMSO (a penetrant), as well as an alcohol and toluene (solvents). The DMSO component is intriguing.

DMSO (dimethylsulfoxide) is a by-product of the wood industry. It has the uncanny ability to penetrate microscopic openings, carrying in with it whatever it's mixed with. Used straight, it's a good liniment. (I remember reading while in the military that nerve agents were mixed with DMSO to increase their "effectiveness"). This allows the ATF to penetrate the smallest crevices - even the smallest pores in the metal itself - of the inner transmission parts, keeping them lubricated with a film boundary to reduce wear. So, in our JAFE Juice mix, the ATF helps with penetrating into stuck mechanisms, and the superb lubrication base oil carried in by the DMSO helps us to slide things apart.

bonneyman:
So there you have it! The acetone dissolves almost all varnish, grease, gunk and grime, so the ATF can penetrate through the tiniest cracks and openings, and then a slippery oil can get in there and let us disassemble things.

About the only unsafe thing I can see is wear quality nitrile rubber gloves, as the DMSO  - though a very small component - can penetrate your skin and bring with it some of the other components. Even so, wash you hands thoroughly after using it.

Matt_T:

--- Quote from: goodfellow on December 20, 2018, 09:36:32 PM ---Kroil and PB blaster led the commercial product results,
--- End quote ---

For commercial Kroil was best with Liquid Wrench a close second. P'Blaster came in a distant third just ahead of WD-40.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page