Winterising tools

[500e]

Ensis & ACF50, WD40

 

[ronan]

A lot of the problem is your own breath, we dampen the air ourselves while we work. Aldi/lidl were doing a dehumidifier for a reasonable price reasonably.

 

[reedx]

ACF50 for me too. Used on my motorcycles to good effect. I had condensation problems in the garage, but a quick wipe over exposed metal machine parts with a cloth soaked in ACF50 has eliminated the problem.

Colin

 

[Nick67GT]

+1 for Shell Ensis.

When I was in the aerospace industry, we used it to protect fuel and re-heat systems during prolonged storage and/or transit to customer stores. Never an issue with corrosion.

 

[colnerov]

Hi, The mention of aerosol chain lube makes me remember and smile. Back in the early 70s I went into our local bearing shop and the sales assistant was demonstrating and extolling its virtues to a customer, he went to spray it into his hand but unfortunately the nozzle wasn't pointing the way he thought and the stream went straight in the customers eye. Much astonishment and apologising the sales assistant put it back on the shelf and said "I'm guessing there's no point going any further trying to sell it now"

Colin

 

[Gareth J]

Where's damp air getting in Andy. Sounds like you need to walk round with a cuppa in one hand and a big tin of expanding foam inthe other. You only have to do it once

Doing this has made a massive difference to my shed. Basically sealed all the gaps around the ridges of the box profile tinwork. If you're living somewhere that blows humid air inside, sealing that space up helps. I left the roof ridge as a token to keeping some ventilation in place, plus, the airflow up there should almost all be up and out if the building, rather than inside.

"Night storage heaters" inside or underneath the machines?

Don't have to be actual night storage heaters, these are ok,
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=291768520626&alt=web

They're sort of self regulating but I've not seen one with a sensibly low temperature so you could wire in a thermostat too.

I keep a 60w one inside a summertime "toy" car. Keeps the chill/damp off and I think would be a sensible rating for a bit of machinery.

 

[GW8IZR]

I spray stuff I'm not likely to use with 3m cavity wax or Dinitrol .. just make sure I do it before the end of summer.

The lathe and mill etc are in reasonably constant use so I want something I can just lash on and wipe off before use, so I have a bit of GP motor oil in a can and a paint brush.

I used to have a massive pot of points grease dating back to the early eighties made by Shell, I cant remember its name but I used to use that on almost everything. Sadly ran out a few years back.

Anything with dissimilar metals gets a squirt of ACF50 and that includes some bits of the Landy and the mowers strimmers chainsaws etc... hmm thats an overdue job :-(

 

[brewdexta]

I think AC50 and Bilt Hamber Dynax UC are very similar. I did nearly buy some AC50 a while ago, maybe I shall get some and try it out.

The whole building is pretty well sealed, the only place there are gaps are between the concrete floor on the 1st floor and the panels. It's about 50mm all the way around. This I have filled with Kingspan and cowboy foam then covered in ply where needed. There will be a the odd seam that leaks a little, but only a bit.

The reason it was so bad last year was that some of the roof screws on the kingspan insulated tin roof were loose and i had about 8 leaks of various sizes. I got the roofing guy back to fix them and now I have only two very small weeps when it is really persisting it down, I'll probably have to climb up there and replace the screws and the neoprene washers, he left me some spares. You can't tighten them up too much as it deforms the outer sheet as its insulation filled and makes it worse. I'll probably load the hole with some silicon sealer to make sure.

Next year I will be partitioning the 20m x 6m space into two and will heat the one with the main tools in with a pellet boiler set to kick in probably around 6c or thereabouts. That will make it just about bearable to work in. However, with a pellet boiler you need ventilation ........... I think I may be able to pipe that direct to the boiler or close by.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Dissolve bee's wax into white spirit.

You want it thick as cream, single or double your choice. no never low fat.

Brush it on, or wipe it on.

It last for a long time and will take a polish.

Did a friends lathe 3 years ago and still going good.

 

[wristpin]

50 / 50 mix of Duck oil and sae 90 oil or Morris Ankor wax.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Back when I was greenkeeping, we used to have certain [expensive] chemicals which had to be protected from frost, along with the shed water supply [a pipe up from the floor with a tap on the end.....].

I sourced an old wardrobe, stuck the chemicals in it and spread a couple of these around in the base - worked a treat and cheap to run too. The water pipe got wrapped in them and never froze, even at -15 degrees.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reptile-Vivarium-Propagator-Heat-Cables/dp/B002P1K37M

 

[rtbcomp]

^^ We used similar heating cable on a mink farm I worked. Each cage had a watering valve and we passed the cable down the pipes connected to these valves.

 

[Shox Dr]

Have you tried a Dehumidifier?

You may find once it's on top of the job, it doesn't need to run much. Not only will it rid it of damp, iy will feel warmer.

I've got one you can have, it needs a new brain. @£35. Or a 1 or 2 PIDs could replace it. You could refine it so the fan ran at set times, circulating air so damp air doesn't pool corners.

 

[roofman]

Use is a good rust remover Andy

 

[brewdexta]

Thanks for the offer Dave, I tried a dehumidifier, I couldn't keep up with the tank filling up so piped it outside. I had a cheapo weather station with humidity do dah on it, it hardly moved downwards after several days. The dehumidifier has an auto facility, it never turned itself off. I tried it on a mates damp cellar after recent floods and it did the business so I don't think its the dehumidifier at fault.

 

[ronan]

I remember being in a basement in a power station where a pipe had burst and the engineers were trying to get all the moisture out. Theyy had industrial heaters going to get the moisture in the air so the dehumidifiers could take care of it, the heat was unbelieveable.

 

[awemawson]

When I moved workshops and had to store all my lathes etc in an open barn for a year I sprayed them liberally with Shell Ensis and it worked a treat. Brilliant stuff and btw used by the military. Will keep bare steel rust free outside for a year. One or two places that I missed with the spray rusted quite badly but that was my fault. Cleans up easily with white spirit.

I now keep a spray bottle of 50:50 Enis and white spirit on my bench, and any equipment that can't be painted and is in out of the way places gets drenched before assembly.

 

[brewdexta]

There's a few different versions of Shell Ensis ranging from 80 to 160 quid for 20L from the same suppliers. Any particular version better than others? I could read the product sheets but I'm being lazy

 

[mangocrazy]

Another vote for ACF-50 here. If it can stop corrosion on a motorbike used over winter it's good enough for me.

 

[addjunkie]

Anything oil based is better than nothing. I use the cheapest old fashioned motor oil i can get, the stuff i use in my oil can, liberally applied with a brush. Each time i use them or when i remember i give it a quick top up. Then a dust sheet over the top. My shed is unheated wood but not too bad. In the metal tool box i use silica gel sachets in each dawer.

Acf 50 on the bike i use in winter, again the bikes live under duest sheets. Though i dont use the bikes much winter or summer these days.