WD 40 warning.

gad · Post by **gad** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:11 am

Be sure to keep WD40 way far from the limbs. The WD40 is a great stuff, but its corrosive on any kind of plastics, including limbs.

gad · Post by **gad** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:14 am

Sorry.

It was to be posted on this thread:

http://www.excaliburcrossbow.com/phpBB2 ... hp?t=24353

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 8:48 am

gad,
Could you give us some details????
Did it damage the limbs on your bow????
I've used WD-40 by spraying it in the claw/trigger area on my bows(s) and never had any problem from it getting on the stock.

Cossack · Post by **Cossack** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 9:16 am

It may not be much of a lubricant but it's one heck of a fire starter. Just spray through a flame (CAREFULLY). I only use it for short term application on rusty bolts, etc.

brokebow · Post by **brokebow** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 10:46 am

I have used WD40 for years and never had it hurt a thing. You know that it is fish oil. Yes fish oil that is why people use it on fishing lures,and just about every thing you can imagine. I might have been something else mixed with WD40 that made this defect. Jerry

gad · Post by **gad** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:05 pm

Wabi,

Sure I had always the habit of not soaking the limbs of my bows and xbows with wd40. I do use the wd40 to avoid the rust, but only on the bolts. Of course there is no reason to lubricate the limbs, so any wd40 that accidentally I shot on the plastic parts of my bow,including limbs, I dry imediatilly.

I had experience with the wd40 making other plastic and rubber easily broken and loose elasticity. I used wd40 on the threads of the tail cap of my mag flashlight and the o-ring that seals it have become completelly melted and destroyed. Try it on a rubber band, and you will see it dissolves it on some days.

So I am sure in the long term, if someone soaks the limbs in penetrating oil formula (any one, wd40 and others) would for sure, help to reduce the limb life and even helping weaken them. Limbs are a combination of a plastic resin and fiber. Limbs always have micro cracks, wich of them would absorb this kind of oil.

Its just a warning base on my own experience. Wd40 is great stuff, away from plastic parts.

awshucks · Post by **awshucks** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 3:59 pm

Destroys the rubber coating on 'BSA' scopes and is worthless in m/l bores for storage for any length of time. I used to use it a lot more until I discovered "Tri-Flow". Good Stuff.

scratcherky · Post by **scratcherky** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 4:57 pm

WD40 has essencially no lubricating properties.

Pydpiper · Post by **Pydpiper** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 5:07 pm

Someone close to me inherited a big pile of guns, he didn't have the time to store them all correctly so he sprayed them down with WD-40 before a long term storage(6 months). They all came out covered in a hard casing that resembled cracking varnish.
I was a big fan of the stuff until I cleaned each and every gun. I was thinking it just had a bad reaction to the oil already on the guns. Every time I hear the word WD-40 I cringe thinking about that poor Savage O/U that took almost two days to get the crispy coating off of.

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 5:38 pm

Pydpiper wrote: Every time I hear the word WD-40 I cringe thinking about that poor Savage O/U that took almost two days to get the crispy coating off of.

Crispy coating, huh?

Hmmm ...

Wonder if it would work on chicken?

Maybe that's the Colonel's "secret"!

Long Trang · Post by **Long Trang** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 9:53 pm

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 10:38 pm

Seems like people either love, or hate WD-40

I'll admit I'm a lover.

I can see that it would very easily cause problems if used improperly or carelessly.
I'm not saying gad was dumb or careless, perhaps misinformed as to it's qualities, though. Please do not read this as any criticism!!!!!!!

I used WD-40 on my guns for years with no big problems, but as better lubricants/protectants became available I switched my methods. I never really long-term store my guns, I shoot them if I own them!

Today I use WD-40 as a cleaner/moisture remover. For example, with my muzzleloaders I always clean with water, then use WD-40 to remove any traces of water left in the bore - then wipe it out and use RemOil for protection against rust.
On the crossbow, if I hunt in the rain I dry it as best I can with towels and compressed air, then spray the claw/trigger area with WD-40. Then I use compressed air to remove as much WD-40 (and any remaining moisture) and wipe the bow down with a towel. Then a spray of RemOil in the claw/trigger area and compressed air again to remove any excess. The bolt & screw heads get a wipe with my gun oil pad (a sheepskin pad saturated with gun oil), as well as the rail.
It sounds like a lot of work, and it sometimes is! But I have never had any rust problems with that system, so I'm sticking with it!

brokebow · Post by **brokebow** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:13 am

I ran a small fillingstation for 19 years and I bought WD40 by the 5 gallon can and used it for just about everything. I was best for water displacement. I would take off the distribuater when they were wet and spray it in the cap and points and spray the sparkplug wires and it would work great. also sprayed it in the carberators to start a car or truck, Well cant do thgis any more no cap or points or even plug wires,but I still use the stuff at home for a lot of different chores. But I use a sinthetic gun oil on all my guns and I use dish soap to clean my archery equipment. Jerry