Threadlocker for Lock Collar Setscrews

[Planter Bob]

Guys,

What color Threadlocker (aka Loctite) are you guys going with for the setscrews in the lock collars on the axles and idler shafts?

I had one work loose recently on the idler shaft, the shaft slipped in really rough terrain, and the chain totally trashed the sprocket on the brake disc. I had a spare disk and plenty of spare 40-2 chain, so no money out of pocket, but I want to put this back together right and am rubbing my chin a bit.

I have blue and red (Permanent) Threadlocker in my toolbox. I noticed at my local store another red labeled "high strength". This is different from the red (permanent) I already have.

I was thinking of going with the blue, since I want to be able to get this apart without heating it, but I'm wondering if it will be strong enough to handle all the vibration? I'm not real keen on the collars, as only four threads hold in the setscrew. It reminds me of the threads in the head of a Ford Triton motor!

Back to using the red...I do know that to remove a fastener put together with red (permanent) I need to heat the parts. I don't want to melt the seals on my bearings, so I'm hesitating on using my standard red product. I've never used the red "high strength" stuff. Does the red labeled "high strength" require heating on these smaller fasteners to remove them? If not, even on the small 8-32 screws in the idler shaft, I'm going with it.

Also, I noticed that none of the Threadlocker products at my local store are specified for fasteners this small.

One thing I did was buy all new setscrews, and I cleaned my collars with denatured alcohol and soaked my new setscrews in it as well to remove any manufacturing residue.

Any tips are appreciated...and thanks!

Planter Bob

[Roger S]

I'm not familiar with an earlier year machine like yours, but if you're talking about the only thing locating the idler shaft, is a set screw on the outer bearing.. that seems pretty poor engineering from argo. If that's your problem, you might drill an indent in the shaft where the set screw hits, so it has a pocket to set in. That way, even through wear and tear, if it looses it's tightness, it's still locktited in the indent deep enough to keep the bearing on the shaft. That's the way all my splined axles and sprockets are.. the axles have a pretty deep pocket to locate the set screw.

I just clean the set screw holes with carb cleaner soaked Q tips, and use normal red locktite. When I use heat on a bearing, I make a "heat shield" out of doubled up HD aluminum foil.. my bearing shields are metal anyway..

[6X6]

I use blue and Red High Strength on all my "toys" I favor blue if loosening isn't an issue, but in a case where it's happened or dangerous/can cause damage I use red. Even with setscrews I don't need to heat red to remove, just DON'T use an allen key that shows wear. A good tight fitting key will crack it loose with force, then it threads right out. I've used red on 3mm screws in R/C applications and still had no issues, with the exception of Phillips heads.

Also, look at the Split collar mod Micmac posted a while back about doing on his max IV A 2-piece Lock collar against the inside of each bearing will keep the shaft from moving, even if your bearing's lock collar completely fails. And if you space it the way he did so it has nowhere to go, if it loosens up also you STILL won't have a wandering axle.

[sieg]

hey planter bob, i dont know how your bearings look like, but i had enough room on mine to replace the set screws with socket head cap screws. makes it alot easier to tighten and remove the screws. Even when using the red loctite

[lewis]

Just a suggestion: I recommend the blue locktight style. The lock collar may not have been set correctly and the set screw was doing all the holding. The eccentric collar is supposed to do the holding and the setscrew is added strength. I am not fond of eccentric collars. I would rather use split collars whenever possible. This must be a older machine.