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Torque seal substitute

jimgreen

Well Known Member
Anyone know if there are any products equivalent to Torque seal?
For some reason the shippers treat it as hazmat which jacks up the cost quite a bit.
 
As suggested by others, I grabbed a bottle of old, ugly colored nail polish from the wife... leave the top off a couple hours to thicken and you're good to go.
 
Great idea, if you can stand the wrath of your overlord.
Ok, just the ugly stuff that doesn't go with her new outfit.
 
Testors model paint will thicken up nicely. If you're like me you probably have a little bottle or two around already, too thick to use but not dried out enough to throw away.
 
I love ACS, but ALL of their shipping charges are ridiculous. I understand that Amazon is a much bigger player, but how can they deliver stuff in 2-3 days for $2 and ACS wants $27 to get it to you in a week or two? - And before this turns into an Amazon discussion, I am just using them as an example. Even small players deliver quicker at a fraction of the cost of ACS. They remind me of the old music warehouse where you could get 100 cassette tapes for $1 plus S&H - which turned out to be several hundred dollars over the life of your obligation. Either ACS does not know how to negotiate shipping rates, or they are making their money on the shipping.
 
ACS

I love ACS, but ALL of their shipping charges are ridiculous.
I think that's the fault of UPS and FedEx, mostly. When I'm not in a hurry, I just specify "USPS First Class", which is only a few dollars for most things. One other trick I learned is that you can add a note in the Special Instructions to "Ship via FedEx". FedEx delivers on Saturdays but UPS doesn't. It seems like I always discover that I need a part on Thurdsay...
 
Yup, that's the stuff they ship hazmat.

I asked ACS today. Email exchange below.

Me: Is there a hazmat fee for shipping this new brand torque seal product?
ACS : If the item is shipped by ground transport, no haz fee. Air shipments are considered hazardous.

So there shouldn't be any hazmat fee if shipped UPS/FedEx/USPS ground, although I haven't ordered any recently to confirm.
See Q+A tab here: http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/crosschecktorqueseal.php?clickkey=3836
 
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I asked ACS today. Email exchange below.

Me: Is there a hazmat fee for shipping this new brand torque seal product?
ACS : If the item is shipped by ground transport, no haz fee. Air shipments are considered hazardous.

So there shouldn't be any hazmat fee if shipped UPS/FedEx/USPS ground, although I haven't ordered any recently to confirm.
See Q+A tab here: http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/crosschecktorqueseal.php?clickkey=3836

Updated email from ACS:
The torque seal cannot be shipped via USPS under any condition. If the item is shipped by ground transport (ie UPS Ground), no haz fee. Air shipments are considered hazardous.

So no torque seal shipped USPS at all.
 
Thanks guys. I guess I'll try some of the alternate methods suggested. I can't justify ordering that stuff and paying UPS rates.
 
Go to Home Depot/Lowes, get a sample size of their most brilliant color interior or exterior latex house paint (color - your choice). It's already pretty thick and it dries quickly. Put it in a small paint bottle - like finger nail polish bottle with an applicator, and apply your 'torque seal mark'. You could also use oil based paint, but it will take longer to dry and it's not very thick. I've painted stripes on the asphalt ramp in front of our hanger - for two jets- with interior white latex house paint, and they have been there for five years! They haven't peeled off or faded.

If it chips off your nut, put a little more on at your next condition inspection - after you check the torque. The small paint sample containers at lowes is good for at least a hundred RV's.
 
'...This stuff works great. Aircraft Spruce carries it....'

Just received a tube of this Dykem torque seal for free shipping, via Amazon.. I too found that Torque Seal from Aircraft Spruce had a crazy high shipping cost, although i didn't know that it was considered "hazmat"!

I don't know how Amazon does it, but anything I buy through them shows up within a day or two on my doorstep! In this case, this little tube of torque seal came in the typical Amazon box surrounded by bubble wrap to take up all the extra space in the box.
 
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Go to Home Depot/Lowes, get a sample size of their most brilliant color interior or exterior latex house paint (color - your choice). It's already pretty thick and it dries quickly. Put it in a small paint bottle - like finger nail polish bottle with an applicator, and apply your 'torque seal mark'. You could also use oil based paint, but it will take longer to dry and it's not very thick. I've painted stripes on the asphalt ramp in front of our hanger - for two jets- with interior white latex house paint, and they have been there for five years! They haven't peeled off or faded.

If it chips off your nut, put a little more on at your next condition inspection - after you check the torque. The small paint sample containers at lowes is good for at least a hundred RV's.

I think I'd rather go with a lacquer nail polish; it's more brittle when cured, thus more likely to disclose relative movement than the more flexible latex paint.
 
As of a year ago or so, Harbor Fright sold torque-seal in orange for sure, maybe yellow too. (I have not looked for it there recently.)
 
one source

Jim, I managed to coerce Fastenal to order me a couple tubes of Dykem Cross-Check from their wholesaler....normally you have to get a case of 24! $10 ea. :eek:

if you don't have a Fastenal where you can swing a deal, let me know and I'll mail you a tube! :)

happy torqueing!
 
I picked up the Dykem Cross Check on Amazon for around 10 bucks for the yellow color. Blue was the cheapest. Organe is about 9 bucks with free shipping.

You can buy it in a case of 24 for $160 shipped if you want a huge lot. I just picked up 2 tubes since I am just on my tail kit.
 
good tips...

lots of suppliers, but waaaaaaaay back in this thread, there was an issue that the US suppliers would not ship to Canada; thus the quest for a source within the great white northern state, (where we give this stuff out to children at hallowe'en! :D)

....unless you are buying a case of 24....all the same colour, which then makes it NOT dangerous cargo? yeah, go figure. :rolleyes:
 
Dykem Torque Seal

We noticed the posting from Jeff regarding the cost of shipping Dykem torque seal, and in checking our system we found that a few of the colors were coded incorrectly which applied a "haz' fee. We have corrected the coding .These are only 3 oz. tubes so they can be shipped via UPS ground under "ORMD" and thus a haz fee does not apply. Haz fees would apply if it shipped by air and torque seals cannot be shipped USPS. Thanks to Jeff for bringing this to our attention.

Aircraft Spruce
Customer Service Dept.
 
Soucing Torque Seal In Australia

The first quote I got here in Tasmania for Dykem Cross Check torque seal was $80 for a 1oz tube. I was almost crying on the phone I was laughing so hard when they told me. I've found other suppliers in Australia, however they wanted crazy money for it once shipping was included. I finally took a gamble and ordered some on ebay from the UK (Racebikebitz). I recieved it today, two weeks after ordering, and it's the real deal. I'm not sure how they get around the hazmat shipping charges (carrier pigeon perhaps?) but I've chosen not to look this gift horse in the mouth. Anyway, the total including shipping was 10.20GBP, or about 16.50AUD given that the the pound is still on it's Brexit epic downward spiral. Just a solution for those out here wanting torque seal, but willing to wait a couple of weeks.
Tom.
 
DIY Torque Seal

Using your choice of fluro paint, add a little chalk dust. This thickens the paint up and gives it some mass. I used this formula in the Overhaul Shop when setting up prop governors in the days before you could buy pre-made stuff. Worked just fine.

I would just grab some chalk dust from the maintenance hanger... we used it when assembling tubes to tyres. Fluro spray paint from the hardware store works well. Then just play with the formula a bit to get the ratios right as too much dust isn't advantageous.
 
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