Which Anti-seize Lubricant Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 7 anti-seize lubricant options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Loctite C5-A copper-based anti-seize
Price shown in test: $13.78, more than twice the price of the Permatex
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Claimed max temperature | Breakaway torque, clean-start bolts (2 samples, nuts torqued to 90 ft-lb then heat/rust cycled) | Breakaway torque, slightly-rusty-start bolts (2 samples) | Breakaway torque average across all 4 samples | Visible thread corrosion after torque test | Corrosion resistance on mild steel (hydrogen peroxide/vinegar/salt rusting agent, checked at about 5 hours) | Water spray-off resistance (30 lb pressure, 1 min, ~100F water on a coated metal plate) | Breakaway torque, clean-start bolts (2 samples) | Corrosion resistance on mild steel (hydrogen peroxide/vinegar/salt rusting agent) | Product type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Loctite C5-A copper-based anti-seize$13.78, more than twice the price of the Permatex | up to 1,800 F; product has an expiration date, stated to be used by 2023 | 68.1 ft-lb, 71.3 ft-lb | 76.1 ft-lb, 80.1 ft-lb | 73.9 ft-lb, best (lowest) of all 7 treatments including the control | hard to assess visually since the product itself is a golden brown color, but based on the strong torque results the narrator says it did an amazing job preventing rust from causing the bolt to stick | no visible corrosion, did a terrific job | quite a bit of the anti-seize washed away in the very center of the plate, described as doing slightly worse on this specific test than the Permatex | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 2Permatex aluminum anti-seize lubricant$5.93 | up to 1,600 F; claims parts can be removed easily even after corrosive conditions or extreme heat | not tested | 74.8 ft-lb, 85.2 ft-lb | 77.7 ft-lb, second best of the field | no visible rust, did a very good job | no visible corrosion, looks great | did a very good job overall; some product washed away from the very center of the plate which would likely rust over time, but performed better on this test than the Loctite | 77.7 ft-lb, 73.0 ft-lb | not tested | not tested |
| 3Nickel-Graf$7.29 for 2 oz | described as high-temperature on the packaging but no specific maximum temperature figure is listed | not tested | 81.9 ft-lb, 87.3 ft-lb | 81.9 ft-lb, third of the field, close behind Permatex and Loctite | no visible rust on the threads | really good job, though the narrator notes there might be some oxidation beginning to form | did a great job; only a small area in the very center washed away and would likely rust | 78.2 ft-lb, 80.0 ft-lb | not tested | not tested |
| 4Lubrimatic high-temperature grease$6.50 for 16 oz, about half the price per ounce of the anti-seize compounds | not stated in the transcript beyond being marketed as a high-temperature grease | not tested | 97.5 ft-lb, 102.7 ft-lb | 96.4 ft-lb, worse than all three true anti-seize compounds but still noted as pretty good relative to the untreated control | fairly good job, held up fairly well | great job at corrosion resistance, no signs of rust after wiping the grease off | the initial grease spread diameter on the plate was noticeably smaller than the Permatex and Loctite coverage to begin with; water washed away a lot of the grease, leaving the very center of the plate totally exposed bare metal, though a thin layer of grease remained in the rest of the sprayed area | 82.6 ft-lb, 102.6 ft-lb | not tested | not tested |
| 5Control (no product applied) | not tested | not tested | 109.5 ft-lb, 123.6 ft-lb | about 113.4 ft-lb (derived from the four individually stated figures; not restated as a single average in the closing recap) | a lot of rust on the threads of the bolts | not tested | not tested | 124.1 ft-lb, 96.5 ft-lb | a lot of rust formed on the untreated control, described as forming within about 30 seconds of applying the rusting agent in a separate quick demonstration and confirmed as heavily rusted at the 5-hour check | not tested |
| 6Fluid Film | not tested | not tested | 128.6 ft-lb, 125.9 ft-lb | about 124.3 ft-lb (derived from the four individually stated figures), narrator explicitly states it 'didn't do quite as well as the control' | numbers weren't as good as some of the other products; visible presence of Fluid Film residue noted on the threads | terrific job compared to the control, only a very small amount of surface rust near the top of the steel strip | not tested | 111.3 ft-lb, 131.5 ft-lb | not tested | lanolin-based penetrant/lubricant and rust protector, not marketed as an anti-seize compound; claims to work even over tightly adhering existing rust without a perfectly clean surface |
| 7Candle wax | not tested | not tested | 138.6 ft-lb, 123.0 ft-lb | about 139.0 ft-lb, worst (highest) of all 7 treatments | quite a bit of visible rust on the threads, described as not doing a very good job of preventing rust | looked fairly good on the surface, but chipping away the wax revealed a lot of rust had formed underneath; did not provide real protection | not tested | 151.7 ft-lb, 142.7 ft-lb (a larger torque adapter was needed part way through because the original adapter's alarm sounded) | not tested | not tested |
How it was tested
- heat and long-term corrosion test: bolts torqued to 90 ft-lb, baked to roughly 550F for 1 hour, sprayed with an oxidizing/rusting agent, then exposed to a rusting agent for about 90 days before measuring breakaway torque on both originally-clean and originally-slightly-rusty bolt sets (2 samples each)
- visual thread inspection for corrosion after the breakaway torque test
- corrosion-blocking test on mild steel using a hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, and salt rusting agent, checked at about 5 hours
- water spray-off resistance: 30 lb of direct water pressure for 1 minute at about 100F applied to a coated metal plate
- capstone test: using anti-seize as a substitute for engine oil in a small engine with the oil drained out, to see if it prevents seizure
Data notes and caveats
This is a myth/concept test (does anti-seize actually work, and do cheaper alternatives work as well) rather than a video that crowns one named product as the winner, so winner/runnerUp/budgetPick are left null even though the products do rank clearly by breakaway torque: Loctite (73.9 ft-lb average) best, then Permatex (77.7), Nickel-Graf (81.9), Grease (96.4), Control/no product (about 113.4), Fluid Film (about 124.3, worse than doing nothing), and Candle wax worst (about 139.0). All four per-product average figures for Control and Fluid Film were derived by averaging the four individually stated clean-start and rusty-start breakaway-torque numbers, since the closing recap only restated averages for the three anti-seize compounds and the grease; the derived values are internally consistent with the narrator's own qualitative claims (e.g. explicitly stating Fluid Film did worse than the control). The capstone engine-oil-substitute test used an unspecified anti-seize product (the transcript never names which of the three tested brands was poured into the engine), so that result is reported as a video-level finding rather than attributed to any single product: the engine did not seize, but the connecting rod failed, apparently because the anti-seize (and specifically its aluminum content) is abrasive and lacks true motor-oil lubricating properties. Narrator's closing take: all three true anti-seize compounds did a really good job preventing corrosion; grease is a decent fallback if nothing else is available; candle wax does not work.
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