Forum

[Mark M]

Royal Enfield (Redditch) used internally starred spring washers, these have the advantage that any damage to the painted surface is hidden under the nut. Very neat.

REgards, Mark

[Alan R]

------- and if all else fails then good old Loctite Threadlocker will work with whatever style of nuts, bolts etc. that you might be using...As an Apprentice I was instructed that Nyloc nuts were for a a one-off use, But that's well and good in the MoD--for us mortals in the "Real" world I re-use them with Loctite....

Innuendo ??.....good heavens no, I just forgot to type in the commas, that was all !! ( Koff---Koff, smiley face etc....)

Look here for NORDLOCK -------------------------- http://www.nord-lock.com/nord-lock/wedg ... roduction/

[ed.lazda]

It was a while back John, and TBH I can't remember, but I think it was independent.

[papasmurf]

When it is safety critical Nyloc nuts are use once only.

[Valsp]

Friend of mine lost a prop off an outboard in the Solent once when he went hard astern. The "Marine Engineer" who had serviced it claimed you could use nylocs hundreds of times!!

[Valsp]

Friend of mine lost a prop off an outboard in the Solent once when he went hard astern. The "Marine Engineer" who had serviced it claimed you could use nylocs hundreds of times!!

[papasmurf]

That "Marine Engineer" needs "deep sixing," chained to an anvil.

Tab washers, split pins, and similar are a must, (some use a combination of locking devices.)

[PeteF]

Absolutely Papa, usually split pins and castle nut on smaller engines.

[p]

Once a nut becomes loose on a clean thread it will soon come right off with any vibration, but pre loaded with a spring washer ( plus plain or not) the increase of friction in threads that is induced may lead to us noticing something loose before it actually falls off! This less than scientific logic may well be appropriate to what we may call "Indian tolerances".... but bear in mind the situation of "soft" joints where settlement of a gasket may be compensated by the give introduced by a spring washer particularly with soft metal castings and low torque values in use, a plain washer may also be included to protect such soft metals.
In reality, I feel that nothing beats positive locking devices such as split pins, tab washers or locking wire, particularly where the slightest of movement may be critical for either safety of mechanical integrity, but right at the other end of the scale I find that painting over with clear (or black for RE frame) varnish is often sufficient (and aesthetically pleasing) for non critical nuts and bolts! This is readily available with brush included from your local nail care outlet, and also serves as an effective stone chip first aid treatment!

[Graham43]

Thanks again for the replies even if we got onto outboard motors. I don't like to disagree with all these knowledgeable people but I have noticed that when trying to undo a nut/spring washer combination there is a lot of resistance until the raised ends of the spring washer come free and there is scoring on the nut underside and on the part it was fixed too. As said by others that the spring washer is to maintain axial tension but surely it must also resist rotation of the nut/bolt. No?