Why You Don’t Use WD40 Of Speargun Mechs
Contributed by Greg Fonts Instagram:@Greg_Fonts
If you have spent enough time rinsing gear over the years you have probably seen or talked about what to use to keep your trigger mech in tip top shape. There are still a few bad ideas out there being circulated on the forums, one is store your rubbers in the freezer and two, use WD40 on your mechs to prevent corrosion and help lubricate the mech. I can tell you right now if you are using WD40 on your mech stop, if you are using it on your roller bearing I am not sure what to tell you.
There is a reason why locksmith sites, skate boarding forums, and hopefully eventually spearing forums advise against its use. WD40, “Water Displacement, 40th formula”by definition is “a penetrating oil, lubricant, cleaner and parts cleaner solvent used by millions to protect against or remove rust.” The problem with this statement is that one WD40 is a solvent and two WD40 is a oil. If you any parts in your mech that are composites WD40 softens that comp parts over time leading to increased wear. The second issue with any lubricant oil or not is that oil attracts dirt and grim build up.
Above is a Mech with continued WD40 usage over time. This build up of dirt is very high.
What you see on the seer is not rust, in fact is is dirt that is pasted to the seer.
The Test
To prove a point we sprayed a few new triggers with WD40 and let me sit and dry. We then dropped them in some sand, like many guns on a shore dive. Take a look, the results are revealing.
The Result:
The two lower speargun triggers are obviously attracting more dirt than the non sprayed. So if you are using WD40 you may want to clean up your trigger mech. The best options are fresh water or a rinse like Salt Away which does not leave a film that attracts dirt into your mechanism.
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