Vibra-tite VC-3

[heyzeus]

Has anyone successfully used an entire bottle of this stuff? I get through 4-5 uses of it before the cap seizes to bottle and is welded on and it’s time to buy a new bottle. Its to the point where I take extra care when storing, moving, or shaking the bottle to make sure none of the liquid gets up near the threads. I try to wipe down the threads with a wet cloth before re-capping. Am I doing something wrong? Anyone here have any tips on how to handle this stuff?

[pghp8ntballer]

When I used it at an old job, we would use methyl-ethyl ketone to return it to a liquid state or to thin it out. Not a pleasant chemical (the methyl-ethyl ketone). The culture of the company had no problem just buying more VC3 if it dried out. The problem was the engineer(s) who thought it was a good product to use because it maintains its thread holding ability through several threading cycles unlike loctite. I honestly think it’s a very limited use case chemical and not sure what an actual good case is. I’ve used it on M3-M8 screws so roughly 4-40 to ⅜-24 of the queen’s English. It’s simply to viscous and sticky.

My opinion of VC3 for paintball applications is not good. It’s very thick/difficult to apply thin which can lead to big problems since most of the screws in paintball are 10-32 or smaller.

If you insist on a thread locking compound, I would suggest Loctite 242 (blue normal stuff) Loctite 248 (blue waxy paste like stuff in a glue stick tube), or for even lighter duty, Loctite 222 (light duty pink stuff).

[BrickHaus]

Fun fact: I have some 222. I used it on the firing can and back cap of my nova as they wiggled loose during use. It took my monkey grip, and nobbie333 with a strap wrench to break that shit free. 222 holes much better than I expected it to.

[heyzeus]

I use a very little of it on the cocking rod and the pump arm where it threads into the back block. I use blue loctite in most other places (ex the pump arm where it threads into the ram). I started using VC-3 after watching one of ID Simon’s vids a few years back.

[Trbo323]

Blue loc tite. I have still only had one application of red in 22ish years of playing now.

Sent from my motorola edge 2024 using Tapatalk

[heyzeus]

VC-3 is not the same as red loctite. I actually use it where I’m expecting to remove things frequently. It also doesn’t have the anaerobic requirement of blue loctite which makes it useful in certain places. I may try the 248 and 222 suggested above.

[pghp8ntballer]

I’ve seen the video where Simon recommended VC3. I’m not a paintball professional like him. My experience with VC3 was pretty much 90% negative but it wasn’t paintball related. I’ve been playing paintball for 20 plus years, spent 12 years as an automotive tech for Honda, 4.5 years working on cutting edge auto technology (where I used VC3), and currently build ultra-high precision motion systems (4 years). In my experience, I can’t think of a solid use for VC3 especially in paintball.

I use the Loctite products I suggested daily. The 248 paste stuff is very nice to use, but I honestly think it has very little holding ability. It’s not as strong as the 222 pink liquid. I use the 248 on M1.6, M2, and larger screws daily without concern of breaking screws. I’ve removed the tiny screws days and weeks later without issue.

[latches109]

no to VC-3. does not hold, hard to work with, dries out quickly, and expensive. Loctite or Permatex adhesives are the best choices for paintball.

[Psycho91]

I tried vibratite used it one time and threw it in the back of the tool box cause I'll never use that shit again, screwed up a brand new ram base with that stuff, as others have said it's just to thick and sticky blue locktite is just so much easier to use

[Ecapnation]

Multiple yes but not for paintball applications