Preventing outside screws rusting and seizing up.

justaquestion

Hi there folks,

I have a few outdoor security floodlights and though not expensive I find that even changing a bulb after a while is a job in itself, as often the screws have become rusted, and seized up and as one with the threads they are screwed into. Impossible usually to remove.

What is best way to prevent this? I have read online that putting some sort of grease on screws when they are initially installed is good, or even using wd-40 to try to remove them.

Any advice and links to products that might help appreciated.
Many thanks and have a great new year.

Jackmydad

Copaslip is the usual thing to use on anything that might rust.
That's a trade name incidentally, there are other types of anti-seize compound.
You only need a tiny bit on small screws.

There are better penetrating oils than standard WD40, including one made by WD40 themselves.

Another answer is to replace the standard screws with stainless, although then corrosion between different metals can become a problem.

MX5huggy

Change your lights to LED either bulbs or fittings, then you won’t be changing them again.

Jonathan_Kelvin

As above, copaslip is some kind of magic, and one pot will last you a lifetime.

If the bolts are a standard fit you could also switch them for stainless.

grumbler

MX5huggy wrote: »

Change your lights to LED either bulbs or fittings, then you won’t be changing them again.

I haven't changed my outdoor bulbs for more than 15 years.
However, few of my LED bulbs and fittings indoors didn't last more than 2 years.


For bolts I usually use just grease or even petroleum gelly and both work well.

Risteard

Copper grease.

JustAnotherSaver

How long do you expect this copper grease to last/protect? Not challenging, just asking.

And to the OP - those who say you don’t need a lot must be right. I bought some for use on the car. Nobody showed/told me how much I needed so I just put them on the wheel bolts & where the alloys meet the face of the brakes as I was sick of them being a nightmare to undo/take off. The mechanic commented how much had been used in a way that made me think he was being polite but not impressed :rotfl:

Jonathan_Kelvin

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

How long do you expect this copper grease to last/protect? Not challenging, just asking.

And to the OP - those who say you don’t need a lot must be right. I bought some for use on the car. Nobody showed/told me how much I needed so I just put them on the wheel bolts & where the alloys meet the face of the brakes as I was sick of them being a nightmare to undo/take off. The mechanic commented how much had been used in a way that made me think he was being polite but not impressed :rotfl:

It should be permanent, it stops the two metals reacting with each other or rusting together.

Aylesbury_Duck

With anything like this, I have a large tub of petroleum jelly in the garage that screws, nuts and bolts get dipped into before I fit them. It's worked for the 25ish years I've been a homeowner and DIYer.

Jackmydad

As said, the copper grease will be pretty well permanent.
I've stripped stuff down that's been on the underside of a car for years, and it's still there.
Underside of a car is a much more hostile environment than normal outdoors.

But any grease that won't just run off will help.
Copaslip (or one of it's clones) is the best I've found though.