Fluid Film viscosity, spraying and shaking

[newbury]

I bought a few gallons of Fluid Film and their spray kit a couple of years ago.

That summer, when it was warm in Mississippi I applied it to my truck and trailer. Everything seemed to work fine, got a good spray.

Last fall I bought a new Escape in Virginia and figured I'd get it down to Mississippi and spray it.

Yesterday I warmed a gallon up in a hot water bath, but obviously not long enough. Opened the can and I could still form peaks in the "Fluid". Wouldn't spray at all.

So I put it in a slow cooker which got it to the consistency similar to thick maple syrup. Seems still to thick to spray.

Found this comment:

For interior applications that will not be exposed to the elements, or UV rays, you could also consider using Fluid Film "Liquid A" which is a thinner formula.You can see the viscosity difference between "A" and "NAS" in the middle of the page at the link below:
Liquid A vs NAS viscosity


Liquid A information


All the Fluid Film formulas




Fluid Film is thixotropic.
This especially applies to bulk NAS, (gallons, pails, and drums)

thixｷotｷroｷpy
The property exhibited by certain gels of becoming fluid when stirred or shaken and returning to the semisolid gel state upon standing.


What this means is.. as Fluid Film NAS sits, it gets thicker. There are two things you can do to make Fluid Film NAS spray with a fine even flow:


a) Store it at room temperature if possible.


b) Shake and agitate the heck out of the Fluid Film container. The more you shake it, the more it will thin and liquify. You should not need to add any thinner to NAS if you shake it enough.


Shake, shake , shake.

Any idea how much shaking it takes?

 

[pmsmechanic]

Take the Fluid Film to your local paint store and use their paint shaker to figure it out.

 

[the old grind]

Many of us who can afford and own corded drills just use paint stirrers to 'loosen' FF in gallon cans.

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