Permatex
Thread Sealant with Teflon part # 14A / item 80631.
This is from the Loctite division of Permatex.
Long ago I worked on high pressure hydraulic systems (the stuff that would give you a puncture wound if you tried to find a leak with your hand). Most fittings were compression ones (so no need for sealant) and most of the others were "dry seal" tapered (usually brass/bronze into cast iron or steel) and seal through taper match and thread deformation,
but there was the occasional straight-threaded item that needed to be sealed.
This stuff (its predecessor, actually - but this is pretty much the same stuff in a different tube) is what Loctite (then
not part of Permatex) recommended. It worked very well.
I've since used it on motorcycle/automotive applications. It will even hold pressure after some ham-handed owner has crossed threads so the fitting (now straight) doesn't have a lot to grab on to.
In comparison, the pressures we see with watercooling are laughably low. I suspect this stuff would seal just fine with a simple push fit (haven't tried that, though
) I
have used it on a few waterblocks/reservoirs/pumps, and not surprisingly it worked just fine.
One caveat - this stuff has
teflon in it - it works as a thread lubricant. The relationship between torque and thread deformation / taper fit is now different - you can break things if you don't bear this in mind. Non-issue if you're using a non-tapered fitting.
While I'm on this -
why are folks putting brass fittings into lucite/perspex/lexan/polycarbonate tops? IMHO you'd want the male fitting to be made of a softer material (like maybe nylon) that the female. This goes double if you're using tapered fittings.
This is a non-rhetorical question - what am I missing? It just seems wrong to me - most everyone seems to do it (even Cathar who clearly knows lots more than me).
Thanks!
Bob