A word of caution about Teflon tape

[Bob in iowa]

Teflon is a Registered Trade Mark of DuPont Co. and they guard it like the golden goose.

When I was in the USAF we used Teflon tape on all hydraulic and air fittings.
We were warned constantly not to burn the tape with a soldering torch because it would release Phosgene gas. This stuff is very bad.

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/phosgene/basics/facts.asp

Even DuPont warns against over-heating Teflon coated pans.
http://www.wisegeek.org/is-teflon-dangerous.htm#slideshow

I would not put Teflon tape on the nipple threads of my muzzle loader where the temperature could get pretty high due to a near-by explosion.

A little dab of grease is much safer as far as I'm concerned.

 

[RADeO]

You are right about Phosgene being really nasty stuff. But for Teflon tape used on nipple threads to get hot enought to release it, I think your barrel would have be hot enough to give you 3rd-degree burns, wouldn't it? The article in your second link states that nonstick cookware including Teflon begins outgassing at 396 degrees F.

I am with you on using the grease however. :thumbsup: It sure is easier to apply to those itty-bitty threads than Teflon tape!

 

[Shooey]

Thanks for that info. :thumbsup:

 

[Billnpatti]

This certainly brings to mind the question concerning the safety of using Teflon patching. I don't use it, not because of a fear of Phosgene gas, but because I prefer a different patching material. I have heard of no one being harmed by using Teflon patching and many people do like it and use it.

 

[Billnpatti]

I did a bit of additional searching and found that the Permissable Exposure Limit (PEL) as established by The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) is 0.1 ppm for 8 hours and a Ceiling exposure limit of 0.8 ppm for 15 minutes. In other words, up to those levels, no negative health effects are known or expected to exist. Just exactly how much Teflon must be thermally decomposed to produce exposure levels greater than the PEL in open air will depend on the temperature at which it is heated. When Teflon is heated to a decomposition level, a litney of chemicals are produced. Exactly which chemicals and their ratios is temperature dependent. The over heating of a Teflon pan in an enclosed room can produce enough of the toxic chemicals to produce ill effects in animals and humans. However, overheating of a bit of Teflon tape on a nipple in open air cannot possibly produce enough toxic gas to result in any ill effects. I am not saying that anyone should use Teflon tape on nipple threads but what I am saying is that if one chose to do so, there would be no real danger. My bottom line is that Teflon tape on nipple threads is safe but grease is fine, too. You are, without a doubt, at greater risk from exposure to lead and black powder smoke and its many toxic fumes than from any possible toxic products of overheating of Teflon tape on nipple threads.

 

[MSW]

thanks for the post ... it's good to see actual research and sources cited, rather than stuff beginning "it's a well known fact.."

kudos to you, sir!

:hatsoff:

 

[longcruise]

My alternative has been the high temp grease sold at the parts store for coating the threads of spark plugs. A very tiny amount on the nipple threads makes it much easier to remove at cleaning time!

 

[bpd303]

My alternative has been the high temp grease sold at the parts store for coating the threads of spark plugs. A very tiny amount on the nipple threads makes it much easier to remove at cleaning time!

My choice for years also anti-seize by Permatex.

 

[Mad Professor]

Teflon does not contain chlorine so it cannot form phosgene.

 

[Rat Trapper]

I use breech plug grease. Easy to apply and a tube goes a long way.

 

[paulab]

I use Teflon tape all the time on my nipples, drums, and breechplug threads and have never, ever, seen even the slightest hint of scorching when removed. Paul

 

[Danny Ross]

I have always used a good coating of bore butter on the nipple threads on mine and it cleans right up when I clean the gun. DANNY

 

[Billnpatti]

You are correct. As tetrafluoroethylene, it has no chlorine in it and cannot form carbonyldichloride (phosgene). It has another halogen, fluorine and forms a very similar and equally toxic gas, carbonyldifluoride. In moist air, the carbonyldiflouride forms hydrogen fluoride, also a highly toxic gas.

Having said this, it is of no importance in the question of whether to use Teflon tape on nipples. First, Teflon tape does not reach a temperature high enough to decompose when used on nipples. Secondly, even if it did, there is so little Teflon tape on the threads of a nipple that it could never form enough toxic gasses in open air to be of any concern. Even so, like Rat trapper, I use breach plug grease. Not because of any fear of using Teflon tape, but simply because I have a tube of breach plug grease, and it works quite well.

 

[BrownBear]

I use breech plug grease. Easy to apply and a tube goes a long way.

Same here. I bought a small tube something like 10 years ago, and it's not half empty yet.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I've never used anything on my nipple threads. And that works quite well.

 

[nkbj]

Tape. :thumbsup:

 

[BEP]

Never Seize. Works great - not HC/PC but neither is Teflon. And who really cares?

The only downside is that I cannot seem to apply it to even the smallest threaded machine screw without getting it everywhere. Insidious stuff.

 

[Rifleman1776]

And who really cares?

The PC Police do. :shocked2:
Yer a gonner now, for sure.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

all that smoke, cap fragments, rock chips flying off a frizzen, and some of you are scared of teflon?

:rotf: :rotf: