I finally tried that torque seal trick my old lead swore by

Old Mike from my first line job at Northern Air in Anchorage always said to brush torque seal across the fastener head instead of dabbing it on. I thought he was just being old school stubborn but after 3 years of doing it his way I caught a bolt backing out on a flap track because the seal cracked clean across. Has anyone else found that method actually works better or am I just getting lucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

abbychen27d ago

Wait, did you catch it because the seal cracked or because the seal didn't hold? My buddy Jake had a similar thing happen on a hydraulic line on a 727 out at LAX. He swore by the dab method until he found a nut walking off during a walkaround. The torque seal was still intact on the nut but the bolt underneath had loosened up. He switched to the brush across method after that and says he's never looked back. It's like the seal acts as a better witness mark when it's a solid line instead of a glob. I think it's more about surface tension and how the cracking shows movement more clearly.

owens.willow27d ago

Ha, Jake figured it out the hard way. Classic "seal looks fine but the bolt's on vacation" move. Guess that brush-on method is the real MVP when it comes to tattling on loose hardware.