Extinguish Squeaks 24/7 With Refillable WD-40

It’s 10:34PM and you’ve just run out of water displacement formula #40. You could wait until tomorrow to get a new can, or you could spend the rest of the night turning an old, empty fire extinguisher into a refillable and re-pressurizable WD-40 dispenser like [liquidhandwash] did. The part count is pretty low, but it’s awfully specific.

And the emphasis is on empty extinguisher. Part of the deal involves twisting the gauge off, and we wouldn’t want you to get blasted in the face with any last gasps of high-powered firefighting foam. In order to make the thing re-pressurizable, [liquidhandwash] stripped all the rubber from a tire valve and removed the core temporarily so it could be soldered into the fitting where the gauge was. The handy hose is from a large can of WD-40, which is also where the label came from — since it’s no longer a fire extinguisher, it needs to stop bearing resemblance to one, so [liquidhandwash] removed the sticker, painted it blue, and glued the cut-open can to the outside.

To use it, [liquidhandwash] fills it up about halfway and then pressurizes it through the tire valve with a bike pump or compressor. (We think we’d go with bike pump.) Since [liquidhandwash] goes through so much lubricant, now, they can just buy it by the gallon and keep refilling the extinguisher.

Is WD-40 your everything hammer? Variety is the spice of shop life.

43 thoughts on “Extinguish Squeaks 24/7 With Refillable WD-40

  1. Funny how the wd-40 spray bottles are $12 a piece, and a gallon of the product is only a couple dollars more…. And at least around me, you cannot find the nicely labeled spray bottle available in retail stores.. Very nice hack and it looks great. Did he save the fire extinguisher mount for the wd-40 location?

  2. You can buy schrader valves that are screw-on for alloy wheels (I have a couple o old ones I saved when I had them changed) so you can retain the gauge (so you know when to pump it up) and put the valve through the bottle side.

    I like to use old used brake fluid as it’s a great penetrating oil (keep away rom paintwork though).

  3. I like this build! Looks great, looks like it works great.
    Side note – WD-40 is not technically a true lubricant. Although it does temporarily have some lubricating properties, they don’t last. -just had to be that guy

  4. i always buy the aerosol wd40, a can seems to last me the better part of a decade. but i was at the neighborhood bike project and they had wd40 in a regular spray bottle, like it was windex. seemed to work fine. what’s the advantage of pressurized gas over just a squirt gun?

  5. Awesome idea. WD40, similar lubricants and penetrating oils are pretty much mandatory requirements for any workshop. I’m pretty sure that would take me all year to use that much, but still.
    I’d have been amused by the face full of foam, although I’m glad he choose an empty one, powder fire extinguishers especially are notorious for being incredibly messy but foam is still a pain to clean up.

  6. WD-40 is not so wonderful.
    A few years ago Fine Woodworking magazine did an extensive comparison of 20 different rust preventive products.
    The all around top product was CRC 3-36 multi purpose lubricant and rust inhibitor.
    There were pictures and explanation of the tests.
    Here is a link to the article: https://www.finewoodworking.com/2012/05/31/the-best-rust-preventers
    Synopsis: We put 20 commonly available rust preventers to the test to see which ones work best at protecting your expensive woodworking tools from rust. Are waxes and natural oils better? What about petroleum-based products? We tried the rust preventers on a cast-iron table saw top and some samples of A2 tool steel (an iron alloy). All of the samples were subjected to extreme environments. Our test results showed which protectors really work.

    CRC 3-36 is also a real lubricant, unlike WD-40.

    1. I like this hack all except the part where WD40 gets used. It’s cheap and easy to buy I suppose, but anyone who doesn’t need gallons of it probably wants slip 2000 EWL instead for lubricating.

      Slip 2k isn’t a penetrant, but it does eventually seem to penetrate things anyway.

      WD40 just attracts dust and makes a sticky film like someone left and old lollipop to absorb moisture from the air.

      1. Yeah, last time I sprayed wd-40 into lock I had to call locksmith because key stuck inside. I wiggled it for good 10 minutes but it didn’t move. And as with my old saying “Equipment works perfectly near qualified personnel”, he unstuck the key in 5 seconds by wiggling it.

    2. +10 [up-votes]

      Kudos for NOT using the NON-word, “PREVENTATIVE”.

      {It is also–refreshingly–noted that you are very aware of the fact that not everyword which ends in “s” demands an apostrophe before the “s”}

      …And yes: CRC makes outstanding lubricants–and rust-prevention products. Have been using their products for years, with absolutely superb results.

      As with any other tool selection, choose the correct one for the job.

    3. I had an email chain from long ago that stated ATF mixed 50/50 with acetone was the best penetrating fluid. It works extremely well, but it doesn’t store well due to the acetone flashing off.

      It’s funny how these tests seem to rise to popularity and then fade over time, only to be repeated. aVe and project farm have some on youtube as well.

  7. Imagine the look of surprise on someone’s face if they didn’t notice the change and tried to use it as a fire extinguisher. I guess it’s a good thing they painted and labeled it.

  8. Note to self, one thing to remember, WD-40 is suddenly very flammable when it gets over a certain temperature.
    Once it starts burning, it’s very hard to put it back out again. It keeps it’s heat and will auto ignite again if you uncover the fire too soon.

    1. Note to you and everybody, “self”–

      WD-40 is very flammable, period.

      One of my more favorite hacks, to get a small gasoline engine running when I’m certain it’s not getting any fuel fro the carb, is to spray WD-40 into the carb intake; or pull the spark plug and spray the WD into the cylinder directly.

      Works like a charm.

      And–NO. Do not use WD-40 as a lubricant. IT IS NOT! It is precisely what the name tells you it is, and nothing more–a water-displacing medium.
      Continued use as a lubricant, under the wrong set of circumstances, can even cause damage.

      Easy to remember–

      “If you need to lubricate something, use something SPECIFICALLY MADE for lubrication.”

  9. “WD40” ist nothing than pure petroleum, white spirit and a small ammount of Vaseline.
    It´s cheaper to buy than mix yourself – thats why its so popular.
    But it has no lubrication features as thought – only water displacement and rust prevention.
    But – it works to whatever you want ;-)

  10. I know there’s always a lot of “I know a better product than WD-40” responses to WD-40 posts. This isn’t one of those even though I’m going to tell you not to use WD-40… ….for squeeks.

    If something is squeaking that doesn’t normally squeak it’s because parts that aren’t supposed to rub together are rubbing together. The answer is rarely to make the item in question slippery. That might make the noise go away temporarily, but if the source of the squeaking is the typical cause, you need to tighten your fasteners. Spraying them with lube will only make the problem worse in the long run.

    Of course it’s hard to convince “I fix everything with duct tape” true believers. I once tried to explain that to a co-worker who had a squeaky office chair that was requiring progressively more WD-40 shots per day, and even as he found “unexplained” screws on the floor, he wasn’t having it. Until the day his chair fell apart and he landed on the floor.

    Anyway… Tapping aluminum? Use WD-40. Preventing rust on carbon steel that you want to ship or store? Use WD-40. Stopping squeaks? Get a wrench, and maybe some loctite.

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