# how does teflon tape hold up on heat



## qip (Jun 5, 2008)

i just put some on my dads minimag 5ex , for the head and wrapped it so the head is tight and doesnt unscrew easily, the 5ex for long durations gets hot so i was wondering will the teflon melt ? 

i searched and saw some use it for their lights but i havent seen any comments on thread heat effects ...even saw this and theres 2 different answers


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## Yoda4561 (Jun 5, 2008)

The temperature where the tape is won't get over 150F. That should be well within safe levels for teflon tape.


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## qip (Jun 5, 2008)

good to know


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## elgarak (Jun 5, 2008)

Just to add: We use Teflon tape to vacuum seal small heaters in an experimental research setup. Heaters go up to 150 C/~300 F, with no problems for the Teflon. I doubt you get that high.


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## IMSabbel (Jun 5, 2008)

qip said:


> i just put some on my dads minimag 5ex , for the head and wrapped it so the head is tight and doesnt unscrew easily, the 5ex for long durations gets hot so i was wondering will the teflon melt ?
> 
> i searched and saw some use it for their lights but i havent seen any comments on thread heat effects ...even saw this and theres 2 different answers



Well, teflon degrades with heat, but doesnt really break down below 200C. (It is _shrinking_. Big problem with solid objects made out of it. Once at 80C for a few hours, and they didnt fit quite as well anymore. Deadly in an UHV enviroment).


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## greenLED (Jun 5, 2008)

The big problem now is heat conduction from the emitter off to the head of the light. I guess you'd have enough of a thermal path through the body, though... :thinking:


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## kramer5150 (Jun 5, 2008)

I used teflon tape to improve the seal on my accords radiator drain plug. (I'm cheap, going this route alleviated me from spending $35 on a new drain plug, only to have the gasket rot away every 2 years). Water boils at 212F, I think radiator water flowing through that junction is around that temp. Has worked fine for over 10 years like that. Whenever I flush the radiator I replace the teflon tape and it comes off easily.


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## Gunner12 (Jun 5, 2008)

If the tape becomes affected by the heat, I'd be much more worried about the person holding the light then the tape.


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## qip (Jun 5, 2008)

sounds all good , the teflon tape just feels so fragile ,it shreds like wet toilet paper  and looks like it could melt easily cuz its so thin...but greenled now brings up a good point on thermal path but i think it should be ok


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## GregWormald (Jun 6, 2008)

Since plumber's teflon tape is used to seal the joints in water heaters, I doubt you'll have a problem.
Greg


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## IMSabbel (Jun 7, 2008)

Just think about it: Teflon is used to coat frying pans, and to uranium hexafluoride isotope seperation centrifuges.

Its not that fragile or heat sensitive


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## adamlau (Jun 8, 2008)

MSDS and spec sheets of the PTFE product you plan to use will tell you what you want to know.


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