Anti vibration washers

[Adam Marshall]

I am in need of some good anti shake off washers alot of tapped holes to put bolts but also alot of vibration from engine. Are spring washers any good and if anyone knows of any good shake proof washers let me know thanks

 

[CompoSimmonite]

What about thread lock ?
For large side mounted carbs, like Webers, Thackery washers are used

 

[carbon]

How about nord-lock washers

 

[Shox Dr]

How about nord-lock washers

Had to google that. I used them but never knew what they were called (Every day's a learning day)

 

[MCKDAVID]

if these bolts (or what they're holding on) are critical, it might be worth lock wiring the bolts in place, can you rely just on a washer.

 

[knighty]

spring washers are pretty much useless, I'm surprised anything new uses them

(I was pretty shocked to find this out)

they're ok-ish in a very very narrow set of circumstances but that's about it

 

[brightspark]

nylock nuts and threadlock

 

[MattF]

Brass or copper washers are my favourite choice. No idea how effective they are, but I've not had owt work loose yet.

 

[landyman1]

nord lock are the way to go,there is a vid on youtube comparing all different types and these are by far the best

 

[Richard.]

nylock nuts and threadlock

Exactly. A nyloc on its own with a flat washer is quite often sufficient enough.

 

[8ob]

+1 for Nyloc and washer but for it to be effective you will need threadlock in the rivnuts so will probably need to use studs+nylocs

Have become a fan of the serrated washer stuck to a nut gadget of late.

 

[normspanners]

spring washers are old hat now, and can actually be worse than a std flat washer
imo if you want washers nords are the way to go other wise self locking flange nuts like above.

 

[Richard.]

Or if your not using nuts Belleville disc springs are very good. If you get the right thickness they can be very effective under a bolt head. It's not there intended purpose I know as they are intended to be stacked in series or parallel as a shock absorber but I've often put them under bolt heads where vibration can be an issue and they are miles better than standard spring washers.
Down side- proper Belleville springs are expensive and cheap copies squash flat and deform. The proper ones always hold a bolt head under tension. Unlike spring washers you can double up or treble up on a disc spring and they double up on spring strength.

 

[normspanners]

What about thread lock ?
For large side mounted carbs, like Webers, Thackery washers are used

thackeries are more of a spring than a locking washers they are not used to stop the nut coming undone but to allow the bolt movement on its rubber gasket , to prevent vibration transmitting to float chambers, you actually still need a nyloc.

 

[normspanners]

Belleville disc springs are very good.

nords are a type of belville

 

[carbon]

OP @Adam Marshall needed something to secure bolts into tapped threaded holes so don't think nyloc nuts would work well unless then using studs as well but more chance of something coming loose. I don't use them much but use them when thread lock would cause problems if a bolt shears. Had a job recently where a few bolts sheared as no thread lock was used extracting the broken bolts was relatively easy with no damage to the threads

 

[Rocketman]

Or if your not using nuts Belleville disc springs are very good. If you get the right thickness they can be very effective under a bolt head. It's not there intended purpose I know as they are intended to be stacked in series or parallel as a shock absorber but I've often put them under bolt heads where vibration can be an issue and they are miles better than standard spring washers.
Down side- proper Belleville springs are expensive and cheap copies squash flat and deform. The proper ones always hold a bolt head under tension. Unlike spring washers you can double up or treble up on a disc spring and they double up on spring strength.

We use them in mould tools and you can flatten them, each size has a specific load. Like any spring they have a life cycle depending on how much they are compressed/number of times. Heat also has a impact on life.

Now tbh not heard of them being used for anti-loosening. That doesn't mean they won't work long term after all you are only compressing once. Sounds like you have a positive experience anyway.

 

[Richard.]

each size has a specific load.

Each size does have a specific load but you can increase that load by increasing the amount of washers you use or as you say select a thicker washer
they work very well at holding a bolt head under tension. I used to build automated welding systems a good few years ago and they were primarily used on small travelling motor adjustments where a motor was geared into a rack and the adjusted point was under spring tension from a stack of disc springs. This was obviously one of there intended purposes but ive found they are equally as good at holding bolt heads under tension from vibration. They aren't as good as Nords given they don't have the notches associated with nords washers but it does work with a couple of standard Belleville's very well indeed. It's just another option to consider

 

[Rocketman]

Each size does have a specific load but you can increase that load by increasing the amount of washers you use or as you say select a thicker washer
they work very well at holding a bolt head under tension. I used to build automated welding systems a good few years ago and they were primarily used on small travelling motor adjustments where a motor was geared into a rack and the adjusted point was under spring tension from a stack of disc springs. This was obviously one of there intended purposes but ive found they are equally as good at holding bolt heads under tension from vibration. They aren't as good as Nords given they don't have the notches associated with nords washers but it does work with a couple of standard Belleville's very well indeed. It's just another option to consider

Yeah basically you double the load rating of the disc if you add a second which sounds pretty obvious really when you say it.

 

[Richard.]

Yeah basically you double the load rating of the disc if you add a second which sounds pretty obvious really when you say it.

Only if they are used in parallel of course. In series the load rate wouldn't change