If there’s one thing a farmer, a miner, a sailor and a builder have in common, lubrication expert David Bailey believes it’s that they all have to deal with rust. 

“Everybody has corrosion. Everybody has nuts and bolts and when time comes to undo these fasteners, there’s a big chance that the bolt may get stuck or even break into half. And everybody knows what a nightmare that can be,” says David, CRC Industries’ National Business Development Manager for Mining. 

Just over a decade ago, CRC introduced CRC Penetr8 to address that very issue. Designed with a 360-degree nozzle, the Penetr8 aerosol can be sprayed in any angle and to penetrate deep into seized, bound or frozen fasteners and loosen them. 

According to David, the product is still a market leader with its penetrating power and the speed at which it leads results. As a bonus, it is also cheaper than its closest competitors.

“Penetr8 outperforms all other penetrants on the market. It has been tested as per the relevant ASTM test and proven to penetrate 10.5 centimeters within 60 seconds. That’s more than double some products on the market and over two centimeters more than its closest competitor,” says David.

Be it on a farm or in a mining plant, speed is a key factor when it comes to loosening rusty connections. As David likes to put it, “Why wait 30 minutes for your rust remover to do its job when you can do the same thing in two minutes?”

The story of how the CRC Penetr8 was developed by CRC is also an interesting one.

“A local Council was doing repair and maintenance on old bridges and the crew had major issues removing bolts that had corroded over many decades. Multi-purpose rust removers were not powerful enough to meet such requirements. So, the CRC team began working on a new formula for such applications and so was born the Pentr8. The Council’s project was almost over when CRC launched Penetr8, but the product keeps growing in popularity.”

One of the first projects where the CRC Penetr8 was trialed was in the Gold Coast, according to David.

“We had a customer who was removing balustrades on a Gold Coast apartment block and they had broken every single bolt when removing the balustrades. This was when we had just released the CRC Penetr8, so we sent samples of the product to them and they were able to remove the rest of the balustrades without breaking any more bolts.”

Today Penetr8 aerosols are frequently used by government departments and every industry from mining to marine industry. On the paddock, farmers use the Penetr8 aerosol to remove rust from chains and fasteners in equipment that have been idle for months.

CBC, a key distributor of CRC products in Australia, has been instrumental in introducing the product to end users. Steve Keown, National Product Manager for Lubricants and Lubrication Equipment at CBC says Penetr8 is ideal for users who are looking for a more powerful rust remover than a general-purpose lubricant.

“When CBC staff introduce a product to their customers, they always keep in mind the ultimate cost and time savings. It is true that the CRC Penetr8 aerosol is dearer than some traditional penetrating fluids, but when it can help you avoid delays in your operation, who could put a price on that?” 

Features and Benefits of CRC Penetr8:

• Extreme penetrating action 

• Specially formulated to penetrate rust, dissolve varnishes and gums

• Improves performance and operating efficiency 

• Loosens rusted and corroded nuts, bolts, couplings, fittings, hinges and frozen components.