CarTech Ecolube II is a nonmetallic lubricant which is applied as a thin coating onto heading-grade wire. The coating is a tenaciously adhering solid film which does not deteriorate, is not hygroscopic, exhibits long shelf life and is thermally stable. Ecolube II prevents metal-to-metal contact and provides protection against die wear, prevents seizure, scoring, galling and welding of metal parts. This is accomplished through the special formulation of CarTech Ecolube II, whose basic component is molybdenum disulfide. This compound exhibits a decreasing coefficient of friction as contact pressures increase. These properties permit the coating to withstand high-impact forces, severe upsettings, difficult shank extrusions and warm heading.

The development of CarTech Ecolube II, a nonmetallic lubricant for heading, was undertaken by Carpenter in response to several needs of the cold heading industry. The most important of these was the ecological problem associated with the removal of copper coatings and the disposal of the resultant spent acid. It was apparent that a nonmetallic coating was needed which would replace copper, while offering similar or superior lubricating properties.

The seven criteria established by Carpenter for a suitable cold heading lubricant were:
1. Easy to apply and control.
2. Exhibits excellent extrudability and cold headability.
3. Relatively easy to remove following fabrication.
4. Stable and exhibits good shelf life.
5. Components are nonpolluting and nontoxic.
6. Thermally stable and suitable for warm heading.
7. Competitive in price to copper coating.

Extensive field testing of coated coils by cold heading shops representing a cross-section of the industry proved that CarTech Ecolube II provided similar or superior lubricating properties to copper. Concurrently, an independent study was performed at a leading university on extrusion and frictional properties on stainless steel. The purpose was to compare the heading and extrusion qualities of CarTech Ecolube II to three other coating systems: regular copper plus soap, heavy copper plus molybdenum disulfide and soap, and grease drawn lubricants. The total results of these studies showed that Ecolube II outperformed the other coatings in terms of the observed frictional coefficients and ease of extrusion at all reductions.

Removal:
Although CarTech Ecolube II tightly adheres to the surface of work pieces, even through multistage operations, the coating can be removed by placing the fabricated parts into dilute hot alkaline cleaning solutions (0.2 lb./gal.) at temperatures from 160 to 190°F. Immersion times of four to eight minutes without agitation are sufficient to loosen the coating from the metal surface. Only a portion of the coating is actually removed by stationary treatments, but the balance of the coating can be readily removed by rinsing the parts with water. There are advantages in time savings and removal efficiency if some form of motion during the cleaning operation would be employed, such as agitators, vibratory baskets, tumblers, ultrasonics or circulating solutions.

For certain applications, some customers prefer to have the dual coatings of copper and an CarTech Ecolube II overcoat on their raw materials. The practice used in removing copper remnants from fabricated parts (dilute nitric acid digestion) should be effective in simultaneously removing copper and CarTech Ecolube II. The coatings could also be separately removed by initially immersing the parts into an alkaline cleaning solution followed by exposure to nitric acid.

Toxicology and Disposal:

The ingredients of CarTech Ecolube II are nontoxic and nonpolluting, and there are no known regulations governing the disposal of the components. The limiting disposal factor may be the cleaning solutions containing the components.

Availability:

From the mill, the heading wire can be supplied as CarTech Ecolube II coated and cold drawn to finish size in either soaps or oils, depending on customer needs. Coils can also be supplied as CarTech Ecolube II coated without final cold drawing.

Applications:
Most heading shops use lubrication on the wire entering the heading machine as well as lubrication within the machine. CarTech Ecolube II coated wire has been found to be compatible with soaps and oils used in these operations. Highly alkaline conditions in this respect should be avoided since they may adversely affect total lubricity.