
	Friday Fax A Weekly Summary of Polywater^® News of Incredible Importance

Issue #472

Ideal's own graphs clearly show that ClearGlide™ is the worst performing lubricant in their entire line.

Hara-Kiri

In further analysis of Ideal's 8-page Lube Flyer, the release of which we view as the industrial version of hara-kiri, we now focus on ClearGlide^™ vs. Polywater^® CLR. Ideal's own graph clearly shows that ClearGlide is the worst performing lubricant in their line, supporting their printed 75-foot pull limit--way too short for most commercial applications. CLR easily outperforms ClearGlide in friction reduction, and can be safely used on much longer pulls. There are other ways to sell against ClearGlide too. Clear lube is essentially an aesthetic buy, and the market demands a clear bottle to see the handsome product. But certain clear bottles allow UV degradation, resulting in runny, prematurely aged and ineffective lube on the shelf. APC wisely packages CLR in slightly stiffer PVC bottles that offer UV protection (though admittedly make squeezing the last drop from a quart a bit harder). Ideal, unconcerned or ignorant of UV degradation, uses soft PET plastic bottles for easy squeezing. That's like pushing Lucky Strike straights over filtered ones because you can get at the tar and carbon monoxide easier. CLR means lower friction and longer shelf life. Sell Polywater CLR over ClearGlide with confidence.

Ideal's friction test methodology is suspect.

Ideal's flyer also contains a lode of industrial twaddle when it sets about to excuse the shortcuts employed in their lubricant test methods. In a long-winded paragraph citing impressive terms such as "tribology"--the science of friction--and "geometric contacts" they eventually get to the heart of the matter: "Field tests are performed using the actual materials in the actual field situation. However, developing a field test takes a long time ..." So they don't do it. Instead, they use the "Falex Corporation's Pin on Disk Tribometer System." Wow. Unfortunately, that's a strictly metal-on-metal laboratory test that in no way simulates cable pulling. They don't bother to elucidate whether the coefficients of friction (COF) quoted are averages, or which cable and conduit types were used for testing. Why? Duct and jacket materials aren't even included in the Falex test--even though they're what gets lubricated in the field! APC certainly employs laboratory testing--mostly using exclusive techniques we've developed over the decades since none existed--but the core of our research is the thousands upon thousands of back-calculated tension measurements of real-world pulls supporting our studies. Yes, this takes time, lots and lots of time. Ideal's COF claims are suspect since their methods have little relevance to actual cable pulling. Never give credence to Ideal's COF claims or allow them to go unchallenged.

The Friday Fax Editor's Joke of the Week

The Joke

Golden Moments. 1) An elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for a many years. He finally went to the doctor, who was able to fit him for a set of hearing aids that improved his hearing 100%. The old man went back to the doctor a month later and the doctor said, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again." The gentleman replied, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will three times!" 2) Two old guys from a retirement center are sitting on a bench under a tree when one turns to the other and says: "Slim, I'm 83 years old now and I'm just full of aches and pains. I know you're about my age. How do you feel?" Slim says, "I feel just like a newborn baby." "Really? Like a newborn baby?" "Yep. No hair, no teeth, and I think I just wet my pants." 3) An elderly couple had dinner at another couple's house, and after eating, the wives left the table and went into the kitchen. The two men were talking, and one said, "Last night we went out to a new restaurant and it was really great. I recommend it very highly." The other man said, "What is the name of the restaurant?" The first man thought and thought and finally said, "What is the name of that flower you give to someone you love? You know ... the one that's red and has thorns." "Do you mean a rose?" "Yes, that's the one," replied the man. He then turned towards the kitchen and yelled, "Rose, what's the name of that restaurant we went to last night?"

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American Polywater Corporation -- The world's leading manufacturer of cable pulling lubricants, cable cleaners, and MRO & construction chemicals.
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