Q: Lubricating a burner valve on an old range

[Deguza]

Hello all,

I have a 65-year-old range. The knobs are difficult to turn.

I'm thinking of lubricating the valves with an off-the-shelf lubricant such as Alfa – Lo-Two – Four Oz Super Lube Oil instead of the more expensive grease I'm finding online for "antique" stoves.

Would it make a difference?

Deguza

[trader_4]

IDK, but grease and lubricant oil have different properties. The oil is
thinner, will work it's way easily into tight spaces. Grease typically
isn't going anywhere unless you get it where it needs to go. Are you
taking the valve apart?

[Dean Hoffman]

Would graphite be an option?

[Uncle Monster]

Use the proper lubricant or you could have problems. TOAC has a lot of information on the care and feeding of old appliances. ヽ(ヅ)ノ

http://www.antiquestoves.com/toac/valvec1.htm

[8~{} Uncle Gassy Monster

[Iggy]

replying to Deguza, Iggy wrote:
You definitely don't have any antique setup, so don't use that grease stuff.
Use one of your oils instead and just drip, squirt or spray it around the
knob's shaft to get them free-turning again. You likely just need to soften
and even flush out debris and light corrosion. Here's a video example of a
slightly newer valve being freed-up, to give you an idea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftxAY9y63Hw

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/maintenance/q-lubricating-a-burner-valve-on-an-old-range-1147938-.htm

[Colonel Edmund J. Burke]

Try some K-Y Jelly.

[dpb]

On 20-Oct-17 1:20 PM, Deguza wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I have a 65-year-old range. The knobs are difficult to turn.
>
> I'm thinking of lubricating the valves with an off-the-shelf

> lubricantsuch as Alfa – Lo-Two – Four Oz Super Lube Oil instead of the more

> expensive grease I'm finding online for "antique" stoves.
>
> Would it make a difference?

The only effective way to use the greases is to pull the valve stem from
the core and repack it.

More than likely you can get a thin oil down the stem some; whether
it'll get to the surface of the mating cone/cylinder sufficiently to
loosen the valve operation is hit-or-miss...depends on just where and
how badly they actual binding is.

Can't really hurt in reasonable amounts...

The valve grease (typical product BASO YY70AA) isn't all _that_
expensive given that a 2-oz tube will outlast your lifetime of need.

But, if you go look at the MSDS you'll find it's basically a moly-based
grease with some specific formulation.

I've redone brass cutoff valves in which the original grease has
hardened and/or been carried out of the working area simply using a
standard gun grease -- the only real issue is they're typically a little
less viscous and somewhat more messy to have to be a little more
judicious in application.

The grease will work into the pores and provide sealing as well as
lubrication; I also routinely use it on the sealing faces of unions for
example. Just keep it out of the actual piping and where it needs must
be...

--

[Colonel Edmund J. Burke]

Use some on yer bum, too.