Is Vasilene OK to lubricate O rings?
Steve
water where the spout enters the body of the tap so I replaced the
rubber? neoprene? O ring and that stopped the seepage just fine. The
trouble is this spout swivels and it is now a bit stiff. I think
silicone grease on the O ring might be what I need to ease it, but I
can't get any easily without a 30 mile drive. Would vasilene be a safe
and effective substitute?
TIA,
Steve
Rod
Vaseline is known to make rubber (at least, some rubber) perish. So the
answer appears to depend on the exact nature of the washer. I'd guess
that you cannot easily find that out either - so wait to get some
silicone grease.
Other than plumbing suppliers, try bike and motor bike shops, scuba,
electronic and electrical and white good spares suppliers, tool shops,
gun shops, and there are dozens, maybe hundreds, of on-line suppliers.
--
Rod
Gordon Henderson
As a SCUBA diver, I'd suggest you avoid SCUBA shops - they'll charge
you an absolute fortune for a tiny gob of silicone grease... And don't
get me started about the the prices they charge for the Oxygen compatable
stuff either!!!
E.g. Maplin - not always the cheapest, but a 50g tube is �3.99.
Simply Scuba: 25g tube: �7.00.
Go figure.
Gordon
Rod
<>
> As a SCUBA diver, I'd suggest you avoid SCUBA shops - they'll charge
> you an absolute fortune for a tiny gob of silicone grease... And don't
> get me started about the the prices they charge for the Oxygen compatable
> stuff either!!!
>
> E.g. Maplin - not always the cheapest, but a 50g tube is �3.99.
>
> Simply Scuba: 25g tube: �7.00.
>
> Go figure.
>
> Gordon
I do take your point - and the same might apply to the other possible
sources, but I did see something like 7ml for £2.99 at one scuba outlet.
Outrageous but to save a 30 mile drive (or is that 60 mile round trip?),
maybe worth it?
--
Rod
cynic
Talk to a plumber or gas fitter, even a builder who lays plastic
drains. They all use the stuff
Dave Osborne
> Steve <steve...@blueyonder.co.uk>
> wibbled on Saturday 16 January 2010 18:20
>
> Buy some silicone grease for potable use from BES or your local proper
> plumbing shop.
>
or Ebay. Don't buy heatsink grease. It's got stuff mixed in.
Grimly Curmudgeon
drugs began to take hold. I remember Steve <steve...@blueyonder.co.uk>
saying something like:
> Would vasilene be a safe
>and effective substitute?
Halford (or any decent motor factor, which doesn't automatically include
Halford) brake grease, which is designed to be kind to rubber seals, as
you would expect. Dead common and dead cheap.
Usenet Nutter
And you can buy silicone spray which is good for a few things
including lubricating curtain rails or spraying on car door rubber
seals as two examples .
Dave
If the O ring was neoprene, then vasilene *should* be OK.
If it O ring was made of silicone rubber then only a silicone lubricant
will do, but I can't see silicone being used for potable water.
It's been a long time since I worked on this sort of problem.
Dave
Andy Dingley
> I think
> silicone grease on the O ring might be what I need to ease it, but I
> can't get any easily without a 30 mile drive. Would vasilene be a safe
> and effective substitute?
Yes. It's petroleum based so natural rubber won't like it, but no
seals are made of natural rubber any more. O rings have never been
natural rubber.
(Even seals that ought to be, and used to be, natural rubber aren't
any more.)
You can also use KY, but that leaches out in water service.
Andy Dingley
> Vaseline is known to make rubber (at least, some rubber) perish.
It doesn't perish - that's caused by oxidation, or vulcanisation. The
effect of hydrocarbons on natural rubber is to make them soften and
swell, often causing jamming, sometimes causing swelling, rapid wear
and then leaking. Methanol is even used as a deliberate swelling
agent to revitalise old rubber seals.
The _worst_ thing for rubber seals is either ozone (well known), or
garlic puree. Food machinery that handles garlic used to have a real
problem with seals perishing. Possibly olive oil too, if there's an
olive expert hereabouts?
Dave
> Dave <dave...@btopenworld.com>
> wibbled on Saturday 16 January 2010 22:27
>
> I *think* it's here, but bes have just gone down...
>
> www.bes.co.uk/products/110.asp
>
> You are looking for potable silicone grease. There is a high temperature
> version (actually the one I have) which presumably would be advisable as the
> tap carries how water.
Many thanks for that correction, I wasn't aware of the potable silicone
grease.
I come from the aerospace industry, where the wrong grease could result
in the loss of lives. Fuel O rings had to have an industrial petroleum
grease and air and Nitrogen had to have silicone based grease. All
because of the chemistry of the rubber.
Dave
Steve Firth
> Would vasilene be a safe and effective substitute?
No, you'll have to use vaseline.
The Medway Handyman
> On 16/01/2010 19:14, Gordon Henderson wrote:
> <>
>> As a SCUBA diver, I'd suggest you avoid SCUBA shops - they'll charge
>> you an absolute fortune for a tiny gob of silicone grease... And
>> don't get me started about the the prices they charge for the Oxygen
>> compatable stuff either!!!
>>
>>
>> Simply Scuba: 25g tube: ?7.00.
>>
>> Go figure.
>>
>> Gordon
>
> I do take your point - and the same might apply to the other possible
> sources, but I did see something like 7ml for �2.99 at one scuba
> outlet. Outrageous but to save a 30 mile drive (or is that 60 mile
> round trip?), maybe worth it?
How bout this?
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Plumbing/Consumables/Plumbers+Grease+57+grms/d20/sd2711/p34053
�2.57 for 57 grams, only got to make the order up to �10 for free delivery -
must be something else you need?
--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
Rick Hughes
"Steve" <steve...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:asn4n.5536$fc3...@newsfe26.ams2...
Plumbers merchants sell silicon grease for this ... a small pot would
probably last you a lifetime.
Or a can of silicone spray from RS or similar.
Scuaba shops also sell it as seal lube ... (will be on eBay Scuba shops)
Steve
dyslexia lures KO
Grimly Curmudgeon
<rick_hughes@remove_me.btconnect.com> saying something like:
>Scuaba shops also sell it as seal lube ...
The durty bastards!
Steve
grease online. Only a 50g tube, but it will last me several lifetimes.
Steve
Usenet Nutter
And they can give you a bad bite if you don't do it right ..lol
Gib Bogle
That's interesting. All I know about garlic is that is contains sulphur compounds.
Gib Bogle
Basterds.
Andy Dingley
> That's interesting. All I know about garlic is that is contains sulphur compounds.
Yes. As does wool and especially wool felt.
So either of them need to be kept well away from silver, or (to a
lesser extent) from natural rubber. If you're lining a jewellery box,
use silk, cotton or synthetics (and a few of those need to be avoided
too), never wool or felt.
I have an old coat, which I'd guess at being around 1890 or so. It's a
felted woolen fabric (Loden) and has patent moulded rubber buttons.
These are perished quite badly (shanks are breaking) and unusually
they're worse on the back, in contact with the cloth, rather than the
front that was in the light.
Steve
If you need any of this stuff I recommend farnell.co.uk.
I ordered it online about about 5pm. It cost about �4.50, with free
delivery. It arrived via UPS (in the east of Scotland) around 10:30 the
next morning. I call that impressive.
Grimly Curmudgeon
<din...@codesmiths.com> saying something like:
Now that's interesting. I recall coming across rubber buttons that had
gone exactly the same way, on similar aged garments and had just assumed
it was the rubber ageing process, through being exposed to atmospheric
pollutants and heat, cold, etc.
Every day's a schoolday, in here.