# O-ring lubricant



## St8kout (Nov 9, 2006)

*Can I use these to lubricate o-rings?*

As I understand it, any silicone lubricant can be used, right?

I have some generic 'Bulb Grease' and a sample packet of STP's Son of a Gun protectant/lubricant. Both are silicone, but one's a grease and the other a liquid. Which one is better to use for weatherproofing a Fenix L2T and a Stiker VG?


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## Codeman (Nov 9, 2006)

*Re: Can I use these to lubricate o-rings?*

I've been using a 100% pure silicone grease for several years now.


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## greenLED (Nov 9, 2006)

*Re: Can I use these to lubricate o-rings?*

grease; the liquid will invariably find its way onto contacts and may affect functioning


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## NutSAK (Nov 9, 2006)

*Re: Can I use these to lubricate o-rings?*

"Bulb" grease is silicone dielectric compound. It will work ok, but it's usually kinda sticky. It will seal the o-rings well, but might make it harder to turn.


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## bitslammer (Nov 9, 2006)

*Re: Can I use these to lubricate o-rings?*

I've had good results with Super Lube: http://www.super-lube.com/product_description.htm

The small tube of "grease" can usually be found in any automotive store and sometimes bike shops.


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## evanlocc (Nov 9, 2006)

*Re: Can I use these to lubricate o-rings?*

I using the Vaseline since... 

Good for dry hand and O-ring!


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## Illum (Nov 9, 2006)

*Re: Can I use these to lubricate o-rings?*



evanlocc said:


> I using the Vaseline since...
> 
> Good for dry hand and O-ring!




just to note, 

if your lubing surefire lights, Surefire doesnt recommend the use of any petroleum based lubricants as it causes the o-rings to swell


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## St8kout (Nov 10, 2006)

*Re: Can I use these to lubricate o-rings?*

Funny how they exiled this thread about flashlight o-rings out of the 'General Flashlight Discussion' into non-flashlight no-mans land


Maybe I should have titled it something like:

"GENERAL FLASHLIGHT (o-ring) DISCUSSION" 

Ok, now that I got that off my chest I'll just go back to my corner now.


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## tomdooley62 (Dec 6, 2006)

*O ring Lube*

Saw some stuff at Wal Mart around the paintball gun accs. It was called Liquid Fire. Says to be used to lubricate o rings on paint ball guns. Bought me some and put it on one of my china "Police" lights. So far no swelling of or ings and it stays in place rather well. Was only about 2.97 I believe. The also had a 10 pack of orings to be used on paint ball guns. Not exactly sure where they would be used on a pb gun but they looked pretty robust. Might make some excellent replacement rings for certain applications

Went to Dollar tree and found a 3 pack of nite glo putty. This stuff glows like crazy!

All this is just for info, any comments would be welcome.


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## RCatR (Dec 6, 2006)

*Re: O ring Lube*

Those O rings are for making a seal between the tank of gas(CO2) and the paintball marker


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## TooManyGizmos (Dec 6, 2006)

*Re: O ring Lube*

O-ring lube has been covered pretty thoroughly on this forum the last few months.... in many threads.


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## k46825 (Dec 8, 2006)

Hi all, I have a few 2 AA Maglites and an Arc-AAA Premium. I get the feeling that the O-rings need some fixing up because turning the heads has become harder. I have read that silicon grease is the way to go. Where can I get that? More specificaly, does anyone know any stores in Vancouver, Canada, to get the grease? Any online store listing this would also help.

Thanks.


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## blahblahblah (Dec 8, 2006)

Silicone grease is readily available at your local dive shop. If you're looking for something that is not quite as 'heavy duty' you can use nyogel. Nyogel is available at lighthound.com.


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## MarNav1 (Dec 8, 2006)

+1 for the Nyogel. Plus Lighthound is a great dealer to buy from as well. Just go easy
on the lube, you don't need much. And welcome to CPF!


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## EsthetiX (Dec 8, 2006)

I read silicond grease can really mess up some rubbers.

I used some extra virgin olive oil from the kitchen and it worked like a charm. Is this a bad idea? I never hear anyone mention it.


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## Flying Turtle (Dec 8, 2006)

I thought it was vaseline (petroleum jelly) that could damage some O-rings and that silicone grease was okay. I've never had a problem with silicone.

Geoff


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## TooManyGizmos (Dec 8, 2006)

Quote from esthetiX :

I used some *extra virgin olive oil* from the kitchen and it worked like a charm. Is this a bad idea? I never hear anyone mention it.





I did ............
.


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## walkabout (Dec 9, 2006)

Hi, I struggled with this question about a year ago. Vaseline gums and sticks after a while and is said to degrade rubber seals. Liquid lubricants tend to collect dirt and migrate into flashlight internals.

The manual for my Princeton Tecs said "use silicone-based grease and no other." After a bit of digging on the Web, I discovered that polydimethylsiloxane is the stuff you need.

After poking around a bit, I discovered this it's available at any automotive store under the name "dielectric tune-up grease." It seems to work fine for "above water" flashlights, and it doesn't gum up over time. Got a lifetime supply at Cdn. Tire for under ten bucks.

A caution, though: I don't know the purity of this stuff. If I was relying on a diving light for life-and-limb, I'd pay the boutique price from the dive shop.


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## Unicorn (Dec 13, 2006)

If it's natural rubber then most oils and greases are bad, even vegetable and animal based oils, like olive oil.
Synthetic orings should be able to handle just about anything.
If the oring were to be made from silicone, using a silicone lube or grease could cause swelling.
Plumbing supply stores often have 100% silicone grease. The dielectric tune-up grease should also work fine. It's the stuff used on sparkplug boots. It's not as pure as the stuff you can find at dive shops or hardware stores.
Nyogel comes in two types, conductive and nonconductive. They are (were?) the standard lubes used and recommended by Surefire.


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## SimplyJ (Dec 13, 2006)

I bought a small container of silicon grease from Lowes. I assume that you can find it at Home Depot also. It's pretty expensive, $5 for a less than an ounce, but you don't need to use alot and it last for quite a while.


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## FsTop (Dec 13, 2006)

I don't think that natural rubber o-rings have been made in many years - they have all been made of synthetic rubbers for many years.

Don't worry about the lube damaging the o-ring - use whatever lubricant gives the 'feel' you prefer. 

BTW, silicone greases tend to creep forever and attract dust like crazy, without actually being good lubricants.

I find that a light grease works nicely and minimizes the amount that gets into the works, unlike an oil which can migrate around the inside of the light.


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## wylde21 (Dec 13, 2006)

As has been stated above, the best o-ring lube is silicone grease. The two best common sources:

"'tune-up' grease" from auto supply store. Example: http://www.autoaccessconnect.com/digr.html
"plumbers grease" from hardware or plumbing supply store. Example:
http://plumbing.hardwarestore.com/51-286-lubricants/plumber''s-grease-195057.aspx


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## S.mac (Dec 13, 2006)

wow I just got back from the store just to get that "plumbers grease" it that pic for my lights O-rings


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## Unicorn (Dec 14, 2006)

*Re: O ring Lube*



tomdooley62 said:


> Saw some stuff at Wal Mart around the paintball gun accs. It was called Liquid Fire. Says to be used to lubricate o rings on paint ball guns. Bought me some and put it on one of my china "Police" lights. So far no swelling of or ings and it stays in place rather well. Was only about 2.97 I believe. The also had a 10 pack of orings to be used on paint ball guns. Not exactly sure where they would be used on a pb gun but they looked pretty robust. Might make some excellent replacement rings for certain applications
> 
> Went to Dollar tree and found a 3 pack of nite glo putty. This stuff glows like crazy!
> 
> All this is just for info, any comments would be welcome.




I just use the Hoppes #9 oil in the orange bottle on my Tippmann. It used to be their recomended lube.
The 10 pack orings are the ones that seal the CO2 or compressed air tanks to the gun. Pretty good sized and most likely whitish?


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## Bill97z (Dec 14, 2006)

I use gummi pfledge

http://www.drivewerks.net/catalog/shopcart/CARE/POR_CARE_einszt_pg10.htm


I been using this on my BMW for yrs and it works great on rubber.


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