Silicone grease for torches, which is the best?

[Sirstinky]

SuperLube. It’s like $8 for a tube and that’s good for a long time plus use it for other stuff too! Works great in my ratchets and bearings. Plus it’s not really toxic.

[jon_slider]

@Sirstinky

SuperLube.

sounds like a winner

the top two in that old lube thread on cpf are
nyogel 760
superlube

[Majoroverkill]

I just looked up NyoGel 760G, that stuff is expensive, 23 dollars for 2 ounces! I’ll have to pick up a tube, must be good stuff
https://www.amazon.com/NyoGel-760G-Dielectric-Synthetic-Grease/dp/B07FD145CP/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&hvadid=77927939921327&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=nyogel+760&qid=1601351763&sr=8-1&tag=mh0b-20

[Lightbringer]

@Majoroverkill

I just looked up NyoGel 760G, that stuff is expensive, 23 dollars for 2 ounces! I’ll have to pick up a tube, must be good stuff :+1:

That’s why it’s the #1 lube at The Other Website. :smiling_imp:

[Lightbringer]

@Robin Dobbie

What about uh… personal lubricant? I only ask because it’s cheap and readily available. I’m afraid to google it. I don’t want the algorithm to be confused about what I do with my flashlights.

Just make sure you use an ‘a’ and not an ‘e’…

[Majoroverkill]

@Lightbringer

@Majoroverkill

I just looked up NyoGel 760G, that stuff is expensive, 23 dollars for 2 ounces! I’ll have to pick up a tube, must be good stuff :+1:

That’s why it’s the #1 lube at The Other Website. :smiling_imp:

AH, ok. Wait, there’s another website?

[Majoroverkill]

@Lightbringer

@Robin Dobbie

What about uh… personal lubricant? I only ask because it’s cheap and readily available. I’m afraid to google it. I don’t want the algorithm to be confused about what I do with my flashlights.

Just make sure you use an ‘a’ and not an ‘e’…

:laughing: :laughing:

[kennybobby]

It may not matter for flashlights, but silicone lubricants and greases are not allowed in the building or anywhere near telescope lens or reflectors, glass or metal. Silicone will outgas and coat the surface with an impossible-to-remove film. The film prevents the addition of desired optical surface coatings and finishes, and destroys the performance of the optic.

That said, Dow Corning makes good silicone greases for vacuum chamber sealing with both conductive and dielectric varieties. But if the threads of the flashlight are used to carry current then a dielectric grease would not be recommended. The internet has lots of pictures of melted and burnt connectors, damaged alternators and regulators on motorcycle forums where folks filled the connectors full of dielectric grease to keep out moisture.

One good use of dielectric grease was on the porcelain insulator on spark plugs. Keeps moisture and dirt out, and lubricates the boot. Haven’t had to change plugs in such a long time they never wear out.

[power911]

@kennybobby

It may not matter for flashlights, but silicone lubricants and greases are not allowed in the building or anywhere near telescope lens or reflectors, glass or metal. Silicone will outgas and coat the surface with an impossible-to-remove film. The film prevents the addition of desired optical surface coatings and finishes, and destroys the performance of the optic.

That said, Dow Corning makes good silicone greases for vacuum chamber sealing with both conductive and dielectric varieties. But if the threads of the flashlight are used to carry current then a dielectric grease would not be recommended. The internet has lots of pictures of melted and burnt connectors, damaged alternators and regulators on motorcycle forums where folks filled the connectors full of dielectric grease to keep out moisture.

One good use of dielectric grease was on the porcelain insulator on spark plugs. Keeps moisture and dirt out, and lubricates the boot. Haven’t had to change plugs in such a long time they never wear out.

wait that sounds like bad news for both silicone and dielectric grease

[lampliter]

Nyogel;been using it for years, works great.

Seems to smooth out threads on cheap lights. ( I have many)

[jon_slider]

@moderator007

I have a big tube of the TEF-GEL also. Pretty sure it has a high concentration of Teflon (PTFE) but it has a very sticky base. It also has a high viscosity which makes it in the dampening grease category. Teflon works extremely well to lube titanium, with its anti-galling properties. It it is a thicker high viscosity lube, just keep that it mind.

excellent comments

I just put Tef-Gel you sent me on a Thrunite T10T. I agree it is very sticky. It does a very good job of preventing me from feeling the titanum threads grinding on each other. It also makes the O ring slide smoothly.

I agree it is thick and makes unscrewing the light a bit more slow, and resistant than thinner lubricants.

I find Munky Spunk more slippery, but also thinner. I have put it on another T10T and I can feel the titanium thread grittyness, and it is less resistant to unscrewing, as it makes the O ring slide more easily.

Remains to be seen how well the TefGel maintains its viscosity, I will not be happy if it becomes dryer and resists unscrewing any more than it does. But I respect the comment that the material does not dry out.

My initial impressions is
TefGel is for sake of example, a 90 weight lubricant, while the Munky Spunk is a 50 weight lubricant. Those are not factual values, just my attempt to give a relative density comparison.

I do think Tef-Gel is a viable, inexpensive option for threads and O rings.
I like Munky Spunk a bit better for O rings, but a bit less for titanium threads.

Another lube I find works well on O rings is Nano Oil, but it is too thin to prevent Ti threads from grinding on each other. And Nano Oil evaporates, so though that is good for depositing micro lube on metal, it is not stable on O rings, and needs reapplying periodically.

[jon_slider]

Update
I have been testing Tef-Gel for the last 3 weeks, by itself on a Titanium TCR-1, and also on some copper Maratacs.

Unfortunately it has become too firm, and I find the lights unpleasant, and more difficult than necessary, to unscrew.

I do not recommend Tef-Gel for O rings because it is too thick and sticky. Otoh, it is very good for hiding the gritty feeling of titanium threads.

I have gone back to using Nano Oil on the Orings.

[nocturne]

I have been using Vaseline, but I have had enough of that so I just ordered a tube of Motorcraft XG-12

[Thetasigma]

Superlube silicone grease is cheap, relatively easy to find local, and has PFTE in it, alternatively a tube of dielectric grease from an auto parts store would do similarly well but without the PFTE additive.

I’m fond of Krytox greases, particularly on titanium, but it is prohibitively expensive to buy just for a light or two.

[Hugh_Johnson]

Using Permatex Multi-Purpose synthetic grease. It makes the thread smooth but also a bit stiff to turn.

[malkoff_junkie]

NO OX ID

[power911]

@Thetasigma

Superlube silicone grease is cheap, relatively easy to find local, and has PFTE in it, alternatively a tube of dielectric grease from an auto parts store would do similarly well but without the PFTE additive.

I’m fond of Krytox greases, particularly on titanium, but it is prohibitively expensive to buy just for a light or two.

If you visit the mechanical keyboard community you can get a few grades of Krytox for as low as 5gm. Though I don’t think you will get the titanium variants

[wstrachan]

people may laugh but I have always used the blue chap-stick and it works wonderfully

[Weltool]

You can try Weltool FG1 grease, available at banggood