Good lubricant for O rings and threads?

Permatex Dielectric Grease (made for spark plug boots and battery terminals) has worked for me for years as a budget silicone grease and it’s never caused harm to any of my o-rings, but as stated who knows what they are made of.

I got some Oatey silicone plumbers grease which is supposed to be almost pure but it’s not thick enough for me.

I’ve used Slip 2000 EWG (grease) in a pinch.

BTW, i’ve put different types of o-rings in seperate ziploc bags, saturated each with these lubes and left them for 2+ years (still in there actually), and cant tell a difference between them and the control samples stored in the open at room temp. The only o-rings i have in the bags that i am certain of the type is Viton for what it’s worth. The others…who knows what they’re made of.

Tidbit: The dielectric grease is also good for light bulb sockets, super thin layer on the bulb threads helps prevent seizing :+1: !

Get some Dow Corning high vacuum grease. It is made for this type of stuff. I put some in my Zephal HP bicycle pump and it went from 120 psi to more than 160 PSI. I actually cracked a rim testing the limits of the pump. I can’t see there is anything in a flashlight that is not in the pump. That is aluminum and O rings. About $20 for a half ounce tube.

Electricity :wink:
Some lights have bare threads through which the current must flow.

Dielectric Grease all the way! It waterproofs and insulates electrical connections. It’s safe for the O-rings too.

On CPF, I had read that Mobil 1 synthetic red grease in the grease gun tube worked well. I bought some for my lights and for repacking bicycle bearings and it’s worked very well. It has a strange smell but once the light is screwed together, it wasn’t noticeable.

Same here. It’s kind of pricey but I’ve been using the same tube since about 2007 on numerous lights. A little bit goes a long way. Great stuff.

2012 here and I still have a lot left.

I may even try and repack my SWM V11R with it!

Chris

I think I got mine around the same time, Can’t even hardly tell I have used any. I got a Lifetime Supply I guess.
It probably work in the V11R, might make it less resistive to turn.

Sil-glyde too. Always used it on my caliper slider pins and now on my flashlights.

I’m amazed no one’s linked CPF’s thread on the matter. It’s very comprehensive.

I use Super Lube on everything.

There's seems to be many variants of super lube. Is the one you're talking about link

Yes, that’s the one. US amazon link.

Thanks, might get a tube never tried it before.

Nitecore Silicon Lube.

Liteflux Silicone Lube. Enough for the next years… :laughing:

Pricey:

Molykote 55
Molykote 111

Cheap:

Olive-oil

The “preferred” Super Lube 21030 Synthetic Grease is also sold at most Harbor Freight stores, so those fortunate (or unfortunate?) enough to live near one can use one of their ubiquitous 20% off coupons for an even better deal (which CAN be combined with a free flashlight coupon = flashaholic Nirvana).

So many choices, but there are basically only 2 types:

  1. hydrocarbon based (petroleum)
  2. silicone based

HYDROCARBON
Vaseline/petroleum jelly
Mineral oil
Food oils
Waxes like paraffin and beeswax
Super Lube
Nyogel
Nano Oil

SILICONE
The greases sold by most flashlight brands
Plumbing and scuba greases, I hear

YES, the beloved Nyogel and Nano Oil are petroleum-based. Don’t take my word for it, here’s the MSDS of Nano Oil: http://www.nano-oil.com/Nano-Oil_MSDS_NLNA-5-10-85_20070415\_.pdf

- Highly Solvent Refined Paraffinic Petroleum Oil

- Extremely Hydrotreated Heavy Naphthenic Mineral Oil

  • Detergent, Inhibitor & Dispersant System Highly refined Mineral base Stock distillates
    So those o-rings that work with Nano Oil? I think they’ll be fine with vaseline.

But the way I see it, hydrocarbon greases are the safest bet. As flydiver said, both petroleum and silicone o-rings will be resistant to hydrocarbon/petroleum greases.
BUT silicone greases will attack silicone o-rings. We’re just lucky no flashlight manufacturer uses silicone o-rings.

It says dielectric. Shouldn't make any difference, but if a flashlight had a mechanical lockout and the anodized threads were just a little worn, wouldn't the dielectric grease make it even easier to make electrical contact and disable the mechanical lockout?