Ive used Superlube for a few years now and like it a lot. A $9 tube will last forever and I use it on other stuff as well. Non toxic synthetic and dielectric as well and won’t cause nitrile or silicone orings to swell or break down like petroleum grease.
silicone is synthetic, it is not a petroleum product
and it does not harm Nitrile O rings
superlube has products that do not contain silicone and are not compatible with nitrile O rings, shown is this chart,
Some Superlube products use silicone, and those Are compatible w Nitrile O rings.
I tried some superlube (not sure exactly which, it was a sample from a friend), it was a white tacky substance, and it was too sticky for my threads and O rings. I removed the Superlube. I prefer Nyogel 760g
Here is a Superlube product specifically for O rings, it is a Silicone product… I have not tried it, but I dont doubt it could work. Silicone is good stuff…
I have a tube of Dow Corning 111 Valve Lubricant & Sealant and have been using it for o-ring lube for at least 30 years. It has been fine on my flashlights, but I recently tried Super Lube and it also works well.
Since it’s on anodized threads, I hadn’t noticed a difference. Usually wipe electrical contact points clean regularly… Yet, worth testing, as it unavoidably does move around a bit.
Another chance to win flashaholic converts. Have you heard the good news, bees?
Moly grease is usually thick, and not necessarily intended for things that need to have a low coefficient of friction like an auto knife. It is intended for extreme pressure applications like motorcycle/ automotive suspension parts or wheel bearings. I would be hesitant to use it on a knife or gun since it can get cold in my area and its use in low temp applications will cause it to become too stiff to operate properly. The other reason not to, is because of the fact that it is gray in color and very much like the plague- hard to not spread around and get on everything.
Really, has there been any significant progress over the last decade? I have a feeling that the cheepest lube from China that is compatible with your o-ring chemistry is not notably worse than those super lubes….
Nyogel 760G is not ideal as an o-ring lubricant. I’ve found that it separates and thickens, assuming the stuff I bought is genuine. I have doubts about the gun and knife oil being promoted here as well. Some of those might be incompatible with Nitrile / Buna-N o-rings.
The people that make the KPL (knife pivot lube) do not recommend it for use on flashlight threads because it may cause the rubber o rings to swell; I use it anyway on my Lumintop AA and AAA with no problems. These lights are outside in Florida 24/7.
Wlll update as time goes on.
Bats are changed every 2 days as they are in 5 lanterns.
This stuff does make them threads smoothern a spanked baby’s ace on the 4th of July with the sun a shinin’.
I use whatever I have that’s lying around. Right now it’s some silicone grease that I bought many years ago. In my mind what lub to use on flashlights is the same as what lub to use on guns. My opinion is 1) people don’t do any scientific/rigid testing to determine which is the best (and that would be impossible to do without the right equipment and knowledge), and 2) the lubs are pretty much all the same in what they’re doing.
I’ve used silicon grease, Tri-Flow, cheap spray oil, Mobil One, etc and I can’t say that I’ve noticed any difference at all.