Though castor oil ought to work very, very well. It is an excellent lubricant even under extreme conditions. It used to be used in racing engines - it makes a wonderful smell when it burns. However, it is totally incompatible with mineral oils as it forms a nasty gritty mess in contact with them so clean any previous lube out very, very thoroughly.
Corn oil would become rancid and very nasty rather quickly.
Sewing machine oil should be just fine. Best way to apply is to put a small amount onto a cloth and rub it over the threads. Then wipe much of it off with a dry cloth. Toilet paper works very well for this. Any new engine oil should be fine - I'd go for thicker stuff myself - it is less likely to come out all over hands and clothing.
DO NOT use engine oil that has been used in an engine - there are lots of nasty things in it - contact dermatitis is not unusual with it and there are a lot of strongly carcinogenic substances in it. Wear impervious gloves when handling used engine oil.
no i just applied a very small amount with a cotton wall bud I used that to work it in to the thread then reapplied screw cap opened and closed a few times and the wiped off excess. finally cleaned the rest of the light with IMS
I guess the consensus for o-rings and lube is silicone.....i know they make better stuff but for me its more like use what you have, and if it works then keep on using it right.
Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, I hope I haven’t broken any forum rules on whether this is acceptable or not.
Anyway I trust you are all well and enjoying your weekend.
I already have cans of silicone spray which I have used on my flashlights that seems to work great but obviously with it containing solvent, it has a lasting odour.
I was thinking of getting a tube of silicone grease like the stuff in the link Don kindly posted but before I do could anyone who uses the tubes please tell me if it has a strong smell?
I don't notice any smell at all from the Maplin stuff but then I do smoke 40 a day. Despite that, I do have a rather acute sense of smell. An alternative is Copaslip which also has no smell that I notice - available from your local motor factor anywhere. Most of the spray lubricants will wash out any useful lubrication - avoid WD-40 like the plague. Though I do like the smell of it when it burns, spraying it on exhaust headers makes a nice smell.
I have both the NyoGel 760G and NyoGel 779ZC that I bought from Lighthound and they work very well and they do not have any smell whatsoever. Here's a thread that you might want to check out.
Looks like some interesting information there thanks.
Hopefully that thread doesn't end in an argument that budget lubricant is a false economy and although all of them do a reasonably similar job only the top of the range most expensive lubricant can be trusted in a flashlight that you rely on to protect your life and that of your loved ones......or to look in the garden shed.
I use Superlube from Ace Hardware on o-rings. It has PTFE but goes on like vaseline from a tube. Easy to get and not very expensive. I wouldn't have any problem using it on anodized threads, but it might not conduct electricity, so I don't know if it would be good for bare threads. It seems like for threads you want something really thick and that anything soft like vaseline would just attract dirt.
