Vaseline that O-ring ???

[brightnorm]

I recently bought a fascinating new LED light, the Inova X-5, which I'll describe in a future post, but I was surprised when I read the instructions:
"Every six months apply a thin coat of petroleum jelly on rubber O-ring".
Petroleum jelly? I thought that silicone was the preferred lubricant. Won't the petroleum jelly break down the rubber?
Can this be correct?

 

[pwell]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by brightnorm:
Won't the petroleum jelly break down the rubber?
Can this be correct?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not answering your question fully, but when using o-rings in oxidizer tanks, the use of carbon based lubricants such as petrolleum jelly increases the risk of explosion. The recommended lubricants are Krytox grease and Silicon grease in that order.

A torch isn't an oxidizer tank though, so you wont need to worry about explosion

I hope someone else can provide more info.


my $0.02

 

[DavidH]

I'm not a rubber expert or anything like that, but I know the substance we call "rubber" can be made of many different compounds. Some react to petroleum jelly, others work better with it. Silicone lubricant seems to be an almost all purpose lube, but even some rubber formulas may not work with it. I would think that since the manufacturer of the flashlight knows what rubber compund was used, vaseline is OK.

I'm also looking forward to your Inova X-5 flashlight review.