safe to use cooking oil instead of grease?

I got my AAA-P today, and am impressed with the sun still being out. My only complaint with the unit itself is that it had a slight imperfection at the open end of the tube, that cut ribbons from the O-ring.

However, I'm highly allergic, and there is something nasty in the grease used--my hands are still twicthy. I honestly don't believe I want to go and try to find some that isn't that way. So, I washed the parts, and used some olive oil.

My question is, there anything to be concerned about, doing this? Will the little bits of acid in the oil cause problems down the road, or will this be fine?

Welcome Cerbie,

Sometimes the mold flash on the o-ring peels off. This is the same type of flash that you see on new tires.

We use silicone grease on the threads. Although olive oil won't hurt the buna o-ring, have you tried Vaseline? You really need to use something that will stick around. Olive oil may dissipate and cause the light to squeak.

Peter

Your O-rings are safe for vaseline??

I hear vaseline won't hurt buna-n o-rings. My arcs get surgi-lube (the lubricant that is used on uhhhhh... colonoscopes etc) Millions of butts can't be wrong.

Over time, vegetable oils will oxidize and get rancid, gummy, sticky, etc. Short term use it will work OK as a lube, but like Peter said it's better to use a proper lube. Vaseline or silicon grease, or the Nyo-gel stuff, etc.

There's probably some vaseline somewhere. I'll look.

It's not the flashing peeling off, though I think some of the smaller pieces were. There was a bit of a dent on the end of the tube, very much like the tube was pressed at an angle against a flat surface. It was clearly cutting into the O-ring, if watching and twisting slowly. I used a screwdriver with a round shaft to gradually round it out, after failing with needlenose pliers. At it's greatest, I don't think it was even 1mm.

Also, I ran both a Mag AA and the Arc for an hour straight, with fresh batteries at the beginning...amazing. The Arc has an extra touch of blue, now, and the Mag would only barely be useful during a complete power outtage.

Vaseline may rot the rubber...try KY

I generally use a Teflon based grease on all my O rings, on any brand light, I am not sure what the base grease is, but it is probably synthetic. I used to use a kind of silicone grease (the kind that's actually designed for seals on aircraft) on the O rings and threads of my Surefires, but the mechanical properties were poor, and the tailcaps felt as if they were galling when rotated, so no I use Teflon grease for threads and O rings, clean the threads regularly, and try to keep spare O rings available.