Thread and O-Ring lubrication

O Ring Lubrication

My PT 40 is making a squeaking noise when I rotate the head assembly. What type of lubricant should I use? I hear that the wrong type will eat up the o ring material.

Thanks

Re: O Ring Lubrication

first thing, make sure the lube is all around the ring take it out then lube it inside and outside so it's lubed on both surface's when you install it. sometimes if the ring is is not lubed on the body side it will squeak. VDG

Re: O Ring Lubrication

I think nyogel is safe to use. I use it on all of my flashlights with no problem. Lighthound.com sells it.

Lisa

Re: O Ring Lubrication

I'm using "MOLYKOTE 111" from Dow Corning.

www.molykote.com

Re: O Ring Lubrication

I have always used silicone gel, works ok haven't ruined any "o" rings as yet

Re: O Ring Lubrication

which lube is not really critical for most orings unless you cannnot get at the orings in question.

best example is Surefire U2's selector oring which is non-user removable. some U2 level selector rings were extremely stiff and needed some lube.

Nyogel 959G was exact lube used by Surefire for U2. slowly work some lube into slector assembly and body's heat will cause lube to migrate.

highly recommend nyogel 959G, a small tub will last you forever and it will solve switch contact issues like krolls.

Re: O Ring Lubrication

NyoGel 779ZC is what I use for all O-Rings and flashlights that don't need conductivity.
NyoGel 759G for the threads and 779ZC for the O-rings. For most aluminum surefires this should work fine.
I hope this is legal on the board.
Go to:
http://www.lighthound.com/sales/nyogel_flashlight_lubricant.php
It is funny this topic has poped up in a few places. I have just finished research on the topic and this is what I was able to find. I have been cleaning and lubing ALL of my lights for the past couple of days. The maintence adds up when your collection grows. Use good lube protect your investment.
Have fun.
Yaesumofo

Re: O Ring Lubrication

How do you know which lights require conductivity? Could you just use a conductive lube for all lights whether they need it or not? Why do you use one lube for the o-rings and another for the threads.

Thanks,
Greg

Re: O Ring Lubrication

The non conductive is a bit more viscous it sticks better to the o-rings.
The mcluxIIIpd and HDS EDC lights do not need conductivity in the lube. Surefire, ORB, ARC all do a bit better with the conductive lube.
As far as I am concerned none of this is set in stone. There are MANY lubrication compounds, They all have different properties. go ahead and experiment away it is unlikely that you wil hurt your light.

Yaesumofo

nethiker said:

How do you know which lights require conductivity? Could you just use a conductive lube for all lights whether they need it or not? Why do you use one lube for the o-rings and another for the threads.

Thanks,
Greg

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Re: O Ring Lubrication

Thanks Yaesumofo.

Re: O Ring Lubrication

I have been using Silicon Grease Molykote 111 as well. It is pretty good for my needs, however I find the viscosity is rather thick. It is thicker than Petroleum Jelly which i use to use, however after reading post in the forums here, have been hesitant to use again.

Haz

Re: O Ring Lubrication

The best lubricant for the PD is a 100% Teflon light grease.
Nygel is too sticky and is unnecessary as the PD threads do not conduct current.
Until you have used a teflon lube you do not know what smooth is.
Available from these guys in a great dispenser Link

Re: O Ring Lubrication

I gotta get me some of that Nyogel stuff. About why sometimes conduct lubricant is prefered.....in some lights, the negative contact is made through the threads, others make contact at the base of the body (end face). An example would be the Minimag and Mag D. Minimag - contact through threads in on tail cap and body, Mag D - contact through the bottom end (face) of body and small "step" on tail cap that makes contact with the bottom of the body. On the Mags, the contacts are easily identified because they are not anodized.

Re: O Ring Lubrication

One thing to think about, is on light's that you have to screw one part into another agaisnt a battery or resistive bumper, like a o-ring or foam pad, after a few times of that you have eliminated a great deal of the lube put on the threads because as the thread meet's the resistence no longer will it stay "centered" moving the "needle" as it would against one side of the "groove" of the thread and chasing out the lube from first one side, then the other.

(i have tested this myself outta curiousity with a strong mag scope to see how and if it migrate's, it does, and with much less use then one would think)

I find considerably better and visable results by using a conductive film like caig product's that will form a harder layer and take more time to loose there effectiveness.and since it's a strong film you can lube over it and still gain most of it's affect.(imho of course) VDG

Re: O Ring Lubrication

Anglepoise said:

The best lubricant for the PD is a 100% Teflon light grease.
Nygel is too sticky and is unnecessary as the PD threads do not conduct current.
Until you have used a teflon lube you do not know what smooth is.
Available from these guys in a great dispenser Link

Click to expand...

My experiance with telon on metal surface's on race engines sure does give credance to anglepoise' ""remark Until you have used a teflon lube you do not know what smooth is.""

Just one very important caveat, DO NOT use it on surfaces that do have signal teflon is a b***h to get off and will reduce or possably prevent conductivity.

Other then that it kills!! I saw at the Mugen tech center in Europe (F1 engines) a piston
placed in a cylinder with just thin race oil and not move. they applied there proprietary teflon formula on another, and it liturally FELL through the block! VDG

Re: O Ring Lubrication

I was told by a PT rep that a "Silicone" based grease, NOT spray is what you should use. WD 40 and other lubricants will eat the O ring up.

Re: O Ring Lubrication

I've been using RS lube gel. It's reasonably priced, you get
an entire tube for about $3.00.

Don't know about other manufacturers but M_g recommends
just plain petroleum jelly on their lights.


MB

Re: O Ring Lubrication

My question here, is what do you people use to remove the old lube? Do you just wipe it off with a rag, or use some chemical to remove it? I bought some Caig DeoxIT for this purpose, but not sure it's the best solution. I plan on using the NyoGel stuff on my SF lights.

Re: O Ring Lubrication

DarthLumen said:

I was told by a PT rep that a "Silicone" based grease, NOT spray is what you should use. WD 40 and other lubricants will eat the O ring up.

Click to expand...

What about silicone spray?

Simple Lubrication Answer

Hi all. I know there are several posts out there discussing Nyogel this or Silicone grease that, and conductive vs nonconductive and grease vs spray etc, etc, etc. I've looked for "Silicone grease" in a hardware store and the guy didn't know what I was talking about. When I told him I was looking for something to lubricate the threads of a flashlight, he recomended 3 in 1 oil, which I used on a light resulting in it forming a hard compound with the coating on the inside (and is probably melting the o-ring). What I would really like is for someone to just tell me ONE GOOD PRODUCT and where to find it so I can slather it on my threads AND o-rings to keep all my twisty switch lights working properly for years.

Sorry if this sounded like a rant , I just wouldn't have thought something as simple as lube would be so complicated. There's so many products people throw into the mix that I wonder if we need to start a lubricationoptionforums.com

Thanks in advance,
Jon