Greasy question

[ScubaJorgen]

Does anybody know if there is a difference in grease for 'regular' o-rings and for the silicone o-ring in the cover of Oly housings (in my case, PT-010)? I keep carying around serveral tubes of grease: for oly housing, for flash o-ring, for lens screw thread, for scuba gear....

 

[djanni]

Does anybody know if there is a difference in grease for 'regular' o-rings and for the silicone o-ring in the cover of Oly housings (in my case, PT-010)? I keep carying around serveral tubes of grease: for oly housing, for flash o-ring, for lens screw thread, for scuba gear....

Don't hold me to this but I think Olympus' warranty is good only if you use their grease. It'll tell you in the manual.

Inon's warranty is void if you don't use their yellow grease.

 

[f3nikon]

Does anybody know if there is a difference in grease for 'regular' o-rings and for the silicone o-ring in the cover of Oly housings (in my case, PT-010)? I keep carying around serveral tubes of grease: for oly housing, for flash o-ring, for lens screw thread, for scuba gear....

Parker Super O Lube is the silicon base grease for your o-rings. Parker is one of the world’s largest o-ring manufacturers and wrote the Bible on o-rings. Silicon grease is used on "regular" or Buna, Viton o-rings etc. as well as silicon o-rings because this type of grease is inert.

Olympus, Ikelite, Inon, Fantasea, etc. do not make o-rings, asking these guys about how to care for their o-rings is like asking Ford, GM, Toyota or BMW on how to care for a Goodyear tire…when you should be asking Goodyear themselves.

When you ask Olympus and the rest of the gang, on which o-ring lubrication to use, of course they will tell you to use their “grease” only. It’s most likely a repackaged, smaller tube of $6.75 Parker Super O Lube with their names on it!

http://www.bvmjets.com/Accessories/superlube.htm

http://www.parker.com/ead/cm2.asp?cmid=3956

http://www.parker.com/ead/cm1.asp?cmid=247

Dow Corning also makes a similar lube called high vacuum grease

http://www.dowcorning.com/

 

[maractwin]

The Parker Super O Lube is fine for buna (small hard black) O-rings, but don't use it on silicone O-rings like the main seal on your camera. Even the Parker site on the page you linked says "Only a thin film of Super-O-Lube should be used with silicone rubber to prevent seal damage.". That's because silicone lubricant will dissolve silicone rubber over time.

That's way the camera housing manufacturers specify a special lube for those O-rings. It's not make of silicone, it's lubricant *for* silicone.

-Mark

 

[Tortuga Roja]

Olympus, Ikelite, Inon, Fantasea, etc. do not make o-rings, asking these guys about how to care for their o-rings is like asking Ford, GM, Toyota or BMW on how to care for a Goodyear tire…when you should be asking Goodyear themselves.

That's a pretty irresponsible answer. O-rings are all that's between expensive electronics and saltwater! That's a dangerous place to use blanket statements.

Since o-rings are not stamped with the name of the manufacturer - like tires - the guys that make your housing know what the manufacturer of the o-rings specifies as lube. The typical consumer does not. I'll stick with the manufacturer's recommendations when I submerse my camera in saltwater.

BTW, what's wrong with GM's tips on tire care? Don't you think they got them from Goodyear?

When you ask Olympus and the rest of the gang, on which o-ring lubrication to use, of course they will tell you to use their “grease” only. It’s most likely a repackaged, smaller tube of $6.75 Parker Super O Lube with their names on it!

I think they tell you that to be sure you use what is best. If you follow Ikelite's recommendations on caring for your o rings, the little tube they give you with each part you buy will last the average person years. If not, I don't think they are gouging you with a package of 4 replacement tubes for $1.

If you want to do a chemical analysis on your o-ring to be sure you know what it is made of, then research the Internet to see what the best lube is and where to buy it, be my guest. I'll save that time and use what the manufacturer gave me.

If you think that Sea & Sea, Ikelite and Inon are selling the same repackaged grease, you obviously haven't used them all.

 

[f3nikon]

The Parker Super O Lube is fine for buna (small hard black) O-rings, but don't use it on silicone O-rings like the main seal on your camera. Even the Parker site on the page you linked says "Only a thin film of Super-O-Lube should be used with silicone rubber to prevent seal damage.". That's because silicone lubricant will dissolve silicone rubber over time.

That's way the camera housing manufacturers specify a special lube for those O-rings. It's not make of silicone, it's lubricant *for* silicone.

-Mark

Very curious why you left out the first sentence in the Parker statement?

“Parker Super O Lube is a silicone fluid recommended for use with all rubber materials. (left out)

Only a thin film of Super-O-Lube should be used with silicone rubber to prevent seal damage.”

Then claim that the Super O Lube is not made of silicon?

“It's not make of silicone, it's lubricant *for* silicone.”

When the Super O Lube is a Polysiloxane polymer, silicone based polymer.

http://www.parker.com/o-ring/static/english/faq/msds slube.pdf

http://www.dowcorning.com/content/textiles/Tutorial_Silicone_Polymers_Siloxanes.asp

Then say that:

“That's because silicone lubricant will dissolve silicone rubber over time.”

I thought the Super O Lube was NOT made of silicone as you stated? And if it were made of inert silicone how can it “dissolve silicone rubber”?? (silicone is not a natural rubber from a rubber tree by the way)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert

Could you please explain this?

I have used both the Parker and Dow Corning Oring grease for the last 15 years, on every oring possible in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, I have yet to find any oring “dissolved” by any of these.

 

[rjack321]

Silicon grease is not inert. Do not use where high ppO2s might be present.

 

[f3nikon]

That's a pretty irresponsible answer. O-rings are all that's between expensive electronics and saltwater! That's a dangerous place to use blanket statements.

Since o-rings are not stamped with the name of the manufacturer - like tires - the guys that make your housing know what the manufacturer of the o-rings specifies as lube. The typical consumer does not. I'll stick with the manufacturer's recommendations when I submerse my camera in saltwater.

BTW, what's wrong with GM's tips on tire care? Don't you think they got them from Goodyear?

I think they tell you that to be sure you use what is best. If you follow Ikelite's recommendations on caring for your o rings, the little tube they give you with each part you buy will last the average person years. If not, I don't think they are gouging you with a package of 4 replacement tubes for $1.

If you want to do a chemical analysis on your o-ring to be sure you know what it is made of, then research the Internet to see what the best lube is and where to buy it, be my guest. I'll save that time and use what the manufacturer gave me.

If you think that Sea & Sea, Ikelite and Inon are selling the same repackaged grease, you obviously haven't used them all.

This maybe news you, but the grease has nothing to do with sealing the housing or any other closed chamber. Are you saying that using the wrong o-ring grease will cause a LEAK?? Fantasea does not even recommend using grease, which is ok as well, we do this in high vacuum chambers to prevent out gassing.

"If you think that Sea & Sea, Ikelite and Inon are selling the same repackaged grease, you obviously haven't used them all."

Does not matter if I used any of their grease or not just as long as have used the best grease from the manufacturer...of the o-ring, my point is that to grease or not to grease o-rings is not the rocket science the housing or strobe folks make it to be.

"If you want to do a chemical analysis on your o-ring to be sure you know what it is made of, then research the Internet to see what the best lube is and where to buy it, be my guest. I'll save that time and use what the manufacturer gave me."

I actually did, it's part of my job in the semiconductor industry, but if you can sell us tubes of o-ring grease for 4 for a dollar I am sure we will buy them from you.

 

[f3nikon]

Silicon grease is not inert. Do not use where high ppO2s might be present.

Thanks for your input, I must have misread this:

"Silicon is a relatively inert element, but it is attacked by halogens and dilute alkali. Most acids, except hydrofluoric, do not affect it. Silicones are important products of silicon. They may be prepared by hydrolyzing a silicon organic chloride, such as dimethyl silicon chloride. Hydrolysis and condensation of various substituted chlorosilanes can be used to produce a very great number of polymeric products, or silicones, ranging from liquids to hard, glasslike solids with many useful properties. Elemental silicon transmits more than 95% of all wavelengths of infrared, from 1.3 to 6.y micro-m. Silicon is one of man's most useful elements..."

http://www.scescape.net/~woods/elements/silicon.html

 

[rjack321]

Fine, use on your nitrox tank's, or better yet deco bottle's, o-ring if you want. Silicon grease is not stable with respect to HP O2 (few things are).

(Hence the word "relatively" in your own post.)