o-ring grease question

I use a Teflon-bearing grease sold at Radio Shack as "Lube Gel" - I believe the same material (minus the Radio Shack labeling) can also be found at hardware and auto supply stores as "Synco Super Lube".

-dave w

Dupont Krytox aerospace grade grease

- iz

Dow 111, nothing better, you can get it at Loki research at a very reasonable price.

-Boomer

I use trailer 'ball grease'. It's Teflon(R TM C) and about $4 at Wal-Mart.

Joel. phx

Now the nitrous O-rings are a different matter.

Krytox is overly expensive & is only needed when flying hybrids . Super Lube/ Lube Gel ( Rat Shack equivalent ) will work just fine . Besides Super Lube has a higher heat rating compared to Dow 111. Super Lube use to make a Teflon based lube with a heat rating of 600 degrees.

JD

If you have a dedicated on-site vendor at your launches, contact him, see if he's definitely gonna be there, & ask what he carries for reload lube & pick it up there. If he doesn't show up for some reason, bum some from the guy parked next to you. -- Richard "I now use Dow Corning "55 O-Ring Lubricant" that I got from our on-site vendor, Kenny of Performance Hobby" Hickok

Dow Corning 55 available at Binder Design for only $5.00 a tube.

Mike Fisher Binder Design

Easiest way to apply lube to o-rings I've found is the "Speedy O-ring lubricator" that Aerocon sells.

-Kevin

Good for a hybrid, but a bit of an overkill to lube O-rings on an Aerotech composite reload. The Radio Shack 'Super Lube' mentioned earlier works well, as does vasoline. All you need is something that makes the o-rings slippery enough that they move into place and don't tear as you tighten the enclosures.

You didn't mention the size motor you're intending to fly...

I quit using grease three years ago for I211 loads and smaller, simply wipe the rings clean before installing. The case cleans up pretty easy not having to cut through grease.

Okay... Once I used the grease off my nose and another time, the grease behind my ear after reading Mark Clark did so too...

YMMV, Andy

"Boomer" wrote in news:buhvsg$i89uh$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-136148.news.uni-berlin.de:

The only purpose for lubing the o-rings is so they don't bind when being compressed during assembly. After the end closures are secured, it serves no purpose. Petroleum jelly should be just fine for lubing the o-rings on a composite motor.

So which is better? Ear, or nose grease?

Will need to run some more confirmation trials but I believe it strong depends on what was for dinner the night before... ;-)

Items to grease on an AeroTech/Dr. Rocket motor:

1. O-rings
2. Threads
3. Liner
4. Inside of plugged forward closure if you use a plugged forward closure

Grease to use for o-rings if you will never disassemble an unburned motor: anything that does not attack the rubber. Spit or other water based lubricants would not be a good choice at the moment with temps under 10F in Wisconsin.

Should you desire to disassemble an unburned motor then you want a non-water based lubricant. Petro jelly will work fine. You could use a little Chap Stick, with or without an SPF rating. I just happen to hate petro jelly due to non-rocketry reasons, and refuse to use it.

What should you use to lubricate the other stuff? You want a high temp grease for the liner and threads. Petro jelly is not a high temp grease. It melts at about 120F. Other greases, like Dow 111 or Super Lube (Radio Shack's "Lub Gel") melts at about 450F, and are better choices should you desire to remove a phenolic liner from the motor case after burning the propellant. I think the Lube Gel has a better low temp rating, which means it's still a Gel at 9F rather than rock hard. It's also available just about anywhere. There are many other greases that will work fine, too.

There are antiseize greases good to 2400F, which might work well for liner lube in some EX or hot commercial motors.

Should you like my complete dissertation on grease, send smoke signals to my part of Wisconsin.

Dean

One note: Radio Shack lube comes in two varieties, the normal Radio Shack brand (white tube) mentioned below with range of -45 to +450 degrees and the "Archer" brand of Teflon lube (grey tube) with a range of -65 to +650 degrees (don't know if Archer brand is carried in every store although it is at my local store in Plano, Texas). Both types are $2.99 so might as well get the Archer brand.

-Tim

Looking at the white tube it does not mention Teflon. I have not seen the gray "Archer" tubes in any area store here in southeast Alabama. I have not tried the white tube yet.

John

Vaseline works fine.

A convenient size is a "lip therapy" very small squeeze tube by Vaseline (Look for it near lip balm). Easily fits in to a rangebox. And has a small diameter hole that makes it easier to acurately dispense than the big squeeze tubes.

Costs something between $1-2 at Wal-Mart.

- George Gassaway

Nose, but only if you have a sinus infection.

I've always used the Archer teflon grease. Works great.

You can even smear it lightly on the liners before inserting the grains for extremely easy post flight clean up.