Silicone Grease Not Found. Vaseline as an Alternative?

[Ralph Corderoy]

Hi,

I want to replace the `grease' I've cleaned off the thread of the inside of a tap on which the washer moves up and down as the tap is turned. Googleling this NG suggests silicone grease is the thing to use, but I can't find any locally. B+Q and Homebase don't stock it. Neither does Plumb Centre, which surprised me. They suggested a local ironmongers that didn't have it either but thought Vaseline would be a suitable substitute.

Anyone know of a ready source of silicone grease? Is Vaseline an OK substitute? I don't want to use something that will degrade the other materials over time.

This all came about because the bath taps were getting quite stiff to turn. After disassembling and thorough cleaning they're much better, but that's without replacing the grease that was there. I now find that when the metal body gets very hot the tap drips unless turned off very hard. If I leave it dripping it slowly stops by itself over an hour as the tap cools down. Given the only difference before and after is my not replacing the grease I want to do that before investigating further.

Cheers,

Ralph.

[Grunff]

Any of the sheds, any plumbers merchant.

Not really.

Then use silicone grease.

[Gordon Henderson]

Do you have and SCUBA Diving shops locally? They'll sell it. They'll probably charge you a fiver for a tiny tube or tub of it though.

Gordon

[Grunff]

The sheds (at least B&Q and Wickes) do sell it, honest. It's usually with the push-fit waste fittings.

[Frank Watson]

Vaseline is petroleum based, i.e., it is mineral grease which means it will tend to make rubber perish. I guess that, in the days of rubber tap washers, you'd use silicone greas to avoid getting a perished tap washer. Nowadays most tap washers are made of neoprene, I believe. I don't know if neoprene degrades when in contact with mineral grease, does anyone know?

Frank

[Robin Prater]

[Stuart]

First lesson in safe sex-vaseline and condoms( rubber ) do not mix .:-)) Stuart

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[David W.E. Roberts]

Only if you use the same condom for several years :-))

[Stuart]

Not true-you put some Vaseline on a condom and you will be horrified how quickly it rots . Stuart

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[Andy Dingley]

Yes. Nothing like as bad as natural latex, but it's bad for the surface appearance. I don't know if it's enough to cause leakage, but it's unattractive on clothing.

[L Reid]

Would a lack of grease cause this behaviour? I also have a problem 'hot' tap which I've replaced the washer in, because when the tap cools it begins to leak (and then can be turned off further to stop the drip). However it's still doing it (although less so) with a new washer.

[Ed Sirett]

Readily available from Screwfix - PArt No. 10631

[John Stumbles]

Oh yes - and how do you know that ?! :-)

-- John Stumbles

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-+ Maria and Marlon say "I can't believe it's not butter!"

[Ralph Corderoy]

Hi,

Thanks Ed, and the others that pointed out sources. 10631 is a little large at 800g so I'm off back to B+Q to look at their push-fit waste pipe section.

Cheers,

Ralph.

[Stuart]

Who mentioned KY ? :-)) Stuart

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[Simon Avery]

Hello Ralph

Mr Google? Online retailer? Maybe lithium would be Ok, but I'm not sure.

No. For the same reason Vaseline should not be used as a lubricant for sex (not that DIY's often have this problem) when condoms are used, since being oil-based it degrades rubber. Yon washer is rubber/plastic, so it'll perish it.

[Ralph Corderoy]

Hi Rod,

The really big B+Q at Bournemouth didn't have it either; not out of stock, their plumbing guy just said they don't stock it anymore, although he agreed we were standing by their large push-fit waste plumbing section.

I did finally find a small tube in Travis Perkins for about GBP6.00, and a small tub for GBP36.00. Using the small tube seems to have done the job so far on stopping the bath taps seizing up again and their dripping when the metal has heated up.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Cheers,

[L Reid]

Thanks for that Ralph, will try and get some myself to see if it'll stop my taps dripping when heated too.

[Michael McNeil]

I have a feeling the silicon is only suggested as it is a lot more stable than petroleum based stuff. Obviously you want an high melting point one too. As far as I know, silicon is widely used on bicycle bearings so try a cycle shop.

You can get really hi tech greases but you are talking large quantities I think. I only ever heard of a pump seals specialist talking about it.

I presume you have tried something by now. But why didin't you try whatever you had straight away and just clean it off if was a dud?

[Walter]

I tried to get silicone grease for my CD player recently - to help the transport by greasing the 'rails'. However my tube (Servisol 50g at £5.99 from an independent DIY source in Dorchester)seems not to lubricate as well as previous samples. Indeed it seems to make the movement stiffer! Are there different 'grades' of silicone grease and does anyone know what I should be using for this task?