I have a monobloc mixer tap with a central spout. It started to seep water where the spout enters the body of the tap so I replaced the rubber? neoprene? O ring and that stopped the seepage just fine. The trouble is this spout swivels and it is now a bit stiff. I think silicone grease on the O ring might be what I need to ease it, but I can't get any easily without a 30 mile drive. Would vasilene be a safe and effective substitute?
TIA,
Steve
Vaseline is known to make rubber (at least, some rubber) perish. So the answer appears to depend on the exact nature of the washer. I'd guess that you cannot easily find that out either - so wait to get some silicone grease.
Other than plumbing suppliers, try bike and motor bike shops, scuba, electronic and electrical and white good spares suppliers, tool shops, gun shops, and there are dozens, maybe hundreds, of on-line suppliers.
As a SCUBA diver, I'd suggest you avoid SCUBA shops - they'll charge you an absolute fortune for a tiny gob of silicone grease... And don't get me started about the the prices they charge for the Oxygen compatable stuff either!!!
E.g. Maplin - not always the cheapest, but a 50g tube is £3.99.
Simply Scuba: 25g tube: £7.00.
Go figure.
Gordon
I do take your point - and the same might apply to the other possible sources, but I did see something like 7ml for £2.99 at one scuba outlet. Outrageous but to save a 30 mile drive (or is that 60 mile round trip?), maybe worth it?
Talk to a plumber or gas fitter, even a builder who lays plastic drains. They all use the stuff
Steve wibbled on Saturday 16 January 2010 18:20
No, vaseline perishes certain types of rubber.
Buy some silicone grease for potable use from BES or your local proper plumbing shop.
or Ebay. Don't buy heatsink grease. It's got stuff mixed in.
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Steve saying something like:
Halford (or any decent motor factor, which doesn't automatically include Halford) brake grease, which is designed to be kind to rubber seals, as you would expect. Dead common and dead cheap.
And you can buy silicone spray which is good for a few things including lubricating curtain rails or spraying on car door rubber seals as two examples .
Usenet Nutter wibbled on Saturday 16 January 2010 20:50
I don't think spray will work.
I sprayed the seal on a 50mm expansion joint in my bath and kitchen waste pipes with that to aid assembly (it did).
However, it is very thin and after a while the joints became quite sticky and difficult to move, leading to much creaking during expansion.
I've now added some plumbing silicone grease and that has freed up the slip joint considerably.
BTW - OP - I think you said "taps" so you want a *potable* approved grease. Personally I would not go using random brake greases as there are more correct alternatives.
If the O ring was neoprene, then vasilene *should* be OK. If it O ring was made of silicone rubber then only a silicone lubricant will do, but I can't see silicone being used for potable water. It's been a long time since I worked on this sort of problem.
Dave
Dave wibbled on Saturday 16 January 2010 22:27
It exists - I just used some.
I *think* it's here, but bes have just gone down...
You are looking for potable silicone grease. There is a high temperature version (actually the one I have) which presumably would be advisable as the tap carries how water.
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Tim W saying something like:
What, you've never been stuck for chewing gum and there's a tempting box of brake seals handy? The grease is just the icing on the cake.
Yes. It's petroleum based so natural rubber won't like it, but no seals are made of natural rubber any more. O rings have never been natural rubber.
(Even seals that ought to be, and used to be, natural rubber aren't any more.)
You can also use KY, but that leaches out in water service.
It doesn't perish - that's caused by oxidation, or vulcanisation. The effect of hydrocarbons on natural rubber is to make them soften and swell, often causing jamming, sometimes causing swelling, rapid wear and then leaking. Methanol is even used as a deliberate swelling agent to revitalise old rubber seals.
The _worst_ thing for rubber seals is either ozone (well known), or garlic puree. Food machinery that handles garlic used to have a real problem with seals perishing. Possibly olive oil too, if there's an olive expert hereabouts?
Many thanks for that correction, I wasn't aware of the potable silicone grease.
I come from the aerospace industry, where the wrong grease could result in the loss of lives. Fuel O rings had to have an industrial petroleum grease and air and Nitrogen had to have silicone based grease. All because of the chemistry of the rubber.
Dave
No, you'll have to use vaseline.
How bout this?
Plumbers merchants sell silicon grease for this ... a small pot would probably last you a lifetime. Or a can of silicone spray from RS or similar.
Scuaba shops also sell it as seal lube ... (will be on eBay Scuba shops)
dyslexia lures KO
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