Seems I need this:
to lubricate an o-ring and sealing plate of a washing machine outboard Sololift Grundfos pump, according to the manual.
Any recommendations of an alternative? £15 is more than I'd like for something I'm not likely to use that often.
Are you drinking from a washing machine outlet?
Jim K
Er, no! It takes the washing machine waste straight to the drain. So the grease doesn't need to be potable-safe.
Any silicone grease would probably do. Fairly standard plumbing thing to have around.
I bought a small tub of waterproof grease that was supposed to be for packing marine prop and rudder shafts that I used when re-bearinging a
13 month old washing machine I got off Freecycle 7 years ago (because the bearings had failed and they couldn't be replaced ).I bought two sealed bearings and took the inner / facing seals out and half filled the space in between with said grease.
I think there was a drain hole in said void so that if the main drum seal and the inner bearing seal should leak, the water can at least run away.
Cheers, T i m
I use Dow Corning MS4 silicone grease for all sorts of odd jobs for sealing/ water repelling. only a few quid for toothpaste sized tube.
RJH scribbled
That's on a par with being sent for a Long Weight and Polkadot Paint.
Or striped I used to get two colours and tell them to mix it themselves(mother told me to do that when I started working)
They started by making grease for cores inside coils so you could line up RF circuits and not end up with a jam up or one that was welded in for life. Very messy but fun. Brian
FWIW, silicon grease is ideally needed for O-rings - I've found ordinary grease makes them swell up. Probably in this situation it wouldn't matter (unless you ever dismantle) but I discovered all this from lubricating an O-ring which sealed against a rotating face (the water control valve in one of those remote pumped, push button Aqualisa showers), the swelling then preventing easy movement.
These days a lot of O-rings seem to be made from Nitrile Rubber, which doesn't swell in contact with mineral oil (or "ordinary" greases).
However I agree with you that silicone grease is generally the safe bet (except for silicone O rings).
I assume that this is a static seal, in which case the silicone grease sold for fitting plastic gutters and plumbing will be fine. Or any silicone grease from a reputable supplier, like Bob's Dow Corning MS4. No point paying for a potable water product.
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