O ring cleaning

markdavison

I am having some difficulty cleaning the old O2 compatible grease off my O rings. Normally I would use a degrease agent such as detergent, but I am not sure if it will work and more importantly if this is an O2 fire risk.
Any top tips?


Apologies if this is a regular question but I can't see it on any stickys.

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Mark Davison



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steveharriss

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decoweenie

If the old grease is O2-compatible, why do you need to clean it really good ?

Personally, I just wipe them off with a dry towel and re-grease.

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Tino de Rijk

I have to agree with Decoweenie here. Quoting also from the before mentioned Rebreather World Store site:
" * Lubrication Technology Inc strongly recommends testing of all plastics, elastomers and metals for compatibility and suitability of use in material composition and material processing.". Same, by the way, applies to Biox, another (excellent) popular cleaning solution.

Generally speaking, O-rings do not take very kind to agressive chemicals. Also, *really* cleaning them would mean you have to throw them in an ultrasonic bath. Take also into consideration that not all O-rings are alike (viton, rubber, butylene, different degrees in hardness, etc.) and verification that the O-ring has not been affected by the chemicals and ultrasonic bath is not easy at all.

So in general the chemical/ultrasonic "treatment" you suggest *could* be worse than the problem. So why not just wipe off excess old grease with a clean cloth, and re-grease them with fresh grease? Or better still: if they have become stiff over time, replace O-rings with new ones? O-rings are typically quite cheap, and not hard to get.

Just my 2 pennies....

ciao,

Tino.

markdavison

Hi

Thanks for the replies.

The problem I was experiencing was as a result of using the O2 grease that AP supply. It seems to become a sticky mess and there comes a point when it needs to be removed entirely.

I recently completed Trimix CCR course with Techstreme (Thanks, Arron and Micheal aka the Frog) and during the course we cleaned my O rings using CHRISTO-KLEEN and they introduced me another brand of O2 lube that is much lighter, goes on more thinly and less likely to become a 'sticky mess'.

Mark

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Mark Davison



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Christoph

I´d also rather install new ones.
But at least in the Apeks service kit the new O-rings aren´t oxyclean as well.
When servicing my regulators, I briefly put the new O-rings in the "tickopur" solution I also use to degrease the other parts, but without turning the ultrasonic on. I was told that the ultrasonic cleaner would damage the O-rings but don´t know if that´s really a fact.
Next time I´m going to try Christo Kleen, I just got a bottle of that from the rebreatherworld store.

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