lubricants for threads and O- Rings

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A

avemaria

0
Jul 4, 2013
20
Florida
Hello,

This is a basic question but i'm going in circles looking online for the answer to this.. My new Intex Sand Filter tells me to coat all threads with Petroleum Jelly.. I've read elsewhere not to use that especially near rubber rings.. I picked up a tube of Silicone Lubricant meant for pool equipment today.. but in further looking I saw someone recommend a Teflon based lube which is silicone free..

My question is, what is the purpose of using lube on the threads? to make it easier to get off later? and which should I use on my threads and rings during new pump install? i've seen a pool guy use a silicone spray on an O-ring but as you can tell i'm highly confused and just want what is best for this new pump.. do I coat just where the ring is or do up all the threads? and with what product?

Scott
 
Any silicone or teflon based plumbers lubricant is fine.

The lubricant helps make sure that the threads go all the way together and don't bind up at some earlier point before the connection has sealed. The lubricant also helps insure that you can get the connection apart again later. And finally, the lubricant helps seal any tiny imperfections in the connection, so there aren't any leaks. The same applies to o-rings, they need lubricant to be able to move into the ideal position and to seal any remaining slight imperfections.

Petroleum jelly would work in the short run, but in the long run it breaks down natural rubber products, forcing you to replace o-rings more frequently.
 
which ingredient based lube do you recommend? the three choices that i've seen are
1. petroleum jelly (though recommended in the manual is discouraged by many i've come across)..
2. silicone based lube, or
3. Teflon based lube.

it's just confusing because they mention lubing the 'threads'.. but no mention of greasing the O-Rings directly..

*edit* I just saw Jason's reply above..
 
I've read in another thread to use silicon based not Teflon cuz it had a tendency to gunk up. I don't know that personally but I bought magic lube II which is silicon based. It works great on my pump basket o-ring. I found a good deal on Amazon for a 2 pack. Received it in 2 days.
 
I think the Teflon based lube is a misnomer. Teflon is a plastic. It's available in a very fine powder and often mixed into greases and lubricants for better performance. The base material of the lubricant can be petroleum based or silicone based or some other synthetic base. I could see someone calling a lubricant "silicone based with Teflon" or "petroleum based with Teflon" but "Teflon based" doesn't make sense. Is it pretzels with salt or salt with pretzels?

My preference for pool use would be silicone first, "whatever" with teflon second and petroleum jelly last.
 
There are a number of lubricants in the Teflon family, often called PTFE, which are gells at room temperature. Aladdin Magic Lube is a very common brand which refers to it's self as PTFE based. Similar products from DuPont contain the same basic ingredients and refer to themselves as Teflon based.
 
Ok here is my spin on it, the debate between teflon vs silicone lubricants is sort of like the debate about cooking with butter vs cooking with olive oil, there may be some technical merit to one over another depending on the exact application, but for most part either will work. The petroleum jelly suggest in the intex manual probably comes from a management not an engineering opinion that they are cheap pools with cheap parts and the thought that most people will not go out and buy a $10 tube of the correct type of lubricant to use on a cheap sub $50 pump. So if they are going to ignore the directions anyway go ahead and tell them the best option (even if it is a poor one) out of the "household" products they may already own.


Ike

p.s. one note on o-ring lubricants, most people use WAY TOO MUCH, a tiny amount evenly applied to the o-ring is all you need. A small 1 Oz container if applied correctly should last the typical pool owner for many years.
 
I don't know about that last point, Ike ;) The o ring on my filter is HUGE!!! 1 Oz may only do that a couple times (although granted you should not need to do it often).

I am switching to silicone as soon as the Teflon stuff I got at the pool store runs out ... we will see what I think in a year.
 

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Isaac-1 said:
p.s. one note on o-ring lubricants, most people use WAY TOO MUCH, a tiny amount evenly applied to the o-ring is all you need. A small 1 Oz container if applied correctly should last the typical pool owner for many years.
Click to expand...

Agree. The grease should just turn the surface of the oring a shiny dark black but if you see streaks of grease thickness, you're just wasting it. Doesn't really hurt to use more but it's unnecessary.
 
That little squirt of water when you shut down the pump is fairly common. I think its just the result of inertia. The water essentially hits a wall when the pump stops and the pressure in the pump basket goes from negative to positive. I see it all the time, especially on Super Pumps.

I just want to add a little something someone told me the other day to the discussion about lubricants. I was told that this person was using the same lubricant they use in ice cream parlors. Apparently there are quite a few seals and o-rings in the ice cream machines, and they get a big industrial sized tube for way less money than you would pay for a tiny tube of "pool lubricant" at a pool store. I'm not sure where to find ice cream machine lubricant, but apparently it works for pools and is cheaper.
 
If you have a filter that needs to have air bled from the top, that is a common symptom of trapped air, but since you're installing a new filter I'm guessing that might not be the case.

In a filter that needs bleeding, air gets trapped in the top of the filter, the air gets compressed when the pump is running, and when you shut down the pump, that compressed air rapidly expands back to its normal size and pushes a shock wave of water ahead of it in all directions. Some of it goes the normal direction, towards the pool, but some of it goes backwards to the pump and basket area and that briefly lifts the lid and the result is the leak you see.

It's not only trapped air that can do this. Equipment and piping can stretch like a ballon with the pump on and contract with the pump off to give the same effect although that's usually a very tiny amount, so the leak would also be tiny and nothing to worry about.

If you have a way to bleed air from the top of the filter, try to do that right before shutting off the pump and see if it leaks less.
 
TreeFiter said:
I just want to add a little something someone told me the other day to the discussion about lubricants. I was told that this person was using the same lubricant they use in ice cream parlors. Apparently there are quite a few seals and o-rings in the ice cream machines, and they get a big industrial sized tube for way less money than you would pay for a tiny tube of "pool lubricant" at a pool store. I'm not sure where to find ice cream machine lubricant, but apparently it works for pools and is cheaper.
Click to expand...

Food safe greases are available from restaurant supply stores. I got a tube from a home brew supply store and use it on my keg connections. I think you're right that it would also work fine for pool o-ring lubrication.
 

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