Are These Silicone Grease Safe For Fountain Pens?

[siewlong]

Hi, I started using fountain pens about a month ago and I've been lurking around FPN for quite awhile now to to learn more about fountain pens. Now I'm interested in making my Platinum Preppy ED and can't seem to find pure silicone grease anywhere. All I could find in dive shops were IST SGT-2 and Nextorch silicone grease. Does it work with fountain pens? I'm from Malaysia and none of the hardware stores here know what 100% silicone grease is. I tried going to dive shops and those are the only two available and it does not state on the bottle if its 100% silicone or not. I know I can order it online but shipping from the US/UK/Europe costs a fortune. So it'd be really helpful if anyone could confirm that I could use any of those.

[Pen Nut]

No doubt more cleverer people will be queueing up with all the technical info but I have settled for silicone grease from the Mc Nett Corporation who market a grease labelled as 100% pure. It is made in the USA and the trade name is Aquaseal. Comes in a small 1/4 oz ( 7g ) container which is enough for the average diy er to do his own stock.

 

I have also used, with great results, an Ambersil product called Ambergrease Sil which is marked as 'pure silicone grease'.

 

Oh and dont forget petroleum jelly :-) ..............

[Wolverine1]

Ask the dive shops if their silicon grease is safe for use in diving regulators. If they say yes, that silicon grease is safe to use on pens.

[siewlong]

No doubt more cleverer people will be queueing up with all the technical info but I have settled for silicone grease from the Mc Nett Corporation who market a grease labelled as 100% pure. It is made in the USA and the trade name is Aquaseal. Comes in a small 1/4 oz ( 7g ) container which is enough for the average diy er to do his own stock.

 

I have also used, with great results, an Ambersil product called Ambergrease Sil which is marked as 'pure silicone grease'.

 

Oh and dont forget petroleum jelly :-) ..............

Thanks, I'll try to lookout for those. About the petroleum jelly, I read somewhere to avoid those like the plague

 

Ask the dive shops if their silicon grease is safe for use in diving regulators. If they say yes, that silicon grease is safe to use on pens.

I'll ask them the next time I go over. Thanks!

[Algester]

if you know some diver equipment shops near you you can buy silicon grease from them I'm sure to maintain your o-rings on your gear

[titan75]

I am using the shock oil from my remote controlled vehicles with no problems, fairly large bottles for cheap and comes in a lot of viscosities.

 

I'm assuming if it doesn't eat my o-rings in the shocks, the plastic in the converters should be safe.

 

 

Cheers,

Alan

[Ron Z]

I am using the shock oil from my remote controlled vehicles with no problems, fairly large bottles for cheap and comes in a lot of viscosities.

 

I'm assuming if it doesn't eat my o-rings in the shocks, the plastic in the converters should be safe.

 

 

Cheers,

Alan

 

Not a safe assumption at all, especially with vintage pens. The 0-rings may very well be made from Viton, which is both chemical and wear resistant. Plastics used in pens, and the celluloid of vintage pens in particular may be vulnerable to the lubricants and chemicals in the lubricants you are using. Pure silicone grease is relatively inert, which is why we use it. Thicker silicone greases like Molykote 111 are resistant to washing off of the lubricated surface unlike silicone oils. Important if you want to keep the silicone out of your ink, and away from the feed.

[kidde]

I'll second the "good enough for a regulator" and reinforce your "avoid petroleum jelly like the plague". You need more to seal a Preppy than to grease a piston, and you have to reapply more often. An o-ring will cut down on the amount you need.

BTW petroleum jelly tends to degrade and shorten the lifespan of synthetic rubbers, silicon grease works much better on them.

 

Paul

[titan75]

 

Not a safe assumption at all, especially with vintage pens. The 0-rings may very well be made from Viton, which is both chemical and wear resistant. Plastics used in pens, and the celluloid of vintage pens in particular may be vulnerable to the lubricants and chemicals in the lubricants you are using. Pure silicone grease is relatively inert, which is why we use it. Thicker silicone greases like Molykote 111 are resistant to washing off of the lubricated surface unlike silicone oils. Important if you want to keep the silicone out of your ink, and away from the feed.

 

Hi Ron,

 

Your insight on the suitability of using RC shock oil had prompted me to do a bit of research on the make up of the oil.

Turns out it is 100% silicon after all and might be safe to use, check the link for one of the types of oil I'm using.

 

http://www.rcmart.com/shock-super-blend-pure-silicone-p-36875.html?cPath=389_391

 

 

 

Cheers,

Alan